By Hand and Eye Table

[Glen Johnson]

After reading Walker and Tolpin book By Hand and Eye, I thought I would give it a try. I got a story stick and put it against the the table I was replacing to get a height. I then divided that into five sections. I then again divided the fifth section into five, and then again devided the fifth of the fifth section again into five. I then only used these marks for all design and build measurements.

Here are some obsevation.

1. I found the designing was much easier since the individual elements needed to be a pleasing fraction of the marks on my story stick. This was also true when it came to deciding how deep to make the curved braces on the base.

2. I didn't miss my my measuring tools. Doing layout with dividers was quicker and more intuitive.

3. I would do this method again on my next project.

[Frederick Skelly]

This is helpful to me Glen. Thanks.
How did you proportion the length and width?

Fred

[William Fretwell]

That's a very pleasing shape and lines, lots of leg room all around and great figure on the top. Nothing wrong with your own proportioned ruler.

[Glen Johnson]

The table lenght was three time the height. The width was was 1 2/5 the height. I would have wanted to go a bit wider but the table had to fit in a narrow space.

[David Eisenhauer]

Thanks for the info Glen. I am slowly working my way through the book now and have had it in the back of my mind to do what you did on my next project. It is good to hear that it worked for you. In my case, I will hope that an old dog can learn a new trick.

[Jim Koepke]

Beautiful table Glen.

I haven't yet tried a proportional story stick. Have used or made a lot of others. Especially for things that will be made more than once.

Here is an idea you may want to try with a story stick in the future if it has any parts of the same dimension or you need to mark for a rip cut:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?226134-Story-Stick-Gauge

jtk

[Phillip Mitchell]

The table is beautiful! What kind of wood and finish is it?

[Glen Johnson]

The wood is curly maple. I put a dark walnut stain, sanded it to pop the grain. I followed with two coats of amber shellac and finished with a few coats of laquer. In my first attemp, I wiped on boiled linseed oil before the shellac, but the SWMBO said it was too "orangey" so I scraped it all off and started over.

[george wilson]

A good looking table,Glen!!!

[Glen Johnson]

Thanks George. I don't ever think I will have your talent, but I do get something done every now and then.

Glen

[Barrett Morris]

That's a beautiful table!

[Pat Barry]

After reading Walker and Tolpin book By Hand and Eye, I thought I would give it a try. I got a story stick and put it against the the table I was replacing to get a height. I then divided that into five sections. I then again divided the fifth section into five, and then again devided the fifth of the fifth section again into five. I then only used these marks for all design and build measurements.

Here are some obsevation.

1. I found the designing was much easier since the individual elements needed to be a pleasing fraction of the marks on my story stick. This was also true when it came to deciding how deep to make the curved braces on the base.

2. I didn't miss my my measuring tools. Doing layout with dividers was quicker and more intuitive.

3. I would do this method again on my next project.
I agree with the others that the table is beautiful. Love the style and the wood selection / grain pattern / color.

Tell me more about the method though. Dividing by fifths isn't the most intuitive thing with a pair of dividers - much easier to do 1/2 or 1/4. How did you divide the segments into fifths? How did you determine what you would use for the table thickness, leg thickness, cross brace width, etc? I'm curious about how you applied the stick dimensions to your project.

[Glen Johnson]

Pat,

Dividing a distance into fifths with dividers is easy. You step off the distance five times with the dividers. If the last step exceeds the distance, they you close the dividers by a fifth and repeat until the distance is evenly stepped off. You do the opposite if the distance is short. It is just trial and error making small adjustments until it come out right. Usually it only take a few tries. Much easier than mathematical division and it takes few brain cells to read the fine increments of a ruler or tape measure.

There are a lot of ratios other than fifth that can work. I like the divisions that that you can do with fifths. For example

1. The stretcher width is 1/5 of the height. The tenon on the stretcher width is 3/5 of the width of the stretcher width with each shoulder of the stretcher being cut 1/5 of its width to form the tenon. The tusk for the tenon is 1/5 the width of the stretcher tenon and is is tapered using a 3/5 to 2/5 taper.

2. The thickness of the edge of the table top is 1/5 of 1/5 of the table height. The table edge is beveled at a line that is 3/5 of the bottom part of the edge.

3. The height of the trestle part of the table is divided in fifths. The bottom fifth is the horizontal leg. The next fifth is the determines the height and placement of the side braces. The middle fifth matches the stretcher and the tusk of the tenon. The next fifth marks the upper braces. The last fifth is the horizontal support for the table top plus the depth of the table top. And by now, you have probably guessed that the mortise in the trestle width is 1/5 of the trestle width.

4. I wanted my side braces to be curved so I put in a curve 1/5 of the width of the braces.

With the dimension stick with the markings. It was easy to set the dividers to the desired dimensions. Being accurate to a hundredth of inch was less important than being consistent.

I hope this helps explain the process.

[Pat Barry]

Pat,

Dividing a distance into fifths with dividers is easy. You step off the distance five times with the dividers. If the last step exceeds the distance, they you close the dividers by a fifth and repeat until the distance is evenly stepped off. You do the opposite if the distance is short. It is just trial and error making small adjustments until it come out right. Usually it only take a few tries. Much easier than mathematical division and it takes few brain cells to read the fine increments of a ruler or tape measure.

There are a lot of ratios other than fifth that can work. I like the divisions that that you can do with fifths. For example

1. The stretcher width is 1/5 of the height. The tenon on the stretcher width is 3/5 of the width of the stretcher width with each shoulder of the stretcher being cut 1/5 of its width to form the tenon. The tusk for the tenon is 1/5 the width of the stretcher tenon and is is tapered using a 3/5 to 2/5 taper.

2. The thickness of the edge of the table top is 1/5 of 1/5 of the table height. The table edge is beveled at a line that is 3/5 of the bottom part of the edge.

3. The height of the trestle part of the table is divided in fifths. The bottom fifth is the horizontal leg. The next fifth is the determines the height and placement of the side braces. The middle fifth matches the stretcher and the tusk of the tenon. The next fifth marks the upper braces. The last fifth is the horizontal support for the table top plus the depth of the table top. And by now, you have probably guessed that the mortise in the trestle width is 1/5 of the trestle width.

4. I wanted my side braces to be curved so I put in a curve 1/5 of the width of the braces.

With the dimension stick with the markings. It was easy to set the dividers to the desired dimensions. Being accurate to a hundredth of inch was less important than being consistent.

I hope this helps explain the process.
Excellent! Thanks for providing the explanations.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Love the table and am intrigued by the story stick method. Nice job!

[Andrew Gibson]

Beautiful! The proportions are very pleasing in my opinion. A piece to be enjoyed for years to come.
Ironically my dining room table is wide and stubby 40" x 65". My excuse is that it is a slab table and I kept as much of the slab as possible while removing the live edge. The live edge was not worth saving and the overall dimensions fits the space nicely.