Cicip Working

ok, the top one arrived in florida on tuesday, just in time for turkey day.  the curly one above has been hanging around the shop since may, waiting for the clients home remodel to be finished.  that one will leave for brooklyn on tuesday.  it was first pictured in this post  back on may 28th and now soon it will be on its way.  click the photos to enlarge them.

the top table started with this monster slab, about 11 long and 3+ inches thick.  we learned a few tricks on this one.  it was a heavy one ....
one trick we learned was to build a really substantial and well made cart with serious casters.  once we slid it off the workbench and stood it up on the cart. it was a piece of cake to get it out the shop door, on a ramp into the back of the truck, and into steves shop for the matte finish that the client requested.

the client selected our trapedzoid base, and sam cut the parts and welded them up in our metal shop.
later, after polishing, the base was blackened with our normal blackening patina and sealed with a low lustre lacquer.
there were a couple cracks we had to butterfly and one or two random small defects that we just left as is.


there was one sort of large (+/- 3/8ths") bolt in the slab that we drilled a bit and pounded a bit until it was below the surface enough to fill it so it looked like some of the other knots in the area.  pretty good in the end.
i got a wonderful email from the client wednesday and i think ill use his comment as our new business motto .... better than i expected ... can you ask for more than that?

we trucked our new slabs to berkshire products last week to ahve them sanded. many hundreds of dollars later, we can really see what they will be like ... theyre not numbered the same as before, but you get the idea ... i think ill let them speak for themselves ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
theres a fine desk in here i think
aka, the goat faced slab
#5 in the photos below ... not bad ...
really not bad at all ...
funky one ...and below is the original post ...
well, this one looks like its going to be a beauty. the next time you see it, it will be more obvious, but i can tell you now that this piece of timber is pretty spectacular. its slab #2 above. true, its got some minor issues, but ooh lah lah, it looks like there is some fantastic stuff hidden in that roughness. it will make a great coffee or center table, and its available to be transformed and delivered soon to you. lots of other claro walnut ideas to consider in this recent post. click the photos below to enlarge them.
i purchased these 4 new smaller slabs from my supplier, goodhope hardwoods, while shopping for the piece above that i purchased for a new client in new york city. its going to be a 10 foot dining table. its hard to see here, but its covered in curly figure from one end to the other .. i hope to start working it up later this week.

3/26 .. less hard to see now

crazy !!
i also purchased these three medium sized slabs and it looks like number 3 or #1 will make a really nice desk. a few years back, we made this mango wood desk, and ever since, ive been meaning to do another along those lines as a spec piece. im working with the director of exhibitions at the guilford, vermont welcome center on route 91 and hope to show some pieces there this summer. nothing like a claro walnut desk to grab some eyeballs.
i just realized i forgot to photograph slab #2, but ill get on that tomorrow.
and ive still got this last piece from the previous set. it is literally in two pieces, cracked from end to end, but is hanging on the wall with steel tube stiffeners for now ... i can see a nice curved, end to end set of butterflies, big to small to big again, reconnecting the two pieces into one fine dining table. its about 45 x 90 x 1.375 thick. great figure hiding in there too. its the next one in the log from the one below .. nice ..
in case you are wondering if i robbed a bank to buy this wood, theres an explanation having to do with our recent show at the southern vermont arts center. we had, as ed sullivan used to say, "a really good show" ... it comes down this tuesday.