New Mahogany Table

We started a new table this week. It's a custom version of the one above (shown on my website here) that we first made in 2004 for a client in New Jersey. The one we're working on this week is slightly larger ( 50 x 72 closed) and will be all mahogany, without the black paint, curly maple apron or edge inlay ... We had a great piece of mahogany on hand, 23" wide by 157" long and we were just able to get the whole top out of that one board. It took a little planning, but because it is all one board the glue joints are virtually invisible ... Click the photos to enlarge them ..

The Cad drawing, adpted from another version from 2005. I think, in total, this is the sixth edition of this table, each one being slightly different ... It's a great design because the pedestal is heavy enough to support the open table and leaves leaves without the pedestal splitting or the use of drop down legs. With the central pedestal, the chairs can be placed anywhere too ...

You can see in this photo how we split the first cut (so it matches as halves when the table is closed), and cut the two 2" arcs we needed to make the additional width before we cut the remainder of the board in half ... pretty clever thinking by the boys in the shop ...

Glued up halves with the arcs added

Trevor, handscraping the individual halves before drilling for the alignment pins ...

The extension runners are installed and the aprons are glued up on the table, but slightly askew from their final locations ...

In this photo,, Will has turned the 'flying saucer' feet, has stacked the ply parts of the base, and is adding the edge veneers .. We don't use solid wood on this part as it has to support a lot of weight and the short grain of the curves at the ends of the 'propellers' might be apt to fail over time ... When it's done, it will look like solid wood ... The hollow central column parts are cut and ready to glue up tomorrow .. All for now ...