The Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers Blog

Ok all you woodworker readers ... here comes something new. The Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers is in the process of launching a blog. There are 29 members and we'll all get our own day to write a post so there (hopefully) will be some new content every day. It will take a minute to get it under way but once we get the hang of it, it should be pretty interesting. you can check out their blog here now and if there isn't much up yet, sign up for the rss feed and actually watch it as it happens ... 29 furnituremakers, 29 styles, 29 viewpoints, tips and techniques ... look out Fine Woodworking ....

Sping Fever

The Garden ... of course

Yo! I see I haven't been writing much lately ... must be Spring Fever in Vermont (finally). I think I've played my last paddle tennis for the season and I made it to the tennis court and the golf course in the last week. Too much going on outside to sit in front of a computer any more than I have to, which, (fortunately), has been quite a bit lately. We've had a flurry of requests for new quotes and designs which is quite a change from the last couple of months when I thought someone had stolen my phone or taken down my website. We've got quite a few projects on the board and in the pipeline which is nice. Some of the things we've been working on ... click to enlarge ...

A challenging desk repair .. delivered it today ... more on that later

Finished the doors .. more info here

Put the stove in last fall ... Need a wood shed now ... concrete Friday

Me and my original woodshed with beams I hewed from pines on my property in Arlington, VT .. circa 1975.

A cherry, burl and walnut coffee table to go with a credenza we made four years ago .. roughed out the lumber and stickered it today ..

A cherry bed like we made for my neighbor Sheila (and a few other clients)

Will roughed out the turnings today and Trevor started on the rails and the bolts.

We're copying a knife display case we made about 10 years ago for a new store J K Adams is opening in Stowe ... If the felt for the back of the top case comes tomorrow, we'll finish it up..

In process

This is the next tbig thing ... a room full of paneling, a desk and a bar/stereo cabinet ... concept below ...

Designs for a 'dragonfly ' coffee table for a potential new client

the bar cabinet for the project above ...

All for now though that's not all that's going on ... They say Spring is a time of renewal ... I guess ...

Tansu Stairs Update

3/20/09 Trevor made some progress this week on the tansu stair cabinet described in the post on 3/9. It's pretty much his baby, with the rest of us brainstorming with him as needed. He's doing a great and careful job on a complex project. The main cabinet is complete now with the face frames and cabinet backs glued on. Yesterday and today he's been working on the templates for the three steel railing sections that Sam is making parts for. He cut some cardboard railing outlines and mdf post prototypes on the cnc to discover minor corrections that need to be made before cutting the real templates and posts on Monday. He also took a little time out this afternoon to do the butterfly inlays on the walnut plank in the foreground of the end of day shot above .... (click to enlarge it) ... On the face frame. rather than do the half laps the old fashioned way with a manual layout and tablesaw dados, he convinced me he could cut them as fast using a combination of the cnc for marking and layout and the tablesaw for halflapping. I think it took him a little longer than usual as it was his first time, but I want to tell you ... that face frame is perfectly square with not one drawer front off 90 degrees. I'm coming around to his way of thinking ....

Checking the rail to wall and mocked up ceiling fit

Checking the post notch and rail taper angles

Some of the drawer parts with some of the risers and treads stickered in thebackground ... Lots o pieces.

Small two man brainstorm session

No Time For Details

Think of this one as a sort of 'mother-of-all-posts' ... For one reason or another this month, I have been too busy to write in any detail. New requests for work are coming in .. Some of them are pretty involved design wise. Plus we're working on two different sets of chairs, a two chair addition to a set of 8 we made in 1991 (luckily we still had some patterns and jigs) .... and one set is a redesign of a chair we also made first in the 90's. Chairs, particualrly new deisgns require a lot of attention.
Last weekend, Will and I went to the Vineyard to set up a pool table and I am headed for NYC this Sunday to drop off the 'Art Deco' 'cabinet. Work has even slightly cut into my paddle tennis time. I am not, however, complaining, but figure myself as being kind of lucky for the moment ..... Here's what were working on ... Click the pictures for better viewing ...


A set of eight chairs based loosely on the green one which is the mockup from the originals

parts

There will by 6 sides and two arms in this set

This is one of the original set of 8 that we're making two more for ..

Carved 'Spanish' feet and a nice turned stretcher

An important original angle drilling jig for the side round stretchers. The bottom piece of poplar is angled on the same angle as the front to back of the chairs ... +/- 7 degrees I think it is .. Glad we saved this one ...

Will is signing the ebony cabinet, which mostly, except for Trevor's inlay work and my small assist hanging the doors, he did all the work on. This photo shows the nice shine ... It's off to the city Sunday ...

DCF 2008

Will and I set up the pool table and light fixture on the Vineyard last weekend. the clients were happy and after some good live music Friday night, we ...

toured around a sort of deserted Edgartown ... unbelievable architecture .

Spire on the Methodist Church ... columns are about 48" in diameter at the base

The doors are at least 10' high ... IMHO a 'perfect' piece of Federal architecture

We had a request for a coffee table with a base like the card table posted in December ...

We designed it, but the order is not confirmed

This is a new design project for a client in Weston ... we're still working on the designs for this wall and two others in the same room ... good project for a good client ..

Considered all closed doors

We're also reworking the mantle detail and considering stone for the fireplace

Still lots to do on the edesign for this one before we can start ... The carpenters are framing now though so hopefully it won't be long ..

We designed a coffee table with 'hidden' compartments ... a website request ... unconfirmed as yet

We did a field test for safety equipment to protect us from tablesaw kickback

A new railing project design for Sam .. a complex one to figure out with all the levels and corners.

Got it figured now and it will get underway next week sometime

Designed some simple mirrors for over the tapered cabinets ... unconfirmed as yet

Another web request for a custom cofee table based on one we built several years ago ..

Getting close but as yet unconfirmed

Got an order for two coffee tables like this one ...

http://www.dorsetcustomfurniture.com/ItemDetails.aspx?iId=181&mId=-7&pcId=

Vew-Do Balance Boards Board Stands

Last year we did a run of custom retail store displays for our friends at Vew-Do Balance Boards, a local company where Will used to work. Business is good for them and we did another 20 stands last week. They ship flat, hold 4 boards, four rocks and a signboard for promotional material. The parts slide together without tools and are rigid and stable .... It took a couple prototypes and subtle adjustments to get them right the first time last year, but this run of 20 stands went off without a hitch..
Click to enlarge the pictures.

40 sides, 20 backs

A fuzzy picture of the stained, assembled stand