Floating top side table w/pics

[Nate Rogers]

Hello All,
Been a while since I posted anything, here are some pics of a recently completed table. The design is slightly modified from one I had seen in FWW some time ago. The entire base is made from one piece of gorgeous 8/4 birds eye maple that had tons of curl in it. The top is from one piece of butternut. Overall I thought the table came out real nice, as always figured woods are not the easiest to work with but I am proud to say the legs don't have any tear out...they are really smoooooth. Please critique and add comments..thanks
Nate

[Dave Ray]

Nate, great combination of wild grained woods. Please post more often, love looking at your work.

[Adam Burgess]

very nice. one piece of maple that curly and that big mut have cost a forturne.

do the legs curve in gently with a taper, or is it just the photo?

[Jim Becker]

I like the design.

Some things to try for the next one if you make more would be to make the top a bit wider than the base than this one is to give it a more floating feel and maybe a little more space between the base and the top for the same reason. (The latter suggestion may be bogus as I'm only going on the basis of the pictures...it's hard to judge clearly the separation)

[Dennis Peacock]

Very nice piece Nate...and very well done. Congrats on such a nice piece well done.

[Joe Unni]

Well done Nate! I wouldn't think a "light on light" combination would work very well...but it does. Nicely. Though Jim's suggestions are valid, I kind of like the subtleness of the details. My guess is that when someone sees the table they'll have to take a second glance to marvel at the legs figure and that will naturally lead them to notice the very slight tapered/curved legs or maybe wonder why there is a bigger than normal shadow cast by the top only to discover that it floats.

I don't know...

My two cents.

Again - very nice!

-joe

[Roy Wall]

Nate -

Great design and the woods are beautiful...Nice work!!!!

[Rich Torino]

Very nice Nate.... I really like the combination of the birds eye maple and butternut.

[Martin Shupe]

Wow! I like it!

Can you tell us where you got the birdseye? Or is it top secret? Where ever you got it, it is gorgeous!

Thanks for posting the pics.

[John Schreiber]

Beautiful table. I love the curve of the legs. Looks like it's going to prance around the house. After I see the larger geometry, the figure in the maple pulls me in to look closely.

I'm not sure about how I'd do the top. To maintain the floating look, the overhangs have to be relatively small, or you won't notice the lack of connection between the top and the bottom. But it might look better over all with longer overhangs. Perhaps something like a squared off ellipse would work for the floating top, but that would distract from the legs. Like I said, I'm not sure.

[Nate Rogers]

Thanks for all the kind comments and critiques, I do really value the critiques!! As for making the top a little higher and wider I thought about that, but I really like to make my details very subtle. I like it when someone says oh nice table, then they say oh and it floats etc...The only thing I would change would be to make it float just a little higher, maybe a 8th higher. As for the wood, I purchased that at my local hardwood dealer some time ago. I don't work with figured woods all that much, I think sometimes it gets overdone a little. But I had seen this piece and purchased it without any real intent, just added it to the pile for future use. I checked my receipts and I think I paid about 150$ for that piece, the butternut was about 8$. I am starting to find myself being really interested in pieces with a oriental influence, and of course curves are addicting. Thanks for all the comments.

Nate

[Zahid Naqvi]

Nate, nicely executed, is it just a camera trick or do the legs have a gentle curve going down.

[Nate Rogers]

Zahid,
There is most definitely a curve in the leg, it is actually quite apparent in real life..but the camera does a poor job of showing it.

Nate

[Chris Barton]

Nate,

I was about to ask about the curve in the legs! I think the piece is very nice and curly maple is my favorite wood (today). I think the piece is excellent but, I can't help but wonder what it would look like with a top of darker figured wood such as pernambuco?

[Jesse Thornton]

Excellent work. I think the subtlety of design balances very nicely with the drama of the grain. The butternut and maple look great together.

[Irvin Cooper]

Beautiful work Nate. I recently finished a similar looking table, but didnt have the foresight to give it a floating top. Truly impressed. You have a gift.

Irv

[Don Kondra]

Zahid,
There is most definitely a curve in the leg, it is actually quite apparent in real life..but the camera does a poor job of showing it.

Nate

Hi Nate,

If you study most of the photo's in FWW you will see that the majority are what I believe is called a 3/4 profile.

This "angle" is somewhat of a compromise but still shows enough of the top and the side to get a sense of the depth of the piece.

Cheers,

Don Kondra - Furniture Designer/Maker (http://donkon.sasktelwebsite.net/)