new stuff for sale

we've got a new claro walnut dining table almost ready to go.  it doesn't have a home yet, and it's not 100% finished, but we've got no place to set it up to finish it right now.  the finish room is full with the 11' walnut table at the bottom of this post and a few other items.  the walnut table will be leaving this week coming up and we'll attach the top to the base below, and polish it up.  it will be available at an attractive price.  if you're interested, please give me a call and we can talk about it.  click the photos to enlarge them ..

sam finished the base on thursday.  it's 'natural' finish steel; lightly polished and oiled.  the slab is slightly wider at one end than the other, and so is the base.  the top overall is 35-38 wide and 91" long.  the base is about 60" long overall.

this is the slab we started with.  it wasn't too flashy in the rough, and some folks like to have live edges, but now that it's finished, it has a nice consistent color, has some nice grain, and overall has a really pleasing look.

and behind the walnut slab were two other coffee table size slabs that we're in the process of finishing up.  this one is big leaf maple burl, about 31 x 54 and it will be fitted up to the base below that sam should have finished on monday.  also homeless and available at a good price soon too.

and the claro slab below, i think i'll hold off on for a minute ... it could be squarish; it could be round?? or it could just hang out here until someone comes along to claim it.  maybe it wants to be a really small round center table.

and the three new slabs below will be arriving in a couple weeks ... desks ??  coffee tables ?? we'll see.

and below is the double pedestal walnut table that will be on its way to california mid week next week.  it's been in the works for a while awaiting final color approval, but it's good to go now.  more on that one in my next post.

there are other pieces ready to go on this page

another claro walnut slab table

up next, another claro walnut slab table.  this one will be about 52" wide by 102" long after i make the final cuts tomorrow. the base will be welded steel, similar to the one on the desk we made in july  and the dining table we sent to aspen in august.  click the photos to enlarge them.

sam is ready to weld the base pieces tomorrow, and the jig is ready to go too.

the process of moving these tables from the rough slab to the final dimensions is one that we approach very slowly, a bit at a time.  once you cut something off, there's no sticking it back on again.  and, a lot of the time, we disagree amongst ourselves what is the 'best' cut to make.  we try to involve the client as much as possible, but it's often hard to portray in photos what exactly it is that we see in front of us. 

 in this case, we started by trimming off the 'legs', and obvious choice.  we did leave a little bit of the crotch showing on the face side, and we may go back and trim that a bit more before we finish.

 we then cut some of the cracked portion off the far end as the table wants to be around 102" long when we finish it.

we then did some rough planing and splashed a little alcohol on it to check the figure .. looks good.

we then made a 2x4 mockup of the base and checked the proportions ... now, as you can see from the top photo in this post, we've moved the slab down to the shop now that the pool table and the oak table are gone.  it'll move right along now ... updates as we go ..

update on the 60" claro slab

all in, all done ... i had to take pictures of this one three different times before i finally got it right, but it was worth it ... this is a really wide piece of walnut and it's kind of unlikely i'll get one like it again. click the photos to enlarge them ...
you can see a little more of the base here ...
and in this shot, some of the natural defects (ant trails) that we left in the finished piece ...
and here's the photo from my supplier, good hope hardwoods, that i sent to the potential client to seal the deal.
and here is sam's fabricating/welding jig that he used when building the trapezoidal shapes for the base verticals ... those he connected with 2.5" angle iron which gave us a rigid, independent base structure which we will remove for shipping ...
this table top had some miles on it before we finished, and it was no picnic to move it .. it started in california somewhere, went to pennsylvania, to dorset and the woodshed at my house, moved to the garage, from there to the shop for final smoothing and sanding, and then to the finish room on a special cart we built to get it out the door .. going down the 2' high 8' long ramp from the front steps of the shop was 'thrilling'.
across the driveway was a piece of cake comparatively ... jim is actually on tiptoes here ...
and here you can see the cart and the more relaxing ramp into the finish room ...
where it went through it's usual paces ... off to aspen this week, or maybe el paso first.

a claro walnut slab desk (with a secret compartment)

well, here they come ... first project in a group of six claro walnut slab pieces that will be finished in the next two weeks ... we have this desk, a 12' table, a 10' table, a coffee table and a small bench, all with steel bases of one form or another ... this desk is about 42 x 66 and is sporting a new dan/sam welded steel base with our natural finish ... the slab wasn't big enough to be a dining table, though now it could seat 6, even with the bases close to the ends .. the metal at the floor is actually kind of cool when you are sitting at the end. click the photos to enlarge them ...

the base is a pair of 1.5 x 3" rectangular tube trapezoids with vertical aprons. it was sam's brainstorm to weld the long aprons vertically rather than on the 10 degree angle, which allowed us to more easily construct the drawer box.
without the desk attached

top view .. this desk is one of the walnut slabs from back in february. we can't wait for customers to come along forever ... actually, this piece is for a show we're in that is opening in housatonic, massachusetts on the 24th. more on that later.

one 24" drawer centered on the 45" apron.

and, one of our favorite things, the secret compartment ... push down on one end of the pencil tray and lift it out ...

to expose the folding brass 'tool' sam made to hook onto the small drawer at the back of the case.

the tool unfolded ...

hooking onto the compartment ...

ta dahhhh ... 6.5 x 23 by 2" deep ... room for lots of stuff ...
here are some of the other projects. some of which will get their own blog post as they are finished. this is a small bench we used to get the color and finish right on the 12' 'expresso' finish slab above it.this is a 10' with a 'rainbow' finish base that will be in stowe on the 31st.
and this is another one for the upcoming show ... a coffee table 45 x 55 x 18 ..
and this 10' table is waiting for the apartment in nyc to be finished ... it's got a blackened steel base and incredible curl ... best slab ever .... all for now

update on new claro slabs available 3/26

we trucked our new slabs to berkshire products last week to ahve them sanded. many hundreds of dollars later, we can really see what they will be like ... they're not numbered the same as before, but you get the idea ... i think i'll let them speak for themselves ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
there's a fine desk in here i think
aka, 'the goat faced slab'
#5 in the photos below ... not bad ...
really not bad at all ...
funky one ...and below is the original post ...
well, this one looks like it's going to be a beauty. the next time you see it, it will be more obvious, but i can tell you now that this piece of timber is pretty spectacular. it's slab #2 above. true, it's got some minor issues, but ooh lah lah, it looks like there is some fantastic stuff hidden in that roughness. it will make a great coffee or center table, and it's available to be transformed and delivered soon to you. lots of other claro walnut ideas to consider in this recent post. click the photos below to enlarge them.
i purchased these 4 new smaller slabs from my supplier, goodhope hardwoods, while shopping for the piece above that i purchased for a new client in new york city. it's going to be a 10 foot dining table. it's hard to see here, but it's covered in curly figure from one end to the other .. i hope to start working it up later this week.

3/26 .. less hard to see now

crazy !!
i also purchased these three medium sized slabs and it looks like number 3 or #1 will make a really nice desk. a few years back, we made this mango wood desk, and ever since, i've been meaning to do another along those lines as a spec piece. i'm working with the director of exhibitions at the guilford, vermont welcome center on route 91 and hope to show some pieces there this summer. nothing like a claro walnut desk to grab some eyeballs.
i just realized i forgot to photograph slab #2, but i'll get on that tomorrow.
and i've still got this last piece from the previous set. it is literally in two pieces, cracked from end to end, but is hanging on the wall with steel tube stiffeners for now ... i can see a nice curved, end to end set of butterflies, big to small to big again, reconnecting the two pieces into one fine dining table. it's about 45 x 90 x 1.375 thick. great figure hiding in there too. it's the next one in the log from the one below .. nice ..
in case you are wondering if i robbed a bank to buy this wood, there's an explanation having to do with our recent show at the southern vermont arts center. we had, as ed sullivan used to say, "a really good show" ... it comes down this tuesday.