The Lutyens Desk

Finished the interior structure and the base stretchers today .. 2 19
If you blow it up, you can see where we left extra stock where the curved stretchers join the side stretchers. We'll cut that curve and sand it to a point just before we glue up ...

Inspiration photo
Long post coming here .... Lots of stuff working up to this one. It's a desk based loosely on a design By Edwin Lutyens, a British Architect who worked from the 1890's into the 1940. And, whoa, was he prolific. There is a great book by Elizabeth Wilhide on his life and work ... Amazing dude. So, we took a big desk in a castle he designed and chopped out the center section, redesigned the palette and the turnings a bit, and we're having at it. It's going to be a good one ... Lots of challenging techniques too ... Click the photos to enlarge them

The finished elevation

The desk as it is today ... 2/18

Leg stock pregrooved for moldings

Rouhging out the legs with the Vega Duplicator ... chips are FLYING !

The CAD files for the stretchers

which were cut on the cnc

So they fit real nice

We mortised the legs and the lower stretcher structure on the Multi Router ...

More later

Update on The Lutyens Desk

Well, we wrapped it up on Friday. The client came to town and approved our pull design in natural cherry rather than the burl we proposed originally. It was the perfect choice as the burl pull looked 'mushy' against the burl veneer of the drawer faces. The polished cherry stands out without drawing too much attention, the perfect thing that hardware should do. This was a very interesting adaptation of a famous designer's design; we kept the original classic concept yet the client was able to add her vision to the process and in my opinion improve on the original shown at the bottom of the original post.

The finished desk

Close up of the corner showing the bubinga/walnut edge detail and drawer borders, as well as the fine leg turnings, pulls and finish by Will.

Since this desk will be used in a home office, the center drawer is given over to a keyboard flip down and mouse nest.

3/8/09 After being distracted for a bit by the Big Walnut Slabs and the new doors in the posts below, we got back on track on the desk this week. Will finished the small drawers Friday but we still have to work out the flip down front for the center keyboard drawer and build the shelf for the computer cpu to sit on. Also, as yet, the base is not glued up, awaiting final approval of the details, which we received today. The edge inlay on the top is complete and the top is ready for final sanding and finishing. It's looking like it's going to be another good one .... Click the photos to enlarge them ...

Installing the bubinga and walnut edge inlay with masking tape, our favorite handy clamp. First we put the bubinga on flush and then routed an 1/8 x 1/8" rabbet for the walnut. The walnut is long grain over the length of the top and cut across the width of the board on the ends to allow it to expand and contract with the top. Check the original post for more detail and background.

The finished edge inlay

road trip ... pool table installation

 will and i took a nice road trip today to sugarbush ski area in warren, to install the reclaimed post and beam pool table we finished last week.  it was a beautiful, sunny two hour drive, over brandon gap in the national forest, and up route 100 to warren, vermont. 

 the house had an easy, back door access and the installation went off without a hitch.  here's a link to a video of the table in action, with me missing some easy shots so you can see how the cushions work.  ha ha ... i'm liking the video thing as you can now see a little bit how the table plays and sounds.  i think i will try to do some other videos on a couple of the local tables we have built over the years.

we installed this table on a polished concrete floor that was absolutely, 100 %, perfectly level.  never saw anything like it before.  it was a welcome change from the last table we installed, where the floor was about 1/2" out of level from one end to the other. 

 

 it was a very nice, lower level room with great light, easy access and the tv was already installed.

 

 after truing up the edges of the slates with very thin index card shims, will bondoed the cracks before we stretched the felt.

 a little pocket trimming and some leather liners ...

 and it was time to rack 'em up.    

we had a couple of job site labs to help us out and keep us company ... good dogs...

the cue rack installation was easy ..

the house was beautiful and almost finished

 there was no snow, but the mountain looked steep and challenging, and they were trying ... all the guns were blowing snow, but it still looked pretty thin.  one of the carpenters said 'they're grooming the same four inches for the last two weeks'.

 on both legs of the trip, we passed the very scenic moss glen falls, around granville, on route 100.

 

sunset coming down brandon gap the other way ... home by 5:00 ...

some carved scrolls for a mantle

we recently carved some butternut scrolls for a mantle that one of our clients was making.  we had sort of an internet fuzzy photo to use as an inspiration, but we did some google image research and came up with the drawing below.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

 

we were pretty happy with it, as was our client, but i did put  it up on the door for an hour or two to make just a few refinements before it went into our cad program.

draw over it ... copy what you need

the reason we decided to do that was that, as you can see from the first photo, the element had to be 13" thick (!!) to complete the design.  after a little thought, we realized we'd need a whole bunch of pieces (about 20, not counting a couple of miscuts and practice pieces) and that led us instantly to the cnc.

after we finished the first one, we checked it on site before we did the second one ... good to go.

 this is an onsite photo after the finish was applied

 

i have the actual cad drawing somewhere and i'll post that later ... all for now ...
on site 12/14

a gate leg walnut console

we finished this walnut gateleg console table today, and it is headed for vail, colorado on thursday with 3 other pieces heading off, respectively, to chicago, (the custom pool table),, florida, (the 53" wide claro walnut table... more on that one later), and houston, (a cherry console table).  power of the internet.  for the first time this year, more of our work is going to clients who we have never met and who have never been to our studio than to clients we know or who have ties to southern vermont.  for the first few years, 10 or 20 at least, it was all people who had at least visted my shop or directly  knew folks who had.  the last 2 or 3 years, that's all changed.  it's amazing to me, but i'm really thankful.

this table started as a concept based on another parsons table we had previously built for this client for their home in connecticut.  the main requirement was that the table was a console table 95% (or more) of the time, but that, in a pinch, could become a dining table for 4 or six additional guests

it's your basic form with a fold over, veneered walnut top and two sets of gatelegs that swing out on the back side.

 

 with the legs fully unfolded, there will be room for 6 good friends or

or with the legs partially unfolded as below, comfortable seating for four.  even though we punted on the wood hinges, we still used the traditional dovetailed wood box for the table frame.

in the past, we have gone with the traditional wooden hinge for the gateleg option, but no matter how hard i tried, (and i've had my employees try it too) with the double gateleg, there was always too much 'play' in the wooden hinge for comfort and stability.  this time we used some very tight 3" brass butt hinges, which, while untraditonal, i feel are a long lasting and slightly stiffer alternative.  there you have it, compact seating for six from an 18" x 60" console table.  a good combination.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

email note from a relative below ...

"p.s. we were in vail for xmas, and love the 'convertible' table in kevin's condo. it looks fabulous."

odds and ends

time for another 'what's up at dorset custom furniture lately' post.  i notice i haven't been writing much lately ... change of seasons from summer to fall, change of seasons from golf and tennis to paddle tennis, reading some good books, ('gone girl', 'sisters brothers', 'crossing to safety', and others), wash and wax the convertible and store that for the winter, subdivide our property so we can refinance and build a new metal shop, design the metal shop, help a friend build a workbench, get ready to do some pottery, and on top of that there are lots of small projects, repairs, office stuff, and new quotes going out at work.  phew!  is that all really happening?  yeah, it is.  above we have sam's railings for the new manchester-and- the- mountains chamber of commerce building on main street.  he and jim installed the railings for the handicap ramps today and i know he has a couple other things to do there too.  click the photos to enlarge them ...

 he also recently made us a nice welded base for a claro walnut table that is leaving for florida on tuesday.  the one piece claro walnut table top is 52" wide by 102" long and about 2.75" thick.

i've lost count of these, but now we have another slab in the shop, below, that will soon be a table, and will head out for houston when it is finished in a couple of weeks.

that one will have one of our steel 'shaker' bases.

and our friend, joe hart, a local antiques dealer, brought this Grand Army of the Republic sign by sam's metal shop for a tune up.  the star 'arms' are flapping.

after a quick cardboard test template, Will made Sam a jig and some patterns and he welded up this reinforcing 'star' that we will screw to the back side of the sign frame ... good as new, and ready for another 100 years  or so.

a little paint and some screws, we're good to go ...

 joe and sue find the coolest stuff.  this snake weathervane needs a wall mount.

and then there's the other stuff that is happening in the wood shop.

trevor just finished 4 of our 'transitional' chairs to go with the cherry tables we finished recently

and now he's well on his way to 8 more, only in bubinga.  hard heavy stuff, but no match for trevor and his cnc work

16 legs ... couple three hours, max.  we're all going to help him sand these ones.  he says 'thank you'.
they will be heading to england shortly with this table and a few other pieces we made a few years ago for some english clients in Connecticut, who are moving back home after many years in the states.

one of our favorite forms.  we've made about a dozen of these in various sizes, detailing and wood combinations.  this one opens to about 10' as i remember.

and will finished a long, skinny cherry console in the 'studio style' that will be leaving for houston, as soon as our long island based shipper ply con, recovers from hurricane sandy.  they are scheduled to be here next tuesday for the pool table, the table to florida, and this one.  will had his plane sharp in this photo.  that's an ebony and maple end grain inlay he's planing off there, with his block plane no less.  sharp, i guess.

nice figured cherry.

and he's also in the finishing stage of this 18-36 x 60" double gate leg console/'dining table for overflow dinner parties'.  that one is off to vail, colorado, next week.seats four with the legs opened a little, it could seat six i you open the legs until they touch in the center. 

what else? aahhhh, the friend's workbench ...

mike has been a contractor for 30 years, and now has a serious interest in upgrading his woodworking/furniture building skills.  i like doing stuff like this.  passin it on, and give me a chance to feel like i've learned something over the last 40 years.   i've talked him through roughing out, mortising and tenoning the legs, and we roughed out the 2.5" thick cherry top last weekend ... he'll be back when he's got that all fitted up and ready to glue. vises and dogs next.

here's the new metal shop/photoshop mockup, hopefully to be built in the parking lot at the woodshop in the spring.  30 x 28.

floor plans

oh yeah, repairs.  we've had a run of them.
let's start with randall's little plant stand.  it is a family piece she's passing on to another family member,  but first, it needed a tune up.  polish the marble, replace the missing moldings, polish the finish ... love the legs with their elegant shape and corner carvings.  the sliding top/drawer was neat too.  cool object.

i think it's called a 'dutch' foot, and the bottom of it is turned on the lathe on two different centers.  i made some myself for a client about 20 years ago.  good luck finding that picture.  hmmm, i do go on ... and on ... it is a busy time though.

in the top photo, we had to carefully rout out the damaged wood and fill it in with new pieces.  than we routed that again and added another new piece on top.  then, below, since the tenon was sheardce off at the leg face, i carefully add two trim head stainless steel screws in place of the tenon and then inlaid a square flush patch over them ...

this chair was fixed a million times before we got it, but this time, it was fixed more correctly, sort of.  not a museum job, but i'll guarantee it for my and my client's lifeitme.   a little paint and it was out the door ...

and then there was that custom brass strike plate on the cnc for another friend ...

and now yesterday and today, will and i are on to the next pool table, in reclaimed hemlock to match the post and beam frame of the client's home in stowe ... forward ...

the beginnings of the rails, cushions, and the slate support frame ... if you can believe it, that's all for now.