Outside progress at the pub

Each day we do our best to cross another job off the list. For the longest while it seemed the list of projects ahead of us at the Fox & Hounds was much longer than the finished ones. But as we walk through the project now it is coming together. It will be an incredible body of work when we are done.
Today the weather was perfect to do a large sculpted concrete out front. The unseasonable heat wave we have been experiencing is now gone. Annie mixed for me today and I slopped on the mud and when it had set enough I started in on the brickwork. We finished with time to spare, allowing for a thorough cleanup which always makes the job look better.
Tomorrow will be a shop day and by the end of the week we hope to be finished all of the sculpted concrete handrails outside at last. Then it is down to paint. 
The contractor has finished the plasterwork and the tudor trim. It is looking pretty welcoming already. Up top the blank area will soon be home to a new dimensional sign which is underway in the shop.
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

Mantle installation

Monday morning started out with a bang. A new hire, Annie, started this morning. When I arrived at the Fox & Hounds Pub she was waiting and eager to start. Our task was to install the routed mantle on the fireplace and finish framing the upper portion of the fireplace feature. There was lots of figuring to be done, coordination with the electrician and other trades. We would be working inside the pub which was operating. We were the entertainment for the day.
Annie knew the tools well and had done carpentry work before, but never anything quite like this. Nothing was straight and we worked without levels or straight edges. Everything was built by eye. She caught on quickly. While I built one side she would follow along on the other, matching my creations. 
The curves were gentle enough that I didn’t need to use the heating pad to bend the Precision Board. I had milled the pieces to be 1/2 – 3/4″ thick at most and so they took the bends without breaking. We used PB Bond-240 and it held securely in no time. I’ll be using the die grinder to tidy up the corners and match the woodgrain as it transitions from the front to the top and bottom. The curved mantle absolutely works with the curved roof above. the wall of the upper fireplace bows out about 6″ and the mantle is almost 14″ deep. The london roofline above is now almost tied into the bottom portion. and it WORKS!
We were almost done before the electrician turned on the power to the lights and there was instant magic. In the next days we’ll staple on the diamond lath and then start in on the carved concrete ‘brick work’. By next week it should be looking like the magical fireplace I designed, what now seems like ages ago.
The guests love the family crest and are curious as to the translation of the latin phrase on the front. We happily translated it for them when they asked. The crest is suspended about four inches off the back face of the sunken circle and throws a marvelous shadow while it catches the light in a spectacular fashion. It will look even better when it is painted up and then aged appropriately. I can hardly wait to see it all done!
It was a fun day with lots of progress. 
-dan

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Production in spite of me

Yesterday was one of those days when almost nothing went right. Tools broke and had to be replaced, pieces were missing and had to be fabricated, and I simply got things wrong. Not much headway was made through the day in the shop. We all have days like that from time to time. At least the weather was perfect for those drives to town. I tried my best to whistle while I worked.
The good news however was in the router room the router kept chugging away doing things right. The file was massive, the detail was tight and the file ran a long time but it ran flawlessly. While I was frustrated in the shop and running back and forth to town the machine kept working, and working and working. It worked through the night while I caught up on my sleep. This morning when I came out to the shop it was done, perfectly. I had no worries. This is what I love about my MultiCam. Even the tools were put back in their holders. It doesn’t get better than that.
The file was one I created in EnRoute last week. Since I posted the mantle project here I changed things up a little and added a few more pieces for the bottom and top of the mantle. It now covered a full 4×8′ sheet of 1″ thick 30 lb Precision Board, wasting little material. Tomorrow we’ll glue the pieces into place and then build the rest of the new fireplace front around it. 
Stay tuned for pictures of the progress…
-dan

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Counter inlay and other progress

Progress continues on many fronts at the Fox & Hounds pub. Because so many people are working in a small space we have to be very flexible, often working on three or four areas in a single day. Today was one of those days. Things are getting completed however.
A number of weeks ago I used EnRoute to create files of a simplified logo. This file was taken to my MultiCam dealer and he kindly used the MultiCam water jet cutter to cut the pieces from stainless steel and brass. I gave the pieces to the fellow who was casting the concrete countertops for the new bar. Yesterday they arrived at the pub at last and look fabulous! The logo is about 24″ tall and appears in two places on the bar. It adds a very classy detail to the project!
The temporary floor came down revealing the London rooftop for the pub patrons. It is giving everyone a first glimpse of what is to come in the other parts we have been working on. 
I’ll be posting some new pictures soon that will show the many other areas of progress around the pub. It is all coming together quickly now.
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.

Mantle routing file

Yesterday the temporary floor which we worked on to build the ‘London roofline’ came down. I could then size up exactly how I would build the new fireplace facade. After looking things over I decided I would use a wood frame for the bulk of the construction and welded steel for the bits around the fireplace opening. All will be covered with a layer of sculpted concrete. I fastened a piece of plywood to the center portion of the fireplace and hung the family crest as a point of reference. Everything would be scaled to this. Then I framed in the mantle using 3/4″ plywood. I will glue the routed 30 lb Precision Board over this form.
I then used the wooden mantle form to create a 1/4″ plywood pattern in two halves. It is just a hair under 11 feet wide. I took a picture of this pattern to create the vectors I needed by simply tracing it out. My client requested ‘genuine’ Old English lettering for the pub name.
I did the Lettering in Illustrator but it could have been done in EnRoute. I then brought the vectors into EnRoute to begin creating the reliefs. Since my board (and router) are only eight feet long I needed to break the file into sections to route. I drew a box and brought the bottom corners in to the angle of the bend.  I also did an 0.7″outline of the mantle shape to enlarge the mantle front enough to put a 1/2″ top and bottom piece of Precision Board on the mantle. I’ll carve those in place with the die grinder. I deleted the original smaller mantle shape and used the jigsaw tool to create the three pieces of the mantle front.
The text was then centered on the mantle.
I created the three flat reliefs at 0.4″ height. The I imported the horizontal sandblasted wood grain bitmap from my TEXTURE MAGIC collection. It stretched out to 12 feet without difficulty. I also stretched it out vertically to fit the mantle in a section of grain I liked. It was applied with a value of 0.2″
The lettering has a 0.3″ border. I first created a relief using this border vector. This was merged highest with the mantle pieces. Lastly the bevelled lettering is added to the relief.
 The tool pathing was done with a 3/8″ ball nose bit for the rough pass and a 1/8″ ball nose bit for the final.
I’ll route the pieces in the next days, and then install next week.
-dan

Published with permission from precisionboard.blogspot.com. Source.