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View Full Version : Another great table!!



Bruce Volden
08-27-2010, 2:30 PM
Top is lyptus, aprons are mahogany, legs are ebonized oak, inlay is with malachite and azurite. Tenons are pinned with walnut dowels. That's about it.

Tom Winship
08-27-2010, 7:10 PM
I thought for a moment that there was a shelf, then realized it was the shadow.

Steve LaFara
08-27-2010, 10:45 PM
How did you make that top?:eek: Very cool!

John Thompson
08-28-2010, 11:54 AM
Ditto what Tom said on the shelf before I en-larged the photo. Nice job on a modern design...

gary Zimmel
08-28-2010, 4:31 PM
Real nice work on the table Bruce.
I too would like more info on the top. Which by the way is too cool...

Bruce Volden
08-28-2010, 8:55 PM
OK, overall dimensions are 17"H X 27 3/4"W X 32"L just right for a coffee table size in a livingroom (Bro's).

The top was engraved with my laser and burned in about .06". I then took a piece of malachite and crushed it up with pliers and a mortar/pestal, ditto with the azurite. Once ground into a mixture of dust and SMALL grains I painstakingly used dental tools and heaped it into the recess created by the laser. I thought I'd be creative and use 2 colors, green for the vine and blue for the leaves. Once this was finished I used a needle and syringe and applied a thin (5CP) CA glue and let it migrate into the powders and down to the wood. Once dry-----sand! Started @ 36grit to get the high spots and worked to 1500 grit for the shine. From there, good ole Danish oil finish and 5-6 coats of minwax with buffing between coats. Spent about 20-25 hours total.

Bruce

Dave MacArthur
08-29-2010, 1:37 AM
ermm.... Bruce, I think they're talking about the latticework piece "top", not the malachite filler part. You don't mean that lattice piece is lyptus and was etched by a laser do you?

Rick Markham
08-29-2010, 6:14 AM
Dave, I am pretty sure the lattice portion of the table is a cast iron grate. If you notice in the close up of his very nice inlay, you can see the screw holes ;) I really like it Bruce, it's really a great piece! It looks like you have a slight grey tint on your ebonized oak. If you want to get your ebonized oak absolutely coal black, I am willing to share a secret... well it isn't really a secret.

Leather tanners have been using a ground tree bark that is super tannic for a very long time to ebonize leather. It works amazingly on wood too ;) It's call Quebracho bark, you can get a powder from taxedermy supply stores. If you mix a tablespoon with one quart of water, wipe it on the wood, and allow it to mostly dry, then do your vinegar and iron solution allow it to dry completely, wipe the piece with the tannin tea again, allow to dry, then a light rinse with some clean water it really does wonders! (sounds far more complex than it really is)

Proof is in the pudding... this is a piece of red oak, I wanted to try this out on. The left side is done with the Quebracho bark tea just as I described. The right side is the same vinegar and iron solution used on the left side. Apparently this red oak didn't have very much tannins in it. You can ebonize any kind of wood with this stuff using this method. apparently I bumped the side of my jig with the bark tea and the vinegar and iron solution because it ebonized my aluminum jig :o (hence the black smudges)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/Rick357/007-5.jpg

Frank Drew
08-29-2010, 8:51 AM
Bruce,

The "great" in your title, that's a play on grate, right?

Gordon Eyre
08-29-2010, 9:15 AM
Nice table Bruce and quite a process to do the design. It is definitely one of a kind.

scott spencer
08-29-2010, 11:36 AM
Grate table!

Joseph D'Orazio
08-29-2010, 2:15 PM
Its beautiful.

Van Huskey
09-02-2010, 1:27 AM
Very cool!