Shelburne Museum Center for Art and Education Outdoor Benches

I am just getting started on three benches for the Center for Art and Education building at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont.
The benches are 5', 7', and 9' long.  The seats will be made from 3" cherry stock and is very heavy to work with. Each board is around 100 pounds when rough and the longest bench seat after trimming and cleaning up is around 130 pounds. This was by far the hardest part of the job.  I still have a way to go but I am glad to be done with the seats. Below are some shots and videos showing some of that process.

rough 12/4 plank, 12" or so wide
12/4 means 3 inches

this is showing the bottoms of the 5',7', and 9' seats, ready for finish.

It sure has been rainy.

Enjoy the glimpses of sun,

Tim

Part 3- A Step Beyond Show Piece- Chair with Table

Here are a couple of quick shots of my new Chair w/Table.  The round table pivots from the outside of the arm to the inside of the arm.  The black surface is the removable non-skid silicone pad that I cast to fit the top.  The design has its roots in traditional windsor chairs with a writing surface but I wanted something a bit different.  The table could be used to write a short note but I see it more as a place to put a glass or snack and also a surface that could hold a laptop computer (with the use of the non-skid pad).

Part 2 Windsor Chair w/ Table for the "A Step Beyond" Show

This new chair design takes my New Waltham arm chair and adds a small table surface that will move from the outside to the inside of the right hand palm of the chairs arm.   I turned a cherry "candlestand" top for the table that will be a handsome surface but I wanted a non skid option.  To achieve this , I turned a corresponding mold piece in which I made a silicone pad with liquid silicone.  In the image above I am peeling the molded silicone out of the wooden mold.

Above, the pad is pictured in the finished top.   The nonskid nature of the pad keeps it from sliding around and it is a nice surface to keep a glass or mug from sliding also.  It can be easily taken off of the table and cleaned.   One of my first thoughts in coming up with this design was to create a surface that would hold a laptop computer without risk of it sliding around on the table top.
The metal parts are with the machinist now being finished up.  In a day or two, I should have the whole thing together.

Stay tuned,
Tim

The State of Craft: A new piece for a show of furniture by the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers

The show is called A Step Beyond: Collaboration, Innovation,  New Works by the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers.


The opening for this show is on July 9 at the Firehouse Gallery on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont.

My piece for the show will be a chair with a moveable table surface.  In the next few blog entries, I will be posting pictures of the chair as it progresses.
Below, I am beginning to rough out the seat shape with an adze.   Next I am using an in-shave to smooth out the rough surface and to take it a bit deeper with more control.

Next the travisher is used. This too is a combination of spoke shave and hand plane.  It is produces a very controlled cut.  

The next two photos show the seat after the first shaping and then after the seat extension has been drilled to accept the post that will support the pivoting table.  I am working with a machinist who will take this rough pipe and make it into a working table support that we have designed together.