new table design

update 4/14 .. all done and in new york now ... fun project. nice wlanut

102 long when open ... room for 12 good friends

4/5/15 ... we're in the process of adding a new design to our collection of expanding tables. 

this one was a collaboration between our client, who sent us photos and guided our sketching, and me, who did the drawings, and trevor, who made the models above.

we started out with the base splitting and separating with the leaves and then realized that

the whole concept would be easier to execute and would work better if the vertical base sections were at a 45 degree angle to the split in the table top.

there is a 3.5" square block in the center of the four verticals that was 

split on a 45 before the final glue up.

 

here are the four verticals with their braces glued on.  the joints are reinforced with dominoes.

fine matched walnut from irion lumber

moving along in the process ... trevor will add the run ners and the sub top this week, after we finish up 

the steel and walnut pool table ...

more later as we move it along ... 

stuff you can do with a cnc router

in conjunction with my exploration of the possibilities/virtues of machine work vs handwork that i wrote about in a blog post last month, i have put together a slide show entitled 'stuff you can do with a cnc router'  ... here's a link to that slideshow...  within those photos there are links to my website or blog where further information is available .. there are also many post in the category trevor's cnc projects.  that link would be for the diehard curious, as there are over 40 blog posts there.  we've had access to this technology since 1997, and have had our own full size, 50" x 100" multicam since 2005.  prospective clients almost always stop to ask when they see it on the way to my office, 'what do you do with that?'  i've decided that it is easier to show than to tell them .. 230 example photos .. most with blog links in the caption .. 

it might take 15 minutes or less to scroll through them all ..

our standard technology quote is:
"technology ... it almost works" . 

we often use that quote when things don't go perfectly, but, in general, with the right operators and proper attention to drawing details and machine maintenance, this technology is incredibly efficient and reliable.

handwork? machine work? does it matter?

blow this one up and have a closer look at it ..we made these in 1997 ...

pretty classy, eh?

they are based on a half round federal card table in the clark art museum that we got permission to measure and flip upside down earlier that year.  we also used a copy of  'the work of many hands: card tables in federal america 1790-1820', a weighty tome for sure.   these tables are also our very first cnc project.  each leg, if you count each separate little piece has 90 pieces, some of which we obviously glued up in blocks and sliced like baloney.  the ovals were custom made by dover inlay in maryland, but the little satinwood bell flower drops and the larger oval satinwood panels were cut on my friend richard's cnc. the rest we did 'by hand'.  there are 43 blog posts regarding cnc work in the category to the right,
'trevor's cnc projects'

on the fine woodworking website today, there is a debate over the distinction between 'handmade' and 'assembled from machine cut parts', 'digital manufacturing, friend or foe', a false debate in my humble opinion.  turn on the table saw and you are no longer 'handmade'.  in the comments to the post, where i, in fact, left my own two cents, i particualrly enjoyed the opinion of belchior, from brazil:
 
 "Since it's almost impossible to produce something from wood using bare hands and teeth, let's suppose that tools are considered acceptable, for the purpose of this discussion."  perfect !!  

so, onward.  we make stuff.  we use the tools we have to do the parts of the job we need to do, be they hand, electric or digital.  we go forward, exploring the process, which in the end is, hopefully, where the pleasure lies.  here i give you some 'before cnc'; 'with cnc'; and 'after cnc, but not using the cnc', images. 
you be the judge ...
friend or foe?  click the images to enlarge them ...

before cnc, about 1992  ... cherry lacewood, burl, rosewood, milk paint

  after cnc .. 2010 .. much technology here, both cnc and waterjet.. blog posts here
cad/photo design, cnc cut lathe duplicator templates; hand finished turnings; hand carved turnings, steel, copper, aluminum, and brass waterjet cut inlays; etc. etc.see end of this post ...

before cnc; about 1990

after cnc, but not using the cnc  blog post here  .. 

we did use our duplicator to turn the legs, a tool for sure, but not digital

way before we knew what a cnc was.. 1983 .. the cnc would have been  
extremely helpful on this project though.

all handwork ... 2012 .. blog post here  .. 
could have used a cnc but it was faster to do this by hand

1989 .. this table would be a lot easier with a cnc, but we did it all by hand ... slowly and carefully

with holman studios ... 9' x 26' , 88' radius on the edges. all parts, including templates for the granite and the base parts on the cnc.  design, veneer work and finishing by steve holman; call parts cut on the cnc by dcf ..

can't imagine doing this table by hand, though the guy who cut the radiuses on the granite cut them freehand with a handheld 4" angle grinder with a diamond saw blade ..

granite cut here .. no cnc

about 1990 .. all by hand ... a wonderful, fun project

all cnc  a room screen from 2006

with the table above 1992 .. all hand work ...
so, the question is: can we make furniture that appears handmade and combines handwork with digital fabrication?  yes is my answer.  is the digital process good?  is it bad?  does it matter? can we call a truce?

i hope so .. the digital part is not going away, and, in my humble opinion, it shouldn't.  imagine ... 

seedersinstruments.com

a custom walnut king size bed ..

ok .. this was a challenging one .. a client we had done some tables for earlier this year sent us a picture asking if we could do a bed similar for them in walnut, in a king size ...  we adjusted the dimensions and details to suit her specs.  click the photos to enlarge them ..

to get started, trevor made a full size elevation below of the headboard with the xs and the footboard

next, he laid out the post mortises and the bolt holes and mortises for the headboard and footboard.

he drilled out the larger mortises first on the drill press and squared them up with the hollow chisel mortiser.  tenons on the table saw with dado blades and the fence.

he captured the nuts for the bed bolts using the moritser and a shop made jig for drilling the bolt holes

coming together here .. next, he tapered the posts on the cnc, which was a 

super safe way to do it compared to a table saw and jig, which i have always hated.

there were LOTS of pieces and LOTS of places they all had to fit.

count em' ! on the headboard alone there are four center intersections on not a 45 degree angle, 32 corners where things have to fit 5 vertical rails, mortises for the top and bottoms of the frames, two with curves.  after that, the footboard was a walk in the park.

all done in the upstairs of the metal shop .. waiting for an 'on site' picture soon.

fun, and very challenging, project

a birch and lacewood table

well here's a cool little table

and here it is in its spot .. lookin' good .. and you can just side the pine sideboard we built for them last year back there by the fireplace.  the client was embarrassed to tell me she was using it for ' a tv stand'.
here's a photo of the finished piece.  scroll down

it's based on this table i built for a show about 10 years ago.. this one was cherry and milk paint, with ebony and lacewood accents.  the one we just finished was almost my last plank of some figured birch a friend saved from the 'cutting it up for cutting boards' line at the local kitchen accessory factory, j.k.adams .. we made some other pretty interesting pieces like this one from those four boards.

except for the total tapered legs, which makes for about a 1.5 degree angle on all the horizontal parts, it was a fairly straight forward project.  the lacewood edges are 1/16th inch veneers, cut from a board and 'paired up' to wrap around the outside edges of the top and shelf so that, with the mitered corners, the edging looks kind of like solid wood unless you look real close. 

trevor did a great job with the building and finishing of it, and he didn't use the cnc even once.

here's a coffee table in the cherry, ebony, lacewood and milk paint

same deal here only with some stain

and a kind of blurry close up of the edge detail from the original .. hmmm

this one's a little better, but it's cut from the full size picture and i didn't focus on a close up like i should have .. next time.  you  get the idea.