Recent work - Xmas present for Mom

[Dave Avery]

All,

Attached are a couple of shots of a hall table I made for my mother for Christmas. Bookmatched curly makore veneer banded with some nice curly maple (right from the racks at Home Depot). The finish is padded shellac followed by 4 coats of gloss Arm-R-Seal and buffed using the Beall compounds/wax with my Festool Rotex sander. The best part was the actual giving of the gift..... I wish you could have seen the look on her face. Hope you enjoy looking. Dave.

[Terry Quiram]

All that curly stuff is making me dizzy. :D Great looking table.

Terry

[Jim Becker]

Oh, my. Somebody else raises the bar... :D

That's one beautiful table, Dave. Your mom is pretty lucky!

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

WOWZA Dave! That is simply beautiful beyond words! Stunning is all that comes to mind! I am sure she was one happy Mommy on Christmas Day! I'll bet you drew a few Happy Tears with that one? Excellent work Dave, thanks so much for sharing the pictures with us! :)

[Tom Sweeney]

All that gorgeous curl - I love it. Curly maple & contrasting woods are my absolute favorite design & you really nailed it here.

I'm sure your Mom will cherish it!

PS: The only problem I have with your post is you're not supposed to tell the others about the Home Depot curly maple secret :cool:

Mine only ever has it in the smaller sizes like 1X2 for some reason but I've gotten a bunch of it - I always check out the lumber rack no matter what I go there for.

[Mark Singer]

Dave,
Beautiful wood and beautiful work...My Home Depot only has 2x4's....
Mark

[Ron McNeil]

Dave, The table is beauitful, you did a great job and I'm sure your mom will really appreciate it.

[Bob Lasley]

Outstanding Dave!

That is one beautiful table top. Did use MDF for the substrate?

BTW, based on your recommendation, Santa brought me a Vacupress system like yours. I will be putting it through its paces soon, I hope.

Great job,
Bob

[Dave Avery]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the nice compliments, it's one of my best pieces yet.

Kevin, yes, there was more than a tear in her eyes. I have to admit to being a little choked up myself after I saw her reaction.

Bob, no, not MDF for this one. 3/4 birch plywood because I had it on hand. That said, I prefer MDF for use as a substrate. Congratulations on the Vacupress gift - you're going to love it. It's quite a bit more work than using solid lumber, but I find the results much more satisfying. As far a veneer goes, I've had great success using Ebay. Two sellers that are very reputable are 'Thouge" and, particularly, 'Lepkowski'. For glue I've used "Franklin cold press for veneer" with perfect results - cleans up with water and is much easier to work with than UF. Feel free to PM me if you have questions about the process. Dave.

[Mark Singer]

Dave ,
Which Vacuum press do you have? I'm looking at getting one.
Mark

[Dave Avery]

Mark,

Vacupress Compact 100 - small continuous duty vacuum pump with a 4X4' vinyl bag and all the connections. $300 from vacupress.com. Like it very much. Let me know if I can help further. Dave.

[John Miliunas]

Sheeesh...What can I add that hasn't already been said?! Simply gorgeous! I'm sure Mom is proud of her son. That's one beautiful piece and it's a sure bet that she will think of you each and every time she sees it! :cool: