A Custom Walnut Vanity

I put a few pictures of this project up in a 'what we are working on post' last week. It's finished now and while it was pretty straight forward, there were a couple of interesting wrinkles ... Our client liked the onyx top and the way that the sink was carved out of the solid block .. The metal base that came with it though didn't go with her decor though so we got to make a new one, and a matching mirror. The vanity had to have an interrupted back rail to accommodate the holes that were already drilled for the faucets. Sam rolled us a couple of pieces of steel and he also made a couple of curved brass pieces to line the opening of the mirror frame ... Click the photos to enlarge them ...
The finished vanity base with an mdf mockup top/full size drawing in place.
With the top removed to show the two custom steel pieces.
better view ...
The onyx top and the base that came with it ... I haven't seen it in person, but the onyx started out as a block 6" + thick and they milled the sink from the solid ... Very cool, but hmmm ... seems like there would be a lot of waste ...
Ahhh, the mirror ... Everyone likes the mirror. The light sconces are antique brass and Joan asked if we could 'add some brass details' to the mirror frame .. We tapered the frame like the legs and added some curves and small round headed brass pins to hold the brass in place.
Close up of the brass detail ...
Will, fitting the brass prior to antiquing it ...
Ready to apply. The steel parts were painted black ...

An English Elm Slab Table

We're working on a new table project with a client in Connecticut. We went back and forth on the design a bit and explored various shaped tops and base options ... Yesterday we finalized the shape and size of the top and we glued up the planks today .... The grain matched nicely, and it's going to be an interesting looking table ... It's our first time for English elm, but it won't be the last I'm sure .... Berkshire Products in Sheffield, Mass. has a good supply of wide, interesting and reasonably priced slabs .... Check them out on the internet, or check them out in person ... Very cool wood source ....
The English elm has a really nice natural brown color, quite different from any of our domestic hardwoods... The table will have a polished steel base similar to a table we finished recently ....
I actually made the trip to Sheffield to meet the client and select the wood ... I thought I might find some other interesting slabs, and they had plenty to choose from. I came home only with the two for this project, an unusual display of restraint for me ...
The client has a built in banquette and we explored various shapes for the top ... Here we were thinking about trying to use the natural edge of the bookmatched slabs
and various shapes for the steel base. Below is an inspiration sketch from the client from which we made a quick model on the cnc ...
It was cool, and I may revisit it later on, but for now, we have moved on ...
We also explored several oval variations, but in the end settled on a 'regular' 42 x 78 oval ...
This was a photoshopped 'fatted' oval, a shape we sometimes use to add width to the ends ... In the end, the 'real' oval shape was the most pleasing ...
Glued up now, ready to cut to shape ...

what we're working on now

I did a talk last evening with Marc Spagnolo, aka "The Wood Whisperer". Mark has created an amazing social networking site for woodworkers, designers and craftsmen of all skill levels ... Check it out here if you aren't familiar with his site .... Anyway, I thought I might talk about what was happening in the shop this week, but mainly, we covered more of the history and general background of the business. Tools, design processes, shop size, relationships with clients ... Most challenging project ... It was fun and when I get a link, I'll post it here.
Sam has completed four 'tuteurs'. Tomato cages for those of you unfamiliar with the French .,.. We're doing some design work with a potential client who is interested in an 'Arts and Crafts" style screen, 'sort of like the one below' that he saw on my website. We made that for a client who was a world traveler and had a large collection of Oceanic objects ....
We also got underway on an 18' wall of bookshelves and fireplace mantle ... It's a paint project, but it will have a great refined look when it gets to its home ... We're really just getting started ... more on that project later
We're also getting underway on an English elm oval shaped table which will also deserve a post of its own before long.And Will is finishing up a vanity and mirror for a longtime client
The sink is actually routed from a 6" thick slab of onyx and the top edge that's left is 2" ... more on that later too ...
The mirror has some brass details

The 26' Table is Gone

Well, OK, we finished up the 26' x 9' table on Friday. It took a lot of people and a lot of steps and processes and, when it was done, I was disappointed to find that it almost looked easy ... except when you stop to think about it ... The pieces were made in my shop and then assembled in my garage on temporary bases while the real bases were being fabricated in Steve Holman's shop down the road. I had no place to easily set up either table in my shop while it was pretty easy to clean out my garage ... We did set the 20 foot table up (below) in Steve's shop (after moving two tools and disassembling part of his dust collection system) on its real base to check it and then reassembled it one more time here to check the final fit when we received all the cut granite pieces and fitted the center pieces. Whew .. just writing about his one is a lot of work .... Step by step we go .... click the pictures to enlarge them ..
This is the 20' table ... This previous post is all about that one ... There's a video of Trevor doing a stroll around the table here ...
The base pieces for the 20 foot table in the finishing process ...
Ok ... back at the garage where we disassembled the top of the 26' table from its temporary base,
Swept the floor ...
Brought in the real base parts
Assembled those and leveled them up ..
Added the steel ...
Next, we reinstalled the mdf top pieces and faired the curves and tops of the curved cherry moldings. This assured us that the notches for the steel in the otriggers, and the 56 holes tapped in the 14 piece of steel ( 7 different lengths) lined up with the 56 countersunk holes in the mdf top pieces and that everything would fit and tighten up, and once it gets to its final home, things will go together smoothly. We decided early on that neither table would be assembled after the parts were finished until it reaches its final destination ... As you can see above, there are a LOT of pieces and it's always risky to move things like that around ....
Ready for the granite and panels.. You can see the bolts in this photo. Those bolts were integral to the engineering and support of the cantilevered granite pieces ...
14 of the 18, 2' x 44.6" pieces of granite in place here
All in .. all fitted ... There are 32 places where at least four points come together and line up with other points on the table ... 1 of the 32 places below .. two cherry, two granite and a center panel

By the end of the day Friday ... all the parts that needed veneering and finishing were at Steve's and I was left with a half empty garage and 5 carts with 28 pieces of granite .... party time !!!

There are several other earlier posts so that you can get the whole feel for the process HERE and HERE.