Mesquite Dining Room Pics

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Here are some pics of the now complete dining room. Basics...dining table 42x102...sofa table 18x60x30 high (to serve as an 'overflow' eating table)...corner cabinets 39" or so across the front, about 84-1/2" tall. Base units are 30" high. Couldn't get a 'full on' picture of the whole room to come out, I think because I couldn't get a flash because of the big window...so I'll give you right and left. :)

http://www.kcwoodworks.net/coleman1.jpg

http://www.kcwoodworks.net/coleman2.jpg

The cabinets are 1/2" Russian birch with laminated mesquite. On the inside 'walls', I used 4" flooring.

http://www.kcwoodworks.net/coleman7.jpg

The top unit is the same footprint as the bottom, so I milled this bullnose trim piece to cover the transition. I like it. The glass shelves (three each) now sit in a mesquite 'V' frame, with a double plate groove in all six. I wanted the look of the glass by itself in front, and they wanted the plate grooves...so we compromised.

http://www.kcwoodworks.net/coleman3.jpg

http://www.kcwoodworks.net/coleman4.jpg

I had a bit of 'sag' in the top, so I put two lenghts of 2" angle inon underneath to stiffen it up. The 'L' of the iron sits in slits cut into the apron cross supports.

http://www.kcwoodworks.net/coleman6.jpg

Client's grandmother had a table with legs much like these.

http://www.kcwoodworks.net/coleman5.jpg

Sofa table legs are scaled down a bit, but essentially the same. These are same chairs I built for the mesquite outfit in the past, but the first ones that somebody else actually made. Even tho I consider it 'my' design, it's too closely associated with 'them', and I won't build it through my own business...so he got the chairs from them.

Thanks for looking. :)

[Chris Padilla]

Just gorgeous, Kirk, Mr. Mesquite is still alive and thriving. I just love this wood. I bet those units weighed a ton, however! What lenghts of mesquite were you able to get...that tree doesn't supply many long pieces of timber does it?

[Jack Hogoboom]

Kirk,

Beautiful stuff!!! Where did you get all the Mesquite? I thought it was hard to find long boards like that.

Jack

[Jim Ketron]

Nice work!!
Everything looks Great!!
Awesome!!
I like the old style funiture.
Did you use plans?
Jim

[Michael Ballent]

That set looks GREAT!!! I love mesquite and the chips make for some good grillin' :D

[Dave Right]

What can I say?
Fantastic! Beautiful work!
Great job!

[Terry Hatfield]

KC,

Well there you go again....making the rest of us look bad..... ;)

I absolutely love the look of the entire project. All the pieces turned out fantastic!! Beautiful wood and great craftsmanship.

t

[John Gregory]

Great job. Your craftmanship shows in the pictures.

[Dan Mages]

Awesome work!!

[Herb Blair]

Awesome! Not bad fer a Texas feller....
We used to burn big mesquite trees after bulldozing. Wish I had a barn full of the stuff now.

[Jim Becker]

Between you and Todd and a few others down there in Texas, we have some mighty high bars to jump around here! Great work! Outstanding! Nice, too... :D

[Dick Parr]

Outstanding Kirk.

[Jerry Olexa]

Outstanding work!! Good Job!

[Terry Quiram]

KC

You have done it again. What a wonderful dinning set. I really like the design of your chairs.

Terry

[Waymon Campbell]

KC - You are the "Mesquite Master". Simply beautiful work my friend :) .

[Jeff Skory]

Man, that's beautiful!! That looks like a lifetime of workshop hours to me. You must be quite proud of that collection. Very nice looking.

[Mark Stutz]

These literally took my breath away! Absolutely stunning!

[thomas prevost]

Wow!!!!:) :)

[John Miliunas]

KC, I just don't quite know what to add to this, which hasn't already been stated numerous times! :confused: Quite simply, exquisite pieces and workmanship! :) Truly inspirational! :cool:

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

Was glad to see you posting again with some of your incredible work. Love that mesquite.

[Steve King]

KC,
One word
WoW

[Mike Palmer]

Kirk, The dining room set is superb. Great detail and fine craftmanship. I have never worked with mesquite but after seeing this project, I am looking forward to trying it out. Great Job!!

[Gilbert Vega]

KC
Beautiful work! Mesquite is my favorite wood for projects. I plan on building a dining room suite in the near future and I hope it comes close to being as beautiful as yours.


Kirk,

Beautiful stuff!!! Where did you get all the Mesquite? I thought it was hard to find long boards like that.

Jack

I'm not sure where he got the boards but long Mesquite boards can be found. This past week I purchased 8 boards that were 2 1/2" to 3" thick, 13" to 20" wide and 8 to 10 feet long. The widest was 2 1/2" by 20" wide and 10 feet long and all the boards were supposedly from two branches on a single tree. Price was $7.50/ bf, which I consider very good for this size.

[Greg Heppeard]

Awesome job...how many times did you have to sharpen your blades for this job? I've turned a little mesquite and I know it takes a tole on your tools. Gorgeious stuff.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Thanks for the kind words...

I bought 10-11' material to get the 8-1/2' long top. I recommended putting 'end caps' on it, primarily so I could use shorter lengths...but he really wanted the end grain look. Couple of these boards were quite wide (15-16") before ripping them into manageable widths and to get as clean a top as possible. Because I wanted long AND wide AND clean, I paid $12-15 BF for the top and aprons. The legs are laminated from 8/4 because it's just hard to find solid leg blanks that are clear. If the legs hadn't been turned, I would've used solid posts and filled them. Hard to fill the legs after they're turned...and no matter how careful you are, there's always some 'touch up' filling to do.

No plans...just straightforward pieces. I'd forgotten what a PITA it is to build corner things...so I think I'm gonna make another one right away for the Mesquite Assn show (Fredericksburg, 2nd weekend October) before I forget all the 'tricks' again. :-)

[Todd Burch]

KC - fine work! Thanks for posting. Glad you're finished and glad the client was happy. Todd

[Donnie Raines]

Oh gee....another project that puts all mine to shame....thanx!

in all seriousness....WONDERFULL!!!!!!

[Lynn Sonier]

Kirk: One word - (sorry I'm speechless!!!)
Lynn

[Brian Walter]

Maybe someday I can be good enough to build something like that, but I doubt it. It looks awesome.

Brian Walter

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Simply put.........ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! I really like the tone of that finished mesquite! Great craftsmanship!

[James Carmichael]

Absolutely beautiful. I'd never seen or heard of mesquite veneer before, I would imagine the nature of mesquite makes it pretty hard to produce.

[Mark Singer]

Great work! Very nice design!

[Bart Sharp]

Absolutely beautiful, Kirk. I might have missed this somewhere, but what was the finish?

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Oops...I forgot the finish details. :-(

Finsih sanded to 150 grit, Natural Minwax stain/sealer, topped with Sherwin Williams Dull Rubbed Effect Pre-Cat lacquer. I normally use WATCO natural followed by lacquer, but I knew they used the Minwax on the chairs. The look is very similar, and even tho the color will darken up and even out in short order, I think the WATCO appears a biit darker immediately.

Thanks again for the replies. :-)

[Thomas Glenn]

Fantastic .wood and craftsmanship

[Kelly C. Hanna]

WOW, what a nice set you've built. I like the stain you used. Your work is excellent!

[Dennis Peacock]

Kirk,

You did a FINE job!!!!! If you keep setting the quality bar any higher, I'll get nosebleed!!!! All else has been said. Great job.!!!!

[Bert Johansen]

KC,

I'm in the category of weekend hobbist, but still aspire to do the kind of work you so skillfully have shown us. Thanks for the GREAT examples! How long did it take you to do the ensemble? The chairs are beautifully designed and crafted to complement the table.

Bert (Another Texan)

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Timewise, I worked on the tables over two weekends and a few hours each day during the week between (night job!). Nuthin' special about the tables.

I worked hard on the corner cabinets for 3 weekends and two weeks...and probably 7 or 8 hours each day the last week and Saturday. My own fault tho for procrastinating. Things always take longer when you're in a hurry. :-(

KC

[Don Selke]

I take my hat off to you Kirk: Outstanding work. I am going to take a trip to Touson AZ. for some of that Mesquite and give it a try myself.
/tripple "A" all the way.