in the time before blogging

i was recently looking for photos of a walk i had taken with friends to a waterfall, virtually in my backyard, when i stumbled across a folder of pictures from the good old days, in our case 2002 to 2006, back in the time before blogging you might say.  so, why not just share them to my picasa albums, and continue to add images to that folder as i go back through the archives ... my real photographer retired in 2001 or 2002, and  i was just figuring out the digital thing.  so, some of the images from those days are better than others, but some are actually quite up to snuff.  ill post a few below, just so you get an idea of what we were up to back then (more of the same, but different styles) but you can view the real folder with about 80 photos at the link below ...

some images from 2003, 2004 and 2005    click on that first one and scroll through them with the arrow keys ... if you have a good connection, you can whip right through them ...   enjoy!

 a cherry and curly maple corner cupboard ...  it had a tv in it actually ..

 

a close up of the inlay in the side table above

 a custom audio/video cabinet

 a small mahogany console

 a mahogany porch table and some aluminum chairs

  a walnut partners desk

 a 14, one piece of bubinga table and chairs

and a sideboard made from the cut off

more images at the link above ...below, the waterfall pictures

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happy new year !

well, were off to 2014 ... on to our 35th year of full time furniture building .. i wish all my readers, my clients, and my family and friends all the best for the upcoming year.  its another door to open and another path to follow .. well see where it leads ... 

if you like, at this link, you can see where that path took us in a slideshow of our work from 2013 ..

click the first photo to start the slideshow ...
 i hope that this upcoming year will be equally challenging and interesting ... 

other slideshows at the links below
2009
2010
2011
2012

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the friday before christmas

well here we are, approaching our 34th christmas at dorset custom furniture.  we got the spirit friday, when jim put up the traditioinal tree lights on the end of the shop.  it may be the last year for this string as about half the lights are out, and the local stores no longer carry the bulbs ... maybe well get lucky and find some in the big city (rutland or bennington)  if we get there over the holidays.  click the photos to enlarge them ..

as usual, there is a lot going on in the shop this time of year .. the pool table is part 

of the hill farm project and it looks like that will be finished by the 1st.  

its now ready for blinds and finish and felt on the cushions

were working on several projects for a local inn restoration

down the road a piece in sunderland

one of the projects involves some steel cut outs, based on their logo, on the gable end, and trevor cut some samples for size.  i took them to their friday christmas party and nina mooney, the designer were working with, bravely got out on the porch roof after lunch and held them up .. 

we decided the deer has to be bigger.

back at the shop, trevor was putting the finishing touches on the inlay in the 

trestle table for the same project

the base is finished

but we were all concerned the the deer antlers would get lost in the sky

fortuantely, we had an antler that sam or someone found and we sliced a couple pieces 

up and trevor cut them out and fit them in ... viola!  antlers!!

and we installed the drawers in the 12 bedroom piece weve been working on

the faces will have an ebony and quartered cherry detail to go with the ebony and burl edge inlay ..

and were waiting for the custom cast pulls to arrive from ball and ball.  theyve done them for us before and they should be here soon.

and wills wrapping up another banjo to be shipped out before the 1st.  it was a tricky one where he had to figure out how to steam bend and laminated curly maple for the rim, engrave a bunch of pearl inlays, and engrave words and initials into the ebony on the finished rim .. not an easy task ..

talk about the workmanship of risk ...

and sam has finished his first larger than a belt buckle project in the new metal shop

the client sent us a photo of a similar wood base with funky metal connectors and we figured out how to weld it up in 3" steel tubing.  cool object.  it will have our bronze patina on it before shipping.

and the carpenters wrapped it up on friday .. they finished the siding , installed the collar ties on the second floor and insulated the ceiling so we can at least heat it occasionally for painting

well finish it off as our cash flow allows

ta dah

and tah dah  in here too

and the final part of the dorset church rails is ready for christmas services .. just in time ..

merry christmas to all !!

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a claro walnut desk for sale

we made this desk a while back for a show at a gallery in massachusetts.  it stayed in the gallery after the show closed until the gallery was flooded by a broken sprinkler pipe.  the desk survived, but the gallery didnt, and we moved it to the local arts center where it has been on display for sale until recently.

 while it was there it acquired a pretty substantial scratch in the top of it and we picked it up a couple weeks ago to refinish it.  its ready to go again now and looks good as new.  i thought id post it here for sale for a while before i return it to the gallery.

its got a drawer and a secret compartment, and it could also work well as a small dining table for 4 or 6.  the dimensions are +/- 44 x 66 x 29.5 high, the base is steel with a natural satin finish.  the walnut top is one piece and the grain is really nice.  lots of figure and curl ... the price is $8500.  please call me at 802-867-5541, or email me at dan@dorsetcustomfurniture.com for more information.

and if that one doesnt work for you, but you like claro walnut, i have two other possibilities:

this dining table is about 36 x 90.  its in a gallery in chicago, but i would be happy to retrieve it for you, polish it up, and ship it out.  please call or email for a price on that one.  it has a dark bronze shaker style base, and nice grain in the top.

and this slab is available.  dimensions in the photo below.  its finished and hanging on the wall, ready to be something ... coffee table?  desk?  a dining table?  a headboard?  your choice ..

call or email with your ideas ... 

all for now ...

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