Tuesday, January 10, 2012

a walnut table with carved legs

1/10/2012 ... all in , all done ... leaving for arizona thursday morning ... we're all happy with the final and will is proud of his carvings ...
12/27/2011 ... we're on the home stretch on a new walnut dining table. this client came to me from reading this blog, so we knew how to work together immediately. and, the process was, as expected, a pleasure.
the concept for this table is based on two previous tables, the original, a more formal mahogany project with wildlife carvings (ducks, a turkey, a woodcock and a grouse) on the leg corners,
and the maple leaf table, a project that appeared in this blog in june of last year.
this table also, is a variant of our own dining table, a studio style dining table that first appeared in my design repetoire back in 1987, and still is a popular part of our 'style'. we have made many, many variations on the theme. you can see some by browsing that link to the 'small tables' section of our website. i'm working up to a post on the 'life' of various designs concepts and how they can run as threads through a designer's work and continue to generate new ideas. maybe soon ...

on to this table ... this client has a background in the california fruit orchard culture and while we kicked around a few other ideas, the fruit themed carvings were the final winner. after a couple of quick test carvings where we even considered paint and color, we gravitated to a natural finish for the whole table with some glazing in the carvings to make them stand out a bit and give them depth ... we'll be wrapping it up this week and hopefully sending it off to arizona shortly after the first of the first of the year.
here will is scraping the two board 42" wide, bookmatched walnut top. these are boards from the same log as the 'bethlehem steel' table, only without the defects.
beautiful natural grain, here with two base coats of gloss poly.
early stage in the joinery where the tenons are cut and fitted before the angles, shadows and borders are finished.... easier that way.
the original, client supplied avacado sketch, and will's sample carving of it.
the final with our inspiration photo below.
and below is the orange with a blossom and our brief experiment with color ...

might have been nice, but i prefer the understated elegance of all one color with hints of glaze.
last fit check before the carving.
and here's how we glue up those legs with the rounded, carved corners.

2 comments:

Jason Herrick said...

GREAT table Dan. That's all I have to say. WOW!

Brian Q said...

You did a wonderful job on this table. One of my favorites. :)