a couple of cherry dining tables

 

we wrapped up a couple of cherry tables this week, and they couldn't be more different, probably, if they tried.  the table above, a slab of 8/4 cherry with small bevels and rounded corners, has a welded metal 'x' shaped base, no ornament, straightforward and uncomplicated.  forthright, i guess you could say.

it goes with this painted, built in banquette that we recently installed for our clients.

 

  we had originally discussed having one of our 'shaker' style metal bases, and i went so far as to paint some mdf mockups that we put with an mdf top and tried in the space.  we decided in the end that the mockup was too long, but the right width.  the shaker bases are expensive though, and the table was only 32 x 60,  so we discussed other metal base possibilities.  click the photos to enlarge them.

i had a mockup i had made for another potential client a few years back and when i sent her the picture of it, she said her friend had a table with an 'x' base, and she really liked it.  it turned out it was one sam had made for her friend last summer.  so, we were home free.  the other table was 8' long and so had a 3" square tubing base, but since this table was shorter and narrower, we went with 1.5 x 3" rectangular tubing and no center stretcher. 

to replace the rigidity function of the center stretcher, sam added 'wings' to the tops, which, when screwed to the table took away even the slightest shake.

  

  end view in the shop, before the finish ...

no legs on the corners to facilitate sliding in to the banquette.

and at the same time, will was whipping up another version of our round, 'tapered octagonal' pedestal tables.  this client , who is also local, was visiting the shop and saw this one back in january, which was slightly smaller, (42" in diameter vs 48" above) but the same in every respect.

both tables are simplified versions of the original design we made back in 2003.  that table was larger to start and had three leaves, as well as some painted details, and a more elaborate edge and center inlays, but certainly related.  'take an object; do something to it'.

 

i had hit the highlights in the previous post in january, but here are a few more in process photos anyway.  above, veneering the edges of the 'propeller' base.

the center burl inlay border installation.

another cherry table coming up soon ...as soon as we finish a curly maple trestle table that goes to the same client as this one ... more on that later ...

the next cherry table will be a 42" x 11'6" version of the one below, from 2005.

a custom cherry trestle table

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 ...

an expanding cherry card/dining table

pull up a chair ... this is going to be a long one ... i had started out to write a general discussion of expanding tables since we've had a run of them lately. but, once i looked through the pictures for the table we (mostly) finished last friday afternoon, i decided to write just about that one. we have still got a little fine tuning to do and i may do a few more formal photos if i have the time ... we'll see. i have a lot of pictures of this one already, but it was a really interesting project ... click on the photos to enlarge them ... here we go ..
one of the leaves and the center pedestal leg ...
my client started by combining two of our more interesting and challenging table designs. for the top, he chose the center and edge inlay patterns from this table we made in about 2001 or 2002.
and then he changed the pedestal to this one from our walnut and gilded tooled leather poker table ... here's the cad drawing of the combined design
ahhh ... where did we start? ... with the column i guess
octagonal glue up with 'eased' corners, precut on the table saw before gluing to eliminate the 'points of the octagon so it will just swing over the bed of the lathe ...
i had to demo this technique as will had never turned with the floor mounted tool rest ... i'm a little rusty, but still willing and mostly able ... while will and i were turning the center column, trevor cut three pieces of 3/4 ply, stacked them up and veneered the edges....then he made and glued up the top and bottom veneers and popped them into the veneer bag ... the buttresses are three glued up 3/4 pieces of cherry stacked and fitted to the round column .. by this time, we had already cut the column in half using a variation of our cylinder cutting jig from this post ...
we added some glued up tops to the half columns and six saucer feet to the bottom and at the point below, it was ready for the runners and the top ... note the grooves ... more on them later.the wood for the top was a spectacular matched set of curly cherry boards from irion lumber
trevor cut the 31 x 62" halves on the cnc, and at the same time routed the pockets for the center inlays. he made the borders in a block and sawed them up into 1/10th" thick strips for the center inlay border.those are installed with brads and tape all around the central recesses
and on the leaves too ...
by this time, will had started the blocks for the edge inlay ... we needed about 25 lineal feet of it total ..
it's a fussy one ... you don't get to level up the center block except for a little hand sanding so every piece has got to be dead on for thickness before you glue up the cores of the blocks ...
not quite good enough ...
here's a stack of completed 'cores' awaiting the addition of the .1" thick walnut borders. you get 5 or 6 slices per inch of block ...
once they're applied, the edge is routed and the .07" thick slices of the blocks are installed into the routed grooves with masking tape and flushed up with the table edge when the glue is dry the next day ..
and then it was back to the center inlay. we started with the block of big leaf male burl i bought on my last trip to berkshire products ... they had a ton of maple burl there.
trevor first cut thick, slightly oversize triangles and then sliced them into .1" veneers which he could then bookmatch as he fitted them up ... not counting the edge strips there are 40 triangles of burl in the two halves of the top and the 3 leaves ..
looks hard ... is. kind of, and time consuminghere's the pattern
the curved aprons were glued up a half at a time with big jorgensen band clamps around an mdf 'form' that trevor cut from an old spoilboard from the cnc.then we milkpainted the aprons and saucer feet, black over barn red, sponged and steel wooled and paper toweled them and put the whole thing back together ...

any questions?

actually, there is another subtle complication that almost stumped us but we finally got it and i have to detail that in a separate post later so i don't forget how we did it .. ... like i said, it almost stumped us. it has to do with making the runners open the table base with the little aluminum strips we added to these stock moin runners and the slots in the top of the base that you see in one of the photos above ....
but really, that's enough for now ... 45 minutes of blog writing is my mucho max ...