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alex grams
04-09-2010, 8:49 AM
A prototype for a pair of tables I am going to build for our living room. I just wanted to test the design and its feel before I started on the final two tables. The woods are maple and mahogany, with the inlays in each beings its contrasting counterpart.

The next two tables will have an 8 piece sunburst top, and instead of mahogany i will use Koa contrasted with maple.

Jeff Monson
04-09-2010, 9:27 AM
Wow Alex, that is a great table. The design is very unique, the wood contrast is nice also. It looks like a difficult piece to make. Very nice!!!

Mike Willeson
04-09-2010, 10:40 AM
"PROTOTYPE" :eek: ....that is a great looking table!

Very unique design. Be sure to let us see the final products.

Jamie Buxton
04-09-2010, 10:41 AM
Whew -- that's a prototype?!

Jimmy Williams
04-09-2010, 11:39 AM
I'll say what the others have already said...This is a prototype?

I really like the design. It reminds me of a bongo drum. Wonder who will be the first to act like they are beating on it?

Peter Aeschliman
04-09-2010, 11:55 AM
Seriously! Don't people typically use cheap/ugly wood for prototypes??

That looks incredible!

Bruce Page
04-09-2010, 12:06 PM
That's a prototype? I can’t wait to see the real McCoy.

My only critique.. I think the dovetail marking line left on the legs detracts from the piece.

alex grams
04-09-2010, 12:20 PM
Bruce, that is about the only change I will make before the final two .There will be no dovetails on the legs in the final piece. I wanted an aesthetic joint there, something other than a flush butt, but you are correct on the markings, and the joint is not inherently that strong due to the grain direction in the vertical leg. Any thoughts/suggestions on other unique joint types i could use there that would be appreciated.

Hand cut dovetails of hard maple into hard maple are very unforgiving, and I did have one leg have a breakout on the bottom piece from the joint being too tight and the wood being brittle in that grain direction. But that is why i made this piece, so i can learn and not make that same mistake in the next two final pieces. Plus with all of the jigs now made for this piece, the next two should be MUCH faster. This took me about a month of off/on work and thought on how to do certain parts of its construction.

The reasoning for wood choice in the prototype is i wanted something that mimicked the behavior of the final actual wood (why i used maple, because in tearout/chipout, few things act like maple do, or at least no wood that is cheaper than maple) and i had some mahogany around that i wanted to use. I wanted the prototype to not just be a form test, but also a construction test for me, so i could learn and solve any problems that may occur.

The piece will serve as an temporary oddball end table in the living room, then get moved back to a back bedroom for a nightstand or something when I get the final two built.

The koa/maple combination will be used to match this piece i previously built that is in the living room:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=119299&d=1243426305

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=119297&d=1243426174

Bruce Page
04-09-2010, 12:42 PM
Love that Koa! This is a little mantel clock that I made for my sis several years ago. I picked up a little log of koa while visiting her on the big island.
It was the most spectacular wood that I have ever worked with. The pic doesn’t do the grain justice.

alex grams
04-09-2010, 12:54 PM
Bruce, i love Koa. The wife and I just got back from our second trip to the Kona area. I got a nice little coffee table sized slab of mango and a nice piece of koa i plan on using for a hall table with a live edge.

John Keeton
04-10-2010, 6:47 AM
Alex, the style of the table is striking, and you have done a wonderful job with it. It is not a style I would do, but that takes nothing away from it. Great work on the buffet piece, as well!! And, I do have to say, that Koa is some fabulous wood!!

alex grams
04-13-2010, 11:24 AM
John,
The above piece is an aquarium stand, not a buffet. I guess i should get a picture together with the aquarium actually on it. I have been meaning to do that for a while now.

I appreciate the design compliments as much or more than the construction compliments.

The concept was something the wife and I worked up together (thanks sketchup, since she is not a 2d to 3d visualizer) through several revisions. Though i still want to come up with a unique joint for the lower legs, and looking at it, the bottom cross looks kind of plain to me, but i willc

I have ordered the sunburst template triangles for the next two pieces, and hope to start those soon. Though i am probably going to need to do a few test sunbursts before I start on the final ones with the koa veneer.

Rick Erickson
04-13-2010, 9:16 PM
Alex, seeing that it's just a prototype and I'm sure like most prototypes they just get in the way in the shop I'll take it off your hands so you don't have to deal with disposing it. Looking forward to seeing the final product. I'm not sure I would get rid of the DTs.

Joe Shinall
04-13-2010, 9:45 PM
Leave the Dovetails! That was my favorite feature when I first looked at it. It looks great, wouldn't mind 2 of those sitting in my living room. Prototypes or not. and my wife wouldn't mind that buffet sitting in our dining room.:D

Baxter Smith
04-13-2010, 10:17 PM
Neat design and great wood!

Van Huskey
04-14-2010, 1:13 AM
I love your designs, workmanship and choice of wood!

alex grams
04-14-2010, 9:24 AM
I too like the look of the dovetails, but they just don't offer much functionally and are actually a weakness in the bottom of the 'pin' of the vertical leg due to the hardness and brittleness of maple and the grain direction in that piece.

I may consider doing two smaller sliding dovetails for the next legs, but still not sure. Another option I considered was to spline it with the darker wood, but I am still unsure either way.

alex grams
04-26-2010, 11:06 AM
More thoughts on the dovetails: I think i will use a butterfly dovetail in the bottom legs of a smaller size than the initial cut ones. Same depth, but about 2/3 the 'width' so that i leave more room at the bottom of the vertical for strength. I think i have a couple of scraps of koa i can use for the butterfly dovetails, if not i will use some rosewood or something.