a base for a glass topped table

interesting request here .. the client needed 'just the base' of a table like the one below
to support a new glass top for a custom banquette in their home .

click the photos to enlarge them ...

we've done several versions of this design
and i just had to adapt the dimension to their floor plan shown below

we made a quick model with a plexiglass top

got the approval and i passed it on to trevor, who has become our specialist in
creating these unusual table bases.

he has worked out the engineering for the jigs and joinery cutting ...

looks scary maybe to some, but it's actually very safe the way he has set it up

and he has figured out the gluing up .. glue two halves together, one at a time,

 then glue the two pairs together

don't forget to add the dowels that are engaged by the lag bolts that hold the base
very securely to the arcing supports ...

check it for level .. pretty good

and send it off to florida on the southbound ... 

all good!

a round walnut table with leaves

i delivered a table to south boston earlier this week ... great neighborhood,  lots of old 5 story brownstones with original details .. the front doors were just fantastic .. the houses are narrow, 19', and the counter on the right in the room above is part of the kitchen, so the room we're looking at in this picture is only about 9 or 10' wide, including the fireplace .. so, it's tight.

click the photos to enlarge them ..

the request was for a smallish table (42" diameter) that would live in the round bay window

 most of the time, and then open up (to 10') for friends and family gatherings.  it is based on this slightly fancier version we made back in 2008.

this one is mahogany with burl and ebony accents.  and a little smaller at 39" in diameter.

it opened up almost as far though, and was in a philadelphia brownstone on pine street, 

that was of more or less the same era.

here's the new one, opened up to its full length in the sunny, and inviting space.  there are normally  two chairs in front of the fireplace and tv, that can be easily moved out for large gatherings...

super elegant neighborhood now, but my client tells me that a lot of it was boarded up when he moved in about 30 years ago .. never know it now .. interestingly, across the street, all the houses have angled bays, while on this side they are rounded.

 sunny neighborhood!

we started with some fine irion lumber walnut

 the boards for the main top we're about 18" wide, and trevor flattened them on the cnc

then he cut the plywood base pieces with the round space for the center leg, and veneered them 

with 1/16th" walnut.  as usual, the extension runners are from our friends at moin hardware ... 

 

we had to order a set of custom slides, which was no problem at all for moin.  you need to have an odd number of segments in order to have a center leg.  in this case we had 9 segment runners ..in this case, because of the wide opening capacity, (106"), we may be making another 15" leaf to make 

the extended table as long as possible.

here it is, before finishing and hardware

fun project !

at the same time, trevor is also wrappping up this 66" round table with three leaves.  similar to one we made earlier this year .. that one will be ready to roll next week .. more photos of that one when it's completed.

you all have a lovely weekend .. 

a curly maple pedestal table

we just finished a nice curly maple pedestal table.  

it's heading to Connecticut next week.

it's based on a design we've done a number of times now, usually before in walnut.

we started with nice wood from our favorite supplier, irion lumber.

myron sent us a matched set of boards, all from the same log.

before the angled apron and the finish. this is the first time

for the angled apron, which we feel gives the top a lighter look.

the base support pieces are mitered and dominoed and then glued up a pair at a time.

then the halves are glued together.  they are secured to the base by timberlock screws that engage

the cross grain 3/4" dowels inserted in the pieces before they are glued together.  we usually add a little glue between the horizontals and the verticals, but  it's mostly the timberlocks the give the base its rigidity.

we now include two dowels in each base section.  this blog post contains the most information

on the construction and assembly of this type of table.

here's a smallish oval version from last december.  

that one went to an isalnd in the carribbean.

 and here's the original from 2010 with a
link to the original table design and blog post from august 2010

another oval walnut pedestal table

while we're on the subject and we only have a couple more outs to go in the world series, here are some photos of the other walnut pedestal table that trevor's working on.  final sanding and staining start tomorrow ...
update 11/10

good to go .. it's headed to the islands via miami .. wouldn't mind delivering it myself ...

loyal readers might recognize the larger version below from a blog post back in 2010.

that one was quite a bit larger at 60 x 86, but the concept and the execution is pretty much the same.

make the base and top and top of the base ..

determine the height of the pedestal parts and make the patterns.  use the scale model to determine if the patterns are correct.  note that to make the miters meet, we had to add a small straight section to the curve as the top is a different proportionat 40 x 60 .. 2/3, rather than 3/4

trevor made the scale model base parts from 13/16ths poplar and painted them and once they were fitted up, enlarged the design on the cnc and made the full size patterns ...

we're going with the dark finish ..

 TWO OUTS IN THE 9TH!  looking good for the sox ... table's looking good too, ready for final sanding and the first coats of stain tomorrow.

seats six good friends .. paper is 11 x 17 .. saw blades are 10"

2 and 2 with two outs.  i think the red sox are gonna win it ... and they just did ... i think i'll go jump up and down a  bit ..

a round walnut dining table

a quick turnaround on this one ... i wrote a blog post on the table below back in january, and a couple of weeks later ... bingo, we received a new order for a similar, smaller, simpler, fixed size version ... the power of the internet ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
this was a challenging and complex project with lots of details to work out ... the inlays, the expanding part, the curved crisscrossing thing, but the new version was a delight ... it wasn't so long ago that we had lost the drawings or forgotten the steps to make it, so trevor went about it in exactly the same way as last time. after scaling the drawing down in our cad program, he scaled down the size of the elements, made new patterns and proceeded exactly as before, without the leaves and the inlays ... he cruised through this one ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
the 64" version

rescaled to 52"
as before, he started working on the base in the upside down position, which yielded this interesting shape i'd like to do something with sometime ... glass top? ... larger round top? i don't know ...something ... on its feet; add a top, and pack it off to the finish room ..
ta dah ...
our standard antique walnut finish ...