ok, here are a couple of cherry dining tables we made last week. 42" x 120" with a 1.75" thick top and 2.25" vertical uprights. click the photos to enlarge them ... we debated between the arced stretcher above and just below ...
and the 'cloud lift' stretcher below, a greene and greene inspired detail.
our first version was a little 'heavy', so we took a little off and slimmed it down.
better, but not as good as the arcs ...
this is the first version, upside down, with the heavier stretcher ... scotch taped on ...
couldn't get my 11 x 17 printer to work so we taped two 1/8th" = 1" drawings together to have a full size paper patten for the model to work from
ok, cat's out of the bag .. these are 1/8 scale models. we made them for a meeting with our clients on friday and the models were extremely helpful in arriving at the final design concept below ..
which is currently a combination (as so many designs are) of the two models above. the top one is a previous table we first made in about 1992 ... sam actually had the idea of 'suspending' the stretcher on pins between the open verticals of the trestles. his idea would require that the whole trestle be glued up as a unit which might be fussy but it can be easily done. in that case, the pins become part of the structure
and the design ... there's still a little final design work to do, but the client is on board and enthusiastic, and i'm sure we'll work it all out.
more posts on models and mockups here ...
12/30/11 .. okay ... update here ... all in all done ... leaving for d.c. tuesday morning ... we're all liking this new trestle design .. the weight, the proportions, the floating arc element, the rigidity
low angle view
end view
12/18/2011 ... home stretch on another 10' table. we'll start the finishing tomorrow ...
the concept was loosely based (with a few modifications) on a table we made in the early 90s. the clients nixed the lower crossbar and the verticals in the model below, and sam came up with the idea of suspending the curved stretcher between the verticals with the metal pins. it called for some fussy and careful measuring and drilling, but the concept turned out to be really valid .. we all like the new design and the blackened, tight fitting steel pins give the structure total rigidity with a relatively light and graceful somewhat asian feel. click the photos to enlarge them ...
above the new and the old model that i first wrote about back in august ...
everything but the breadboards, which lorne completed today
view down the end before shaping the vertical ... the cold rolled 3/4" pins are blackened now ..
the top is 42" wide and 1.75" thick, made from some of irion lumber's finest 8/4 cherry.
glue up
rough joinery
1/4" mdf patterns ...
and here with a temporary spacer in the middle for fitting up the curved stretcher ... the real connecting piece was 'mason mitered' into the stiffeners at the tops of the vertical elements.
we decided to skip the middle stiffener and little outriggers at the ends. the middle stiffeners seemed 'extra' and the outriggers seemed to serve no purpose ... final photos next week sometime ... happy holidays ...
