Plans ideas

catching up

i havent been writing too much lately, well, except for my long claro walnut post, but that has been in the works for a while ... heads up; heres another long one. but first, shall we have a little talk about ADD and the wandering mind. everyday, i wrestle with my mind wandering from one project to another, one client to another, one proposal or design to another .. interruptions, recoveries, plan changes, people out sick ... it can be a challenge. in looking through my recent photos taken since our show opened, i see no constant theme, no consistent style a virtual explosion of stuff ... hard to comprehend ... click the photos to enlarge them ....
lets start with the new design work under way ... above are some sketches for a potential pool table client ... we seem to be experiencing an uptick in the number of potential clients. lots to draw, lots to estimate. at some point in near future, hopefully, lots of work on the books.
last week we completed this inside the front door, built in ash cabinet in a pickled white finish, with leather seat cushions for a local client ... the forged pegs and the door pulls, sam made in the metal shop. behind the doors are adjustable shelves .
and the weekend of february 25th, we taught or first college level course for green moutain college in poultney. the 17 students first came to our shop, and the next class later in march will be at the college. the subject is visualization, model making and digital fabrication and is intended to be part of a new major in furniture design that is being created at the college by the lead instructor, lucas brown. its a one credit course, but it has given me some small insight into the world of formal education.
i have never taught a structured class before, but i can see from my brief experience that it is a challenge ... and a lot of work ... i gave a lecture first and then the class broke into four groups to flesh out potential project ideas.
and trevor built this cherry and black paint two level coffee table with our standard trapezoidal edge inlay. weve made a number of these in both 48" and 42" squares .. i like the form ... interesting base design.build the base ... add the cherry top and shelvesand sam sent off one of his limited edition fish in montana belt buckles ...
and will is on the homestretch on banjo #8, with #9 in the works to the right ... more on that later ...
and a project im working on is trying to digitize the 4 x 5 film slides that i have from my first 20 years as a furniture maker. they are from before my photographer retired, and before digital cameras. and before i started taking my own pictures. i have never been able to get good digital images from them at a reasonable price, but recently hit on the idea of illuminating them and taking photos of them ...
as soon as i get the right frosted glass and light source, ill post instructions for others with the same problem ... im getting close. this is a shot of a painted curly hard maple bowl, about 10" in diameter, from the mid 80s.and this table went, with the sideboard above, to a client in pennsylvania with a strong sense of what she wanted. it was a pleasure working with her. those pieces are from the very late 80s as i recall. i have got a lot of these very professional slides and it will be good to have them handy.
next up, from the week after the svac show, a 60" console table in burned recycled oak. above im torching the raw wood, which i then sanded and stained very lightly. the patina that is in the reclaimed wood is amazing and the burning enhances it nicely.with the finish ...
a quick snapshot of the finished table ... steel legs ...
and monday, we finished installing the built in tv cabinet below. (top unit only) we tore out the old one a few weeks ago and fabricated a new, slip in one, that will house a 46" flatscreen. waiting for photos from the audio/video guy.
big improvement ... waaay less wires. there were some challenges to this one, though it looks like it was easy, now that its in there ... and while we were there, we got to visit with some other pieces from the 80s, only in person, not in the slides. the carved glass bowls on the table are by my assistant, jim, from when he was working as a glass artist a few years back. great stuff.
and sam finished this barn hook for a client with a new outbuilding ... i am going to add apiece of wood and a little copper roof over it to protect the wooden pulley before it is mounted .. its lying down now, the long side on the floor will be mounted vertically on the end of the building ..
in this spalted maple comsole, the center support/brace that keep the table rigid was half lapped over the vertical ends using plywood strips wider than the irregular piece of maple clamped in the center, even with the straight top. a couple passes over the dado heads, add some steel, add some finish and a top ... presto ... out the door .. this is a poor photo and does not do the beauty of the spalted maple one bit of justice ...
and wills working on a reclaimed chestnut dining table that will have pull out leaves on the ends. its currrently 44 x 88 in the photos below, but will extend to 11 ...
sort of a post and beam design, based on this fixed size, round end table we made last spring, also in recycled chestnut ...
more info on this table here
and on the other side of the shop we have a natural hickory sideboard to go with the table above. trevor is finishing it up between some custom cnc work, and ill have more to pictures to show on this piece by the end of the week. its starting to shape up.

so, now you know some of what is going on here ... i may actually add to this post later ... its crazy here ...