stuff in the works

well, 2012 is certainly off to an interesting start ... we finished a stool this week for a client/friend who recently finished this needlepoint project after working on it off an on for a really long time (she claims 15 years, off and on). so, she is really excited to cross it off her 'to do' list after all this time and will be picking it up next week. click the photos to enlarge them ...
next up, next week we'll be transforming this 8 foot claro slab into a dining table that will then be shipped to england .. imagine that .. it's not my first international shipment, but they don't come along everyday .. we'll crate it up, get it to an agent in boston, and off it will go, i presume, by boat. the house will be finished in april so it should get there in plenty of time.
the leg structure is a new design and we're anxious to see it all come together. it's 1.5" thick steel and it will be blackened like others we have built in the past ... there's a model of the completed table around somewhere ..
and after that one, we have a show coming up in february at the southern vermont art center (why put things off til the last minute?) and we're starting to work on our pieces for that effort. i haven't done a show for a while and it's always a good exercise. the slab above is going to be probably a dining table or maybe a coffee table. i'm working on the room layout below. the flat art on the wall will be by marta johansen, and old friend, and we're trying to make things that will complement and not interfere with her work. it's not a huge room, but it looks like we'll have room for a couple of mirrors in the corners, a bureau, a bench and low console, and the claro slab above in one form or another... we'll have to see how we do ...
the bureau is nearly complete ... all the cherry for it came from the same log and it has nice figure.
four drawers and steel legs, like half the bureau we made as part of our bethlehem steel series below.
and, i'm working on a tapered corner mirror belwo that will mount on a wall in the end, but for the show it will have to have a freestanding base.
again, some nicely figured irion cherry...
it will be kind of like this one, only with natural cherry and some steel details.
my other mirror piece, which i have so far only mocked up, will have a fish eye type convex (security) mirror which will (hopefully) reflect all the drawings and furniture in the room in one peek. the base and rod support will need a little more thought and a little more heft, maybe employing some polished firewood ...
i turned and painted this on the lathe from mdf as a prototype. and will added a little gold leaf yesterday morning to set off the mirror from the dark background .. gold leafed mdf ... ha ha ha ! told you you can do a lot with mdf ...
and will's side business, seeders instruments, has banjo #8 in the works .. picolo style; cherry and walnut ...
he also got a repair/restore job from one of his clients. it's about a hundred years old and needs 'some work' ... seeders instruments to the rescue ... more on this stuff as it progresses ...
and sam's stretching a bit to create this half oval balcony. bending flat stock in a horizontal plane requires a great deal of patience, adjusting and care.
he made the oval frame where you stand and the bottom and top of the ailing using the same jig.
bending rectangular flat stock in a horizontal plane requires a series of saw cuts and a bunch of grinding. plus the stock has a mind of its own as it is welded and if you're not careful your piece gets longer as you go ... fun ...
then there's the challenge of keeping things square as you fit and weld and the fine challenge of bending thick stock to fit around thinner stock ... home stretch now ... i saw it had primer on it yesterday ...
also, we've got a couple built in bench projects in the works. one is straight and straightforward, and was primed yesterday, while the curved one is more complex and still in the estimating/approval, finish details stage.
cardboard and 1/4" mdf; micro pins and hot glue ...
a little resawn foam for cushions ...
for the straight bench, the designer added the back after he completed the drawings so it was left to us to decide on the angle ... our mockup was a little too vertical ( in the end we ended up with about a 1/2" seat pitch, front to back, and a 15 degree slope off of that. it seemed to look good with the mahogany side tables trevor was working on the tables below have a 'hidden drawer'
and we're working on a new postcard/handout design .. getting close to ordering them. i'm about out of my old '30 year anniversary' ones from two years ago.
i'll be teaching a short workshop course on digital design and fabrication at green mountain college in poultney this spring. lucas brown, the head of the furniture program there has designed a 'one sheet' desk and stool. after a couple of prototypes and subtle programming adjustments, trevor is nearly finished with his 'classroom' run of 22 tables ( +/- 288 total pieces) .. they are pretty cool, slip together, and require no fasteners to assemble. the concept is similar to others we've done for vew-do balance boards and wagatha's dog biscuits.
and lastly, i passed this slab of claro walnut on the stairs on the way out the door yesterday ... i have to make a quick poplar mockup, cut it down a little, add some butterflies, finish the wood and steel, and send it off to greenwich village ...
whew, how do i keep track of all this? you might legitimately ask ... well, i don't sometimes. it's a constant juggle and shuffle and as time goes by, i rely more and more on my guys to figure it out, help each other, and work as a team to keep ALL of us on track ... i'm lucky to have 'em ...

have a good weekend ... guild of vermont furniture makers meeting at my shop today.

banjo #6 ... a remake

will shipped his latest banjo project yesterday afternoon. it was a 're-necking' of an antique instrument made by W.A.Cole, of boston mass. the client had the original nickled brass pot, head, and tension hardware, but the original 8 string banjo mandolin neck was missing. click the photos to enlarge them...
the client is a banjo collector and w a cole was mostly known for his banjos so she wanted a five string, short neck to go with the diminutive 8.75" pot. will was able to find pictures of w a cole's original inlays online and was able to replicate some of them in the new neck ...
here's a close up of the original maker's mark on the dowel stick which is now back home in the original pot, which, as you can see below, polished up nicely.
it has a surprisingly loud and robust sound and i'm sure at some point soon there will be a video online on will's website, seeders instruments, so you can hear it ... great sound ! 12/18/2011 ... the video is up now ... here's a link to it.
this photo shows the 8 string end from its original banjo mandolin configuration which will was able to adapt to the new five string mode.
he had to fabricate a missing, tricky, dovetailed brass piece that tightens the neck to the pot. he had it chromed to match the original by a local electroplating service, vermont plating, in rutland.
in the new case, and ready to ship ... should arrive at its destination tomorrow ...

Bango #3

Well, ok, now we're rolling. The first banjo we did together and it took a while to figure out and build ... Most of a summer of spare time, actually. Number 2, Will did on his own and that one also took a while, but not as long as the first one. Number 3, on the other hand is rolling right along. The first picture in this series is from 11/17... Less than a month of spare time .. Pretty good. It's a Christmas present from a grandmother to a grandson and it looks like it will be on time ... Click the photos to enlarge them ....

The photo at the top shows the traditional neck to body 'dowel stick' joint. This required a drill press set up with the table on the 4.5 degrees and skewed out of vertical ... an anxiety ridden set up for sure ... He hit it right though ... good to go ..
He started, as usual, by turning the pot, which he bricklaid in cherry and walnut...
This banjo is being referred to as a 'mini' ...and at 8", the head is pretty small.
Next the head and hardware arrived ... It's brass and now it's antiqued, which is a pretty classy look. The plywood is left on the pot until it's drilled for the hardware ...
Since the head is small, the scale is shorter so he had to cut a new indexing jig on the cnc ... That fits into this jig that guides the saw to cut the slots for the frets.
The one on the right is a steel one for a standard scale banjo.
Next is the neck and the truss rod. The pot to neck angle is 4.5 degrees and it's set off from the perpendicular a little to align the cent of the neck with the 'g' string ..
Good fit ... no, perfect fit ...
Here's the finished fretboard and the peg head with the 'swann' inlay ... that's his last name ....
All for now .... Next step .... string it up and add the finish ...