New Waltham Rocker w/ Thin Crest Rail

This latest variation of my chairs is my Waltham Rocker with a thin crest rail instead of the traditional crest rail.  I like them both but I have to say that this thin rail fits my minimal early American sensibilities.

These two were requested by a client who had seen my Waltham Rockers at the Park Hyatt in Washington D.C. 



Below are a few more shots of this chair.

Diving in Lake Champlain yesterday.

Enjoy the great weather.

Tim

Benches for Shelburne Museum Center for Art and Education all Finished

The benches are all done and a bit ahead of schedule.  This job seems pretty straight forward but there is a lot going on that meant there were many unknowns to deal with.  The difficulty lies in meeting a deadline when there are unknowns.  So many unknowns, so little time.  The heavy stock of the seats was hard to find and very difficult to work with. I was lucky to find the stock locally and also lucky that I was able to mill out and glue up the seat blanks without help.  I knew what I wanted for the steel back supports but I was not sure how they would come out.  How precise would the bends and drilled holes be, etc.   Time is what makes almost anything possible.  A lack of time when it is needed can cause much stress.  Well, it all worked out. 

Much thanks to the many sitters who watched my daughter, Claire. They took morning and afternoon shifts and made this project possible.  They gave me the time that I needed.  See the picture of Claire at the bottom of the page.

5' bench

7' bench

9' bench

the three bears

Claire. You can dress her up but...

My next post should have picture of the benches in place.

Stay tuned,

Tim

Shelburne Museum Benches Final Assembly

This job is a great illustration of keeping your money local.

The steel tabs below were made for me by Robert Grant of  Rand B Tooling in Orwell, Vermont and delivered in a nice wooden box. These will hold the bench seats down to the base.  The stainless steel back supports were made for me by Nop Metal Works in Middlebury, Vermont.  I purchased all of the lumber at The A Johnson Lumber Company and Lathrop's Maple Supply, both of Bristol, Vermont.  I purchased all of the the stainless steel fastenings from a Fastenal franchise in Middlebury. Vermont.

That's around $4,000. spent locally in 2 months.  

Once the back supports are bolted in place and the base is fastened to the seat, the bench then needs to be turned over and lowered to the floor.  The 9' bench pictured below weighs 260 lbs. Too heavy for me to safely turn over on my own, so I used my chain fall to lift and lower the bench.  The chain fall made this job possible.  

The 9' bench flipped and ready for it's back rail.

The 7' and 9' benches all ready to go.

The nylon feet are adjustable just in case the surface where the bench will live is not level. They also will keep the wood up off of a possibly wet porch deck.

Stella was not happy to have a friend's dog stop by for a visit.

Benches for the Center for Art and Education at Shelburne Museum Coming Together

Below is the 7 foot bench of the 5'. 7' and 9' benches that I am making for the Center for Art and Education at Shelburne Museum.
The bases are not finished yet and I think they will have to be assembled on site as the benches are so heavy when assembled that moving them will be very difficult.

Above is the seat for the 9' bench that I move around using a chain fall that hangs from a steel beam in my shop.  This seat weighs around 140 lbs.

Below is a short walk around video of the 5 foot bench.  Two can lift this bench but it is not easy. My brother and I opted to carry this out in two parts, base and seat.    The seat and back are ready for varnish but the base is not yet cleaned up.  The beauty of the cherry will come out with the varnish.

Mogli (daughter, Claire) doing quality control.

Mogli  keeping  watch on her kingdom.

Enjoy the nice weather while we have it.
I'll be in the shop sanding.
Tim

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

Painted Sideboard #2

I have finally finished this sideboard that I have had underway for some time.  This piece ended up with a finish that looks a lot like another recent sideboard of a different design. The difference is that this piece is made of poplar with two coats of barn red milk paint followed by 2 coats of black milk paint and then worn a bit so that highlights of the red come through.  The previous sideboard, or Huntboard as I call it, was made of cherry with black milk paint.  You can see that here on my website.

The red paint and the red of the cherry achieve a very similar look under the black paint.

As with the Huntboard, I am very happy with how this piece looks.  I wish that I could have them both in my house.  I'd need a bigger house though.

Each cabinet has one adjustable shelf.  The interior is the same barn red milk paint that is underneath the black.
The finish of the interior is shellac over the milk paint to leave the interior smelling fresh.

The drawer sides and bottoms are pine and are sealed with shellac for a fresh interior smell.

This Cod Rib side chair is the first of a bunch of various chairs that I need to get cranking on now that the sideboard is done.

37 degrees and snowing today.  Feels like spring.

Chairs Delivered, Drawers Dovetailed

 Today, I delivered this set of Waltham chairs to a client who lives only 20 or so minutes away.  A nice change from the usual need to pay a shipper to deliver or to plan on a two day trip.  The chairs have a nice new home with great natural light and will spend their days around a nice table that was made by a friend and competitor, Paul Donio.  I'd put a link to his site here, but we are after all, competitors.  He can be found on google.   He does nice work.  Don't tell him I said that though.  

Anyway, it was nice to see the chairs in a modern clean setting.  They seem to work well with traditional or modern decor.

On to the sideboard-

Below are the hand cut dovetailed drawer parts for four drawers all ready for assembly.

Here, the sideboard is finally ready for final sanding and painting.  (The drawers do still need to have their joints planed.)  The knobs for the drawers and doors will be added after the painting is complete.

It is hard to see in this photo but there is a nice thumbnail detail on the edge of the top that I just shaped today after and before my chair delivery and before picking up my son from school, taking him to  his guitar lesson, picking up my daughter from her after school drawing class, taking them home and then taking her to a swimming lesson. The days do fill up quickly.

Next up are all of the chairs and stools that I mentioned in my last post.

Enjoy the sleet, rain and wind.

Tim