a walnut table with leaves

headed for vegas next week sometime .. more photos later

 this table started with an inquiry from a client about a 'mid-century modern' style table.

she sent us the photo above from an antique dealer's website and asked us to 

size it to suit the needs of her and her family and stain it a rich chocolaty brown.

which led to the cad drawing above and the stack of nice wide walnut from irion lumber below.

we didn't think we wanted our base frames so close to the edge of the table as

in the original photo, so we made a couple sample panels from mdf ..

looking for that 'goldilocks moment .. just right, above

too small on the left, too big on the right ..

and because, in the end, we decided on three leaves, we had to add the frame you see

above to support the moin runners and stabilize the base.  if you look closely (click

the photo to enlarge it), you can also see we added some arced 'rails' that are not visible

when the top is on but stiffen the base elements considerably when the table is opened.  

not a lot of structure to this design, but it's going to be fine.  no dancing out on the ends ...

all good in this photo, except for the apron. trevor has got it in the finish room now with all the stain

and the first coat of finish on it today .. won't be long now ...

a walnut pedestal table

 we've got a couple of walnut pedestal tables in the works in the shop right now .. well, actuallhy, this one is finished and i hope to deliver it tomorrow or friday.  it's going to a house right down the street from us, right here in town.  it's 56" in diameter closed and has three 45" leaves for a total of 56 x 101. 

 the base design i attribute to my client who had a pretty clear vision that she was able to convey to us as we worked through the drawings and two scale models.  i've got some pictures of them somewhere ..

the cad drawing was pretty straightforward once we got the concept worked out ..

as usual, we procured some of irion lumber's finest.  a log of matched 15-16" boards and a fine piece of 4" walnut from a different log, but matched very well .. thanks myron.

 

here's and upside down view with the base parts clamped up in preparation for gluing .. moin equalizing pedestal runners ...

 

ready for final sanding and finish ...

checking the runner alignment ..

with all three leaves it is surprisingly solid, even with the single pedestal .. 

good to go ...
GO RED SOX !!!

update  11/4 ... installed the table last week .. looks good onsite ...

odds and ends

where do i start?  sometimes stuff blows through here so quickly, if you blink, it's gone ... lots going on.  lots of people shopping, (read lots of designs and proposals, not necessaryily new jobs.  but, better than total quiet, which was what it was like back in january ... more action at least now.  we are cautiously optimistic here ... so, what are we up to ... see some of the highlights below.  click the pictures to enlarge them ..

i'm doing a little pottery,  focusing on 'how to make plates'.... i never figured out how to throw them, but i'm working on a hybrid woodworking/handbuilt concept that involves mdf batts and finishing on the wheel.  more on that later .

first round ... a little warpy ... i took them off the forms to soon.

some of my previous stuff

me and sam and jim are working on a new version of the 'bridges' bench for an upcoming gallery opening, and also doing a little concept work using the curved planks i've had around for a couple of years.  we're not there yet ...

trevor and i worked up some 'trout cutting boards' that i will be using for some gifts i owe.  abalone and quartersawn cherry ... hmmm ... maybe we need a line of gift cutting boards ... ha ha

here the trout is in the shade, under cover. waiting for spring no doubt.

 

a little custom inlay work for our friend and neighbor bill laberge

arts and crafts inspired ... lots of pieces ...

looked good when it was finished ...

and now we're helping him with 16 chairs ... ugh.  that is one big lot of pieces of  wood to organize.

stuff happening in the metal shop too ... above is a custom 'owl' belt buckle

and we shipped this fire pit spark screen to stowe last week ... just in time for the spring skiing/hot tub season

seeders instruments, will's banjo website, has several new banjos and audio/videos up ... lots of pearl engraving and other custom stuff ... he is BUSY with the banjo stuff.  he's got to keep his day job though or i will be in trouble ...

and i have a friend i'm coaching through a wedding present for his son.  it's a six board blanket chest with a wood burned clump of morels on the front and some inlays on the top ... fortunately, he is a handy guy and just needs a few tips and some encouragement and off he goes.  and, he's got until may, so i think we'll get it ...

 funky repair yesterday .. english cabinet door with a wedgewood medallion

 

 the glass and the grid had been broken in a move and we had to make up a splint and graft it on.

all done ... good to go

 a nice testimonial from the ladderback chairs and table base client

 some 'black and white "color" ' photography ... it's been a gray february and march here ... the only thing with color in this photo is the stop sign

steve earle in april will cheer us up though

and then there is the powderjet maccassar ebony snowboard ... that should be a hot one ...

plenty of sunrise/sunset pictures on my blog ... i think this is my first 'moonset' photo ... all for now.

a double pedestal oval table

 this table is heading to california tomorrow.  it's been in the works for a while and we had a small glitch when it came to the final finish color .  it's a totally new color and today, will said ' we've got to get more of this stain'  ... it was hard to photograph, and how it reads is sensitive to how your monitor is set.  it's a really warm orange brown color .. click the photos to enlarge them.

close up

'earthquake handles'  .. i did mention california, didn;t i?

the client's original photoshopped image

this project started with an inquiry from a prospective client who had taken a image from my blog or website and photoshopped it himself to make it into something that better fitted the dimensions of his dining room.  basically, he stretched out the table below and added another pedestal.  brilliant, imho.

even though it was early in the corresponding stage and no money or commitments had changed hands, i was intrigued by the concept.  since we still had the drawings for the original table, and its model, it was a simple matter to create the new model. 

bird's eye view

 

there was some talk about earthquakes, (the client lives north of san francisco), and 'earthquake handles', which turn out to be something to hold onto if you have to get under the table in the event of the earthquake, the design work proceeded and eventually we struck a deal.

 

above is the cad drawing showing the origin of the curves for the base elements and the seating and plate layout.  room for 12 good friends at least.

handle and base layout

even though the table is over 50" wide and about 10.5' long, trevor managed to create a clever pair of interlocking 1/4 oval templates that allowed him to lay out the wood for the glue up below.

one of the boards was just about, but not quite, long enough and we lost about an inch in width and length creating the 'revised' oval.  not bad.  11' walnut matched sets are hard to come by, even from irion lumber.

after a rough cut with the jigsaw, trevor used the template and a top bearing flush cut bit to rout the table to final shape and add the aprons and stiffeners                                  

then, using the cnc, he cut the patterns for the base pieces.  on the original table, the pieces that ran the length of the table were longer than the ones that ran across the table.  after some study though, we decided that with two pedestals, the bases should be all the same.

bandsaw, sand, bandsaw, sand ... repeat as necessary.

then the pieces have to be mitered and dowels inserted to give the end grain of the curves some cross grain material for the lag bolts that attach the horizontals at the floor.  i missed it this table, but you can see photos of how that works in the post about the previous table, back in august 2010.  there is also a discussion there about strengthening the short grain where the top is attached also ...

fit it up ...

interesting shapes upside down too ..

sam's sample 'earthquake handle'  approved and good to go ... 9 more in the works ...

 

 reinforcing the short grain with long grain inserts to accept screws

 base only

with chairs

early on, we tried oval vs. racetrack ... oval won ...