5/13 /2011 ... ready to go ... hopefully, these two completed tables will be on their way to north carolina next week, in time for the memorial day weekend ...
the lightly stained cherry one; 48 x 84
and the recycled chestnut one; 46 x 108
and, a better picture of the cherry coffee tables ... great wood
the story below ...
5/6/2011 ... we've had a little run of tables in the last two weeks ... two coffee tables and two dining tables ... the two coffee tables go with
the couches and lounge chairs we delivered last month ...the other two go to a cabin in georgia to one of my
long time internet clients and instigator of
the original duck bed. we've never met, but we have several 'connections' that make you realize just how small the world can be ... #1. one of her best friends from high school in tennessee has a house in dorset and he and his wife were in our (will) lamaze class ... they live in new york city now and we see them only occasionally but still consider them pretty good friends. #2. when i was making the original duck bed,
my fire client was in the shop and asked where that bed was going and when i told him, he knew the husband slightly as he was a 'member of the same club on lake erie' exactly where the bed was going ... #3. when we were discussing the tables recently, she informed me she and her husband had just had dinner with some 'people who used to have a house in dorset and knew me' ... turns out i kept my convertible in their garage for two winters about 10 years ago. it's a
really small world sometimes and someday, i'll make the trip down there to meet them ... i feel like i know them already ... anyway, here goes .. click the photos to enlarge them ...
this is the beginnings of the chestnut porch table in the sketches and cad drawing above ...
we sort of adjusted proportions and details as we went along and will put the first coat of finish on the table base and bottom of the top on his way out the door today ...
here he's gluing in the central elements and attaching the long beam to the glued up base ..
we hosted a
dorset chamber of commerce (check out our new website) mixer last night and i was able to set up the table to show work some of our work in process and as a place to cut the cake celebrating the 250th anniversary of the chartering of dorset in 1761. the celebration will be townwide on the 20th of august ...
the second dining table started with this fine log of cherry from (as usual) our friends at
irion lumber ...
the cad drawing based on our own dining table
nice wide matched planks ...
will will put the final coat of finish on the base and top of this one tomorrow ... this design is based
on our own dining table that i made in 1987, only without the black legs and inlays ...
and then we also made two 'bethlehem steel' style coffee tables .. this client bought
the original one board mahogany version last year at
open studio, which, by the way, is coming up again in just 3 weeks ... memorial day weekend, hundreds of vermont artists will be once again be opening their studios saturday and sunday to welcome both local and out of state guests ....
you know, these pictures just don't do these boards justice ... they have that 'once every 5 years' 'ropy' curl to the cherry ... always a treat ... always hard to capture in a picture ... these tables will go in the same room, which is appropriate, because the boards were once ten feet long and the round table boards were attached to the rectangular table boards before we cut them ... another 'connection' ...
it's not often that you get to see a table you made 21 years ago that lives 300 miles away. just after christmas though, one of my long time clients emailed to say that their table had sustained some damage over the holidays and needed some help. coincidentally, my shipper was in the area and was able to pick it up and return it to me for refinishing. i regret not taking a photo when it arrived, but i do have one below from early in the refinishing process. the scratch was not small, but neither was it deep, so it sanded right out. this table is one of my early 'studio style' pieces and loyal readers will recognize the style from a recent post on a dining room we completed early last fall. it's a comfort to me that we are still making pieces in a style i originally started working on way back in 1986. nice to know that an idea you came up with has some legs and staying power. click the photos to enlarge them ...
this is a close up of the red abalone inlay squares in the central element of the table design. the black is milk paint from the old fashioned milk paint company and looks as good as it did (minus the dog chews) 21 years ago. it polished up like new.
i had actually forgotten about the square detail, and now that i'm reminded, will maybe do a new piece or two using the square rather than our regular angled look.
regular angled look above from the dining room post last fall ...
early in the refinishing process. the oil finish we used in the early 90's has since been replaced by more durable brush on poly finishes and this client was good about refreshing his finish a couple times a year. theat did create quite an 'oil buildup' that, while it protected the table, proved difficult to remove. the table was also in a sunny south facing room, which created a kind of 'sunburned' bleached surface which was kind of whitish until we got through it.
this picture shows my first wiping with mineral spirits ... more work to do ...
and here it is after the first coat of finish ... i'll be interested to hear what the clients have to say about it after it is returned to pennsylvania on thursday ... it's a cool thing to visit with an old friend ...
