Kitchen Island finished..lots of pics

[Nate Rogers]

Hello All,
I just finished up this kitchen island, it is frame and panel construction with few extras. The used used are hard maple, curly maple, cherry, ash, pine and ash, it is approx 4' by 2'. It was a blast to build, and I think it came out pretty decent. The pics are not the greatest but please take a a look and as always comments (good or bad) are welcomed.


Thanks
Nate

[David LaRue]

Excellent! :D

[Nate Rogers]

A few more pics, including my shop assistant..

[Jim Becker]

Wow, that looks great, Nate! Bang-up job! I like what you did with the inlay in the top, too...

[everett lowell]

Nice job Nate ! Is that an inlay on the top, or a groove? sorry, my eyes ain't what they used to be:( btw, your assistant is posing like HE built it! lol :)

[Karl Stewart]

Looks fantastic Nate. I love Maple, probably because it's abundant here. How did you finish the top? I used boiled linseed oil and reapply once per year. How thick are the panels within the doors. The pix show the grain beautifully. Thanx

Karl

[Jason Tuinstra]

Looks like a nice place to make a pb and j :p Seriously, very nice job.

[Sean Hughes]

Nice work Nate!! I really like the inlay.

[Von Bickley]

Great job Nate...:)

[Jim Murphy]

Nate, I join in the others to say great job. You have tackled some seriously difficult woodworking there, and your hard work and skills really show. I do not ordinarily like pieces with a large number of different species (you used six!), but you manage to pull it off.

This has me thinking. I know it is a matter of taste, but does anyone else think mixing too many species can be a problem from the aesthetic point of view? As woodworkers, we love the different types of wood, and like to show our skill in incorporating a lot of detail, but I find that the multi-species look often detracts for the piece. I am not talking about Nate's piece here, but just in general. What do you think?

[Nate Rogers]

Jim,
I was reading your post about multiple wood species, I tend to agree with you. I think it can be overdone if you are not carefull. For me it was much more about function and material availability more than anything. The 4 primary woods (cherry for the legs and frames) (curly maple for the panels/droors) (maple for the top) (walnut for the inlay and droor/door trimmings) were the woods that I intentionly chose for look. The walnut was a nice choice to offset the brightness of the two maples and it also happens to be a nice match with the cherry (especially as it ages). However the other woods (pine for bottom of the inside) this was just a case of me hating plywood, and having several air dried pine boards on the rack...As for the ash I had a ample supply of it and decided to use it for the droor sides and back. That is a choice I probably will not make again, just didn't find it quite as nice to work with. It tends to be so brittle and unforgiving.. So to get back to the original part of this discussion, I think you can use multiple woods, but it is best if they are used as accents. In general I don't really care for it, and I think I was pushing it a little bit on this project. I do absolutely love the walnut details, they look fantastic!!
Thanks for all the feedback, always nice to get compliments...so the real big question is, what is next....hmmm maybe a bed?

[Larry Fox]

Very nice job Nate. Very nice boxer as well - I have one myself although mine is fawn. Love those dogs.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Nive top. I really like the drawer slides.
I like the feel of a nice waxed wood slide. They are so much more satisfying than the mechanical ones.

[Jim W. White]

Nate,

Exceptional peice. Very well done.

...and it might seem trivial, but I love seeing pictures of people's "shop assistants" also! His coat has almost as much figure as the woods used in your project :D

[Chuck Wood]

Nate,

Very nice! :)

[Al Willits]

Very nice, love the inlay too.
I like the multi wood usage, makes it a bit more interesting.

Only thing I might have changed would be, using the same material from the drawer fronts, in the door panels, might just be the picture, but the panels look a bit whiteish for my taste.
Wife likes it though, and says I have no taste anyway.:)

I'd be happy to make something that nice, enjoy.

Al

[Mark Neighbors]

Very nice job. I like the taper coming to the top and also the inlay. Thanks for sharing!