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One of the biggest challenges when restoring an old house is finding the
right sources for custom material. Our long time friend Orlando Ridout,
who is also restoring his house, put us on to Jack Abeel down in Disputanta,
Virginia. Over the Easter weekend we went down to get the latest load of
custom made door and window casings, and had a wonderful time!
 We
arrived on the Saturday before Easter. Jack and Anne Abeel were
hosting a four-day bluegrass session at their wonderful house -- the
house Jack built -- with his wife.
He built it the "old Virginia way", inside and out. |
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| After we arrived, we got a tour of Jack and Anne's colonial
garden. Jack's three year old granddaughter, Jackie Zerull,
showed us the resident frog and how it jumps when she pats it on the head.
A very precocious kid!
Next we got the tour of Jack's shop. First, he showed us the most
impressive piece of wood I've ever seen: a 14 foot by 39" by 4
/4" slab of solid mahogany. All of the wood below is mahogany
from Peru! These are all for custom doors and frames for big projects he's
working on. |
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| This stack is, for those who love wood, simply
unbelievable. To repeat: this is solid mahogany. Not
the cheap stuff. I could retire on this stuff!
Jack does work on some wonderful projects in and around the area. His
work is seen in many places in Williamsburg, and in the "better"
grand houses around. You must see his portfolio.
Craftsmanship of the highest degree!
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| Well, our work is of a much more modest scale. Still,
Jack holds to his high standards.
Jack showed us how he made our first floor door casings. I sent
him the sample he's holding on the right.
Then he made up this plastic template by hand and checked it back to
the original. |
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| Next he mounted the template in the knife cutter, which
operates much the same as a key cutter. The cutting knife is cut by
the grinder above, which has a white grinding disk. The cutter is
guided by the template below.
Below left is the finished knife fitted to its hub.
Sue is standing next to the machine that cut our door casing. The
knife was installed in this machine. It cuts all four sides of
moldings, big or small, in one pass.
Sue was impressed. So was I. Very impressed. I kept
going back into his shop to look around. Very cool.
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| On the right Jack demonstrates how he can cut mortises into
window sashes.
Below you can see one of Jack's many specialized tools. This one
he found, I think, at a yard sale. It took us a while to figure out
that it is a dowel cutter; you can take any square stick and run it
through and get a perfect dowels -- of whatever wood you need.
Below right is a long shot of Jack's Shop. There's more than can
be seen by the camera, of course. |
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| Jack has a number of sheds to store and cure fine
woods. This one has our finished wood in it, and some pine that we
will be using for the floor in the wing of our house. (below) Tour over, Jack prepares for the bluegrass picking
crowd. First, the porta-potty. The poor septic system can't cope with
crowds!
(below right) The kids go on the first in a series of Easter egg
hunts. The fun is just starting. |
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| The music picked up and we got a treat: the Abeel
family! Anne's playing bass, Charity Zerull and Amanda McDaniel and
their father Jack hold forth.
I have never in my life seen so many fine Martin guitars in one
place! The music went on well into the evening with some of the best
picking I've ever heard.
Anne, bless her heart, let me play her bass for a good while. Boy,
did that make my weekend! (I hope she lets me do that again one time
soon.) |
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 On
Easter Sunday the Abeels imported a petting zoo for the kids (both human
and goat), and then held a Sunday bluegrass service provided by the Shiloh
Gospel Bluegrass Band.
The sun came out and it was wonderful!
Finally, wood stowed on the truck, we regretfully headed north back to
Annapolis.
Jackie told us very seriously that the
baby likes to eat her hair. |
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We will have more about the Abeels as the project moves forward...
You can contact him at 804 991 2007. Tell them we sent you. And
bring an instrument if you go visit. |
