a dozen big ones

in case you are not familiar with it, the guild of vermont furnituremakers has a blog going also. i hadn't posted anything on the guild blog for a long time as i have been too busy with my own and it's summer. i recently wrote the post below there to 'sum up' the run of big tables we have been making in the last few months. i have included the appropriate links to each of our posts with the photos below. at those links, you can see more photos and process comments on each piece.

in the last three months,we've had the opportunity to build a somewhat amazing series of large tables, and, since i have all the photos organized, i thought it might be nice to collect them in one place so here they are ... click the photos to enlarge them ...

this is a 10 footer we delivered to stowe last week. (7/30) it has our standard 'shaker style' steel base that we offer in 'natural' steel, the 'blackened finish' above, and a 'rainbow' finish, which is kind of unpredictable, but generally 'bronzy' in color.

this is a view of the base routed into and bolted to the bottom of the slab top ... we have the steel pieces waterjet cut from 1.5" plate steel and then we drill, tap, grind, polish and finish them ...

and here is a desk with a 'secret' compartment and our new 'trapezoid' steel base with a 'natural' finish in 1.5 x 3" tubing ... 44 x 66 x 29 high.

cool view from the end ..

and a secret compartment, accessed using this folding brass, sam made, tool in it's own 'secret' compartment.  currently it's on view and for sale at the art and industries show in housatonic, mass.

this 40" x 12' table went to the chicago area about 3 weeks ago (4 or 5 weeks by now) and also arrived at its destination last week.

it had a new for us, 'expresso finish', which was expertly top coated with magnamax lacquer by steve holman of holman studios, another guild of vermont furniture makers member.
here's one that went to london this past spring ... we crated it up with the legs disassembled and arranged flat on the bottom of the crate and shipped it via truck to an international agent in new york city. it arrived about 20 days later and costs only a little more than it would cost to have shipped it to say, seattle. pretty amazing ...

and this one we made for our show at the southern vermont art center back in february. it sold
at the show and is now happy in its new home in guildford, connecticut.

this was an unusal one that we made back in may. the slab was split completely into two pieces when we bought it with the slab for our show, above, so we got a deal on it ... will and trevor stitched it back together with about 20 butterflies, most on the top, some on the bottom ... good as new .. this table has a base with polished 5/8ths" rebar, a funky new thing we have been fooling with. it's currently with six chairs trolling for clients at the vermont visitors center in guilford on route 91. no takers yet.

this is what the slabs look like when we buy them on the internet ... the client gets to see them (sort of) before we buy them ... #3 here is currently in the shop being turned into a 9' table, headed to the boston area next week now that it too is finished.

so far, so good

ok .. all finished now ... we had to move it to the garage so we could finish and photograph the 60" wide slab detailed below. i was pleasantly surprised by what a good photo studio the garage can be ...

i was able to sit on almost the top step of the stairs to the upstairs of the garage and shoot down on the table top. something i've not been able to do anywhere else. it's a nice perspective that also minimizes the reflections ...

and now, the widest one yet ... +/- 63" wide in the rough, cut to 60 x 96 ...

the boys are at it here with the 3.5" makita power planers ... it's a noisy, tedious job ..

and here it is, in my garage ( the shop is kind of crowded right now) on the mocked up 'trapezoid' base ... it has to be all finished and on its way to aspen at the end of next week (8/14) ... it's gonna be tight ...

finished now (8/20)... time for the formal picture later today ...

 probably we should have brought in the professionals to shoot this one.

tough photo ... big table ... little background paper .... hard to get everything in focus ... GREAT piece of wood though ... 60" wide ... amazing

and we've done three coffee tables too with 'smaller' slabs .. i think this one was 38 x 54" ... you can see the other two at this blog post ... and this one

and then, for one of our original claro table customers who came to us back in 2010, we made this unusual (for us) 3' x 11' copper clad table ... the copper is glued to a thick wood base and then nailed on with 1'5" copper slate nails whose heads jim gently beveled with a drill on the edge sander ... we have a 40 x 60 coffee table version in the shop, awaiting the liver of sulphur patina ...

the base is reclaimed, distressed oak with a gray paint finish

if, after all this, you'd like to see more of our claro walnut pieces, here's a final link that will give you access to the whole 'category' and some of the other tables we have made in the past three or four years..

whew! long post ... time for a guinness ...
8/12/2012 .. ahhh, forgot the one below definitely another 'large table' ... 4' x 8'

our blog post link here

 set up temporarily in the shop yesterday for a final 'test run' ...

 for the test run, we used a piece of blue felt left over from another project so we can stretch the real camel color felt only once when we install it next week ... and, we've got another pool table coming up next month ... lots of stuff here ... thanks for sticking with me if you made it to the end ...

7 28 2012 ... action!

well, what's happening here this past week you ask? where to even start? it's a busy time and there is a lot going on. click the photos to enlarge them ...

our main project for the past two weeks has been the pool table above, in walnut and blistered maple, with some burl and mother of pearl accents. it's a standard 8 footer, and the drawing below is a modified version of a table we built about 10 years ago for a local client.
that one had tapered legs but this client requested straight onesthere are a lot of parts and steps and assembling and disassembling that go into making a pool table and the selection above shows most of them in the rough. the 3 piece slate, the 16 pieces for the legs, the rails, the panels, on and on ..
we started with a plywood leg mockup for size and colors and moved on, a step at a time to the photo at the top of the page ... even after 14 other tables, we still follow the steps outlined in a very excellent fine woodworking article by paul bowman from fine woodworking issue #75.we're on the home stretch. will will finish the mother of pearl inlays tomorrow and start on the blinds, and trevor will glue the inlays into the legs once the frame is disassembled. actually, trevor will do that after he returns from delivering the 10' claro walnut table above to stowe with jim tomorrow.classic design, with our shaker inspired blackened 1.5" thick steel legs ...
and terrific grain and figure in the top ... this slab is from the same log as the expresso finish table we recently shipped to chicago.
and will finished up banjo #11.

it was a surprise birthday present to sarah from her husband john and it was REALLY a surprise.

they are nusician friends of will's and john said they were going to 'stop by' to see will and tour the shop. at the end of the tour, will showed them the new banjo he had just finished. when she asked who it was for and told him how 'perfect' the inlays were, john told her it was for her and she said 'yeah, right'. perfect. she was surprised.
and next saturday, the 2nd annual 'vermont artists show' opens in town. last year it was a great show and this year i'm sure will be equal to it or even better. we've got a small claro coffee table
with a rainbow finish steel base that we will wrap up in time for the delivery later this week coming up.
and we've got a kitchen commission in the design stage. next up are the full size cardboard plan views to be checked on site before we begin. the wood arrived this week and we will start cutting it up as soon as the pool table goes to the finish room ... we've got about 6 weeks to finish it and install it with its friend the kitchen island we wrapped up back in may.
and will finished the reclaimed oak bench/settle that's been in the works for a couple weeks. looks great and it will be off to the upholsterer's shop to be measured for cushions shortly. and this past week, a first, the 'owner built table'. paul kelly, a teacher at our local high school, commissioned a table with wood that he had bought locally and then asked if 'he could help' with its construction. well, i knew he was a clever guy and a friend, and thought, why not ... it turned out to be a pleasure for everyone in the shop and we especially enjoyed having connor and ryan around to help with the heavy lifting. great kids, and it took me back to my early days in the shop with sam and will occasionally 'helping out'. paul dubbed it the 'father and son' table and even caught a shot of me and will doing the final inspection before it left for the finish room.
it's a classic 'bethlehem steel' design with two book matched planks that we swapped end for end to make a less tapered top. we put a small bevel on the planks before we glued them up and the sap wood made a pleasing design in the center.
and trevor figured out how to make a 5" thick slice of white oak 4" thick for an upcoming boston project that sam will make a metal base for ...
as soon as he adds the arms to these metal porch chairs for a client in peru.  not that peru, peru, vermont. i liked the design so much, i commissioned sam to make a one armed version for our own porch. the cushions will be finished this week ...
i was thinking of adding a wood arm over the steel, but i kind of like the negative space and the fact that it isn't connected to the back structure. maybe just a small wood arm with room for a beer holder .. we'll see ....
and we had some rain and the local (end of the driveway) chanterelle patch is producing again ... these wild mushrooms go great with most anything, from salmon, to eggs, to meat loaf ... can't beat 'em.
summer's great in vermont ... all for now ...