another round walnut table .. new pedestal design

one of our new clients came up with a concept for a variation on one of our tables that was really clever.

click the photos to enlarge them ...

she asked if we could make this table we made in 2013 open to have 4' of leaves inserted. 

it seemed like it could work, so we made a model, which she accepted and we were off to new design land.

 

 all finished now, but these dark tables are tough to photograph

 with 2 of the three leaves

lots of pieces

cad drawing showing placemats and seating when open and closed

some fine walnut from irion lumber

since we had made the model on the cnc from the cad drawing, it was a simple matter for trevor to cut some full size templates for the base pieces from mdf and lay them out on the 12/4 stock

joinery details

 glue up

the finished pedestals

the rest, as they say, was just an exercise .. cut the halves, cut the apron pieces, install the holes and pins and catches ... using our trusty jig

more info on this at the blog link above

tah dah

disassembly, and final sanding .. stain and finish next week sometime

new steel and wlanut pool table

ok .. we've gopt another steel and wlanut pool table going here .. same as the one below from 2012, only an 8 footer instead of a full size 9 foot table .. it's going to be just as cool though .  

click the photos to enlarge them

we added an adjustable feature to the leg as the last building was not as level as some ...

lots of parts with angles

sam took all the measurements and angles from the cad drawing above and trevor whipped up some welding jigs for him on the cnc

end jig

long side

here's a photo of the original that we sent to chicago in 2012

we assembled the base as soon as sam had it welded up.  we'll do the patina on the steel after the rail and cushion work are completed .. even after at least 15 tables, we occasionally refer to a fine woodworking article by paul bowman from 1989.

this client requested steel diamond sights to go with the base .. i started with some 1/8 by 1/2" steel and made a jig to cut the diamonds on a 45 degree angle .. it was fussy, but once i go tthe set up, it was easy to make the ones i needed, plus an extra set for next time.

chris and trevor worked on the rails and diamond inlays this week .. we're awaiting the arrival of the custom pockets, which could hold us up for a week or so .. we'll see

that gave us some time to work on the cue rack, and all it needs now is some final sanding and staining and some patina on the steel parts .. 

so more photos as we progress .. there is quite a long blog post on the first table, and this one will be more or less the same ... we like pool tables ... here's a link to some others we've made over the years and lots of links to other blog posts at the end of that post as well as in the category heading to the right called

custom pool tables

i'm a pool player and we always enjoy a new challenge ...

the table was finished before the builder ...

new claro walnut slab tables

we finished the claro walnut slab table above just in time for the next rough cut slab to come into the shop.  even though the slabs are from different logs, they are remarkably similar in width, grain, and appearance.  fortunately, the new one is two and a half feet shorter than the last one, which was over 12' long and 4' wide when it got here.  3" thick too .. no picnic to move that one around for sure.

before trimming, on our supplier's website

click the photos to enlarge them ...

trimmed in photoshop for the client's approval

after the first coat of finish

while the first coat was wet

second coat on the top of the slab

the 1.5" thick legs drilled, tapped, and assembled by jim with their polish and clear coat ... ready to install

 all we had to do was move it out to the finish room .. it took all six of us .. we stood it on edge on the little cart, wheeled it to the front door, slid it into the back of the truck, drove it the 60 feet or so to the finish room and then mounted it on the legs below.

so we don't have to flip it with the legs on it, we use a pair of mdf 'vs' slightly taller than the legs ...

then we wedge and jack them up into the pockets routed into the bottom of the slab, bolt on the legs, and then pick up one end at a time to removed the mdf.  the whole table probably goes 500 to 600 pounds assembled.  we have no way to weigh it, so that's just a guess. kind of like a pool table ...

 last coat of finish after the leg install .. good to go.  to ship it, we'll reverse the process and lend our mdf vs to the delivery guy .. it's a good system that we have been using for a couple years now.

 and the next slab arrived at my friend's factory last friday ..

 we drew on it out down there, and rough cut it to width and length

this drawing shows width between the legs

and brought it into the shop for acclimating on monday .. makes a good worktable in the meantime

more on this table as we progress.

 gonna be a nice one!

see more of our claro walnut tables, visit this slide show

bob and the aarp

i was surprised to see one of my favorite musicians on the cover of my recent aarp magazine .. good for you bob .. it was a good read and i wish i had read it before i tried to carry a 14' white oak 2 x 10 down the garage stairs by myself a few weeks ago ... about half way down, i got kind of stuck and twisted and i definitely tweaked something in the muscle that picks up your leg to go up the stairs.  but, it was friday and i had a paddle tennis game, and that one was so good, we played again saturday, and then i have(had) a regular sunday morning game.  by monday i was almost a total cripple .. could hardly get in or out of the car .. it will be a month this friday since my stair incident, and i'm just starting to be able to put my pants and socks on standing up, and sit at my computer without tears coming to my eyes.  i'm learning bob, but slowly i admit ... thanks for the tip ...

get help or leave that stuff to the young guys ..