Finished the Walnut Paneled Room (for now)

OK ... We're done here for a while ... The carpenters now have to install the columns, ceiling and ceiling beams and the door and window trim before we can finish the baseboard, the moldings, and the other miscellaneous parts that return into the trim ... Lookin' good ... Click the pictures to enlarge them ... Don't be alarmed by the pink/purple paint .... it's just a primer for a dark rich red trim color ... We still have a desk to finish and a bar cabinet to build, so, ... more later ...

showing the wall opposite the fireplace and the niche where the desk will go

The sliding doors go in the opening to the right which is the entry back to the main house

showing the doors open and ready for the tv

Here I photoshopped tv in place

A Walnut Paneled Room (Update)

Update for 6 /23 ... back tomorrow for more

We put the fireplace/tv surround in place today

Baseboards and moldings tomorrow ...

This is an update from the post of June 14th, entitled the 'Current Big Thing'
6/22/09
Today we delivered and began the installation of a roomful of walnut paneling that we have been working on, off and on, for the last month. We had to wait for the floor to be finished, and it was, last Friday. Picked up a U-Haul today, loaded up and delivered the panels. They fit fine and we were actually able to install all but one of them, for which we needed a router we had left behind in the shop. Back tomorrow, (and probably Wednesday) to finish the fireplace and tv surround, the shelves on the tops of the panels, and the baseboards and moldings. When you're working on a project like this, you always wonder if everything's going to fit the way you planned and today it was nice to find out that it does. It has been an interesting project, both from a design and construction viewpoint. There was an effort to do a really nice job without totally breaking the bank, so we chose walnut veneered mdf for the panel elements and added solid wood edges and moldings to create a look very similar to all solid wood. One benefit of the veneered panels is the match that we were able to create by selecting groups of panels with attractive patterns. We purposely did not order the whole job to be 'sequenced matched' which would have resulted in a similar veneer pattern running completely around the room. We actually used panels from two suppliers to get a variety of veneers though we were able to match the panels on the two long walls, on either side of the fireplace, and on either side of the pocket doors. Click the photos to enlarge them,,,,

Taking the measurements for the shop drawings back in May

Working on the layout and planning the cuts for the panels themselves. The narrow tan strips represent the 4" pieces that create the stiles and rail of the panels when they're assembled. It's sort of a 'preview' feature ....

Gluing up ... It's all preveneered mdf excepot the solid wood moldings. All nicely finished by my neighbor, Steve Holman of Holman Studios ...

On arrival today, we distributed the panels around the room

Cut in for the various boxes and wires

and fastened them in position

Tommorow we'll add the rest of the fireplace surround and mantle shown above, earlier, in my shop ...

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

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 ....

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=