Floating Top Hall Table

[Mike Harris]

Hi All

It's been quite some since I've posted here. Here's pics of a table I recently finished. It's made of Curly Maple both the top and base are dyed to obtain the contrast.

Hey Art if you're reading, I took your advice and hired a photographer.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2467&d=1210200463

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2468&d=1210200481

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2469&d=1210200503

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2470&d=1210200520

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2471&d=1210200529

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2472&d=1210200542

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2473&d=1210200558

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2474&d=1210200570

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2475&d=1210200606

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2476&d=1210200626

Thanks for Looking
Mike

[Jeremy Finke]

Beautiful...

[Mark Stutz]

Beautiful table. The design, and IMO more importantly, the EXECUTION of the design, are both outstanding. I have never been a fan of dyed or stained wood...always thought I should use a dark wood if I wanted dark...but this top has changed my opinion. I would have predicted ahead of time, if asked, that the inlay would be too busy in conjunction with the curly wood, but again, I would have been wrong. That combination works great here.

Mark

[Doug Shepard]

Man is that nice. Thanks for posting.

[Dave Tinley]

That is sweet. I love the design and execution.
Was this for a client?

[Glenn Clabo]

Excellent design...perfect execution. Thanks for sharing.

[John Thompson]

Excellent work.. and great photography even though being non commericial, I doubt I would hire a photo-grapher even though they can give a much better representation of what it really looks like.

Sarge..

[Mike Harris]

That is sweet. I love the design and execution.
Was this for a client?


Thanks Dave, it was for a competition.

Mike

[Chris Padilla]

Outstanding and lottsa little touches like the tapered top really make it stand out. The top appears to be solid, correct?

[Mike Harris]

Outstanding and lottsa little touches like the tapered top really make it stand out. The top appears to be solid, correct?

Thanks Chris

Yes, the top is solid and bookmatched from an 8/4 board.

Mike

[Chris Padilla]

That's the best bookmatching job I've ever seen! I was questioning to myself if it was actually bookmatched. I'm betting the dye job helped conceal it a bit more but awesome work!

[gary Zimmel]

Mike

Great looking table.... You did a fantastic job.

I like the design.

[Jim Becker]

Wow...beautiful work, Mike!

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Very nice work, Mike. I think I would have "flipped" the contrast.....made the top light and legs and apron dark. That would have called for a dark inlay in the top. But without seeing it actually done who knows how that combination would have worked. Regardless, great craftsmanship.

[Jim Tobias]

Mike,
Really nice design and wonderful execution! I like the contrasting dyes on the curly maple. It's a great way to use the same wood and yet get a completely different look.
If you don't mind, what are the dimensions of the table?

Jim

[Jay Hart]

Mike, beautiful table. The grain for the rails appears to go north-south. How did you do that?

[Mike Harris]

Mike,
Really nice design and wonderful execution! I like the contrasting dyes on the curly maple. It's a great way to use the same wood and yet get a completely different look.
If you don't mind, what are the dimensions of the table?

Jim

Thanks Jim, the table is 14 1/4" W x 42"L x 31 3/4"T. I had to use the same wood for the competition it was entered in, it sure added an extra challenge.

Mike

[Mike Harris]

Mike, beautiful table. The grain for the rails appears to go north-south. How did you do that?

Thanks Jay, that's the nature of curly maple, it's the figure that gives the impression of the grain running horizonatally.

Mike

[Bill Wyko]

Not only stunning but very creative as well. I'm very impressed.:)

[Dewey Torres]

Very nice... love the inlays. Let us know if you win.
Dewey

[Art Mulder]

Hey Mike!! Excellent photography... :p

[Bruce Page]

Beautiful...
Wow Beautiful...!!

[Roy Wall]

Mike -

beautiful work......that top is awesome!!

SOme questions:

1) How did you cut the groove for the inlay.......palm router?
2) The two cross stretchers that hold the top........how are they attached to the Main long stretchers? If M&T, that seems like a endgrain to long grain situation.......I was just wondering so I can learn.

Great job!

[Mike Harris]

Mike -

beautiful work......that top is awesome!!

SOme questions:

1) How did you cut the groove for the inlay.......palm router?
2) The two cross stretchers that hold the top........how are they attached to the Main long stretchers? If M&T, that seems like a endgrain to long grain situation.......I was just wondering so I can learn.

Great job!

Thanks Roy

The inlay was done using a plunge router with a router fence. The cross braces are attached to the apron using sliding dovetails, there is no cross grain situation.

This pic shows the under top construction, which might help to visualize the construction better.

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com/vbpgimage.php?do=full&p=2360&d=1207439219


Mike

[Mike Harris]

Thanks Everyone for your comments.

Mike

[Larry Fox]

Mike that is a fantastic piece of work both in terms of design and execution. Very well done.

[J. Z. Guest]

Pretty daggone nice! I just love curly grain.

[Bob Grimshaw]

That is a real beauty. I can only hope you are as proud as I am envious :)

What did you finish it with? The grain figure sure does pop.

[Mike Harris]

That is a real beauty. I can only hope you are as proud as I am envious :)

What did you finish it with? The grain figure sure does pop.

Thanks Bob, here's the write up that went along with it in the competition, it should answer all your questions

Mike

Floating Top Hall Table



14 ¼”W x 41”L x 31 ¾”H


I've admired this style of table for quite some time. Your contest was the perfect opportunity to give it a try.

The first task was to draw out my design to full scale. I taped together some poster board and began laying out the design. The most difficult part was figuring out the radius for the arc on the aprons, which ended up being 47” and 43".

Next was to find a 2" x 10" x 10' curly maple board, I wasn't able to find a board of those dimensions in my area, so I had to make due with the equivalent of 17bd/ft., fortunately the 2 boards were from the same tree. I then skip planed the boards to pick out best part layout, I was able to get all the parts except the top from one board. I rough cut all my stock. What was really cool about building the project from 8/4 material was that all the parts except the legs are book matched, they were cut sequentially across the width of the board.

I needed to make a plywood template for the aprons, this was done with Baltic birch plywood and a router circle cutting jig. The aprons needed to be laid out for tennons and sliding dovetails, these were cut before the shape was done. The template was used to trace out the shape of the aprons, then rough cut on the band saw. Then the template was fastened to the aprons with 2-way tape and final dimensioning was done on the router table with pattern cutting router bit.

On to the legs, they had been rough cut during layout, now the mortises were cut with a bench top mortising machine. The tapers were then cut using a tapering jig on the table saw, the legs were tapered on three sides. The legs were rounded over on all sides with a 3/8" round over router bit on the router table. The cross braces were previously rough cut, final dimensions were done, and then the pins for the male end of the sliding dovetail were cut as well as the female sliding dovetail for the top supports. The remaining parts received a 45* bevel on the router table. At this point the base was ready for the first dry fit, all was good.

On to the top, the 8/4 board had previously been rough cut to 7 3/4" x 43", it was resawn on the band saw, flattened and planned to rough thickness of 7/8". The top was then book matched and laminated together. When the glue dried the top was run through a thickness drum sander to its final 3/4" thickness. The top was then cut to its final dimensions of 14 1/4" x 41" on the table saw, and then a 15* bevel was cut on all edges.

Now was the most stressful part of the project, I'd never done inlay before, so I cut a piece of plywood to the same dimensions as the top, laid out my inlay pattern and cut the grooves using an 1/8" straight cutting router bit, a plunge router and a router fence. The depth of the inlay grooves was 3/16". All was good with my trail run on the plywood. I laid out the pattern on the top and cut the grooves. While cutting the inlay pattern, it was constantly in the back of my mind, that if I messed this cut up, I didn't have enough material left to cut another top, fortunately I didn't make any mistakes. The inlay groove corners then were squared off using a chisel, and then sealed with shellac to help prevent the dye from bleeding into the inlay.

All parts were sanded to 180 grit. The legs were dyed using amber dye, 50% water and 50% alcohol. The top was dyed using 50% amber dye, 50% Van Dyk Brown dye, 50% water and 50% alcohol. When the dye was dry, all parts were sanded with 220 grit sandpaper, removing the raised grain and all dye except what remained in the figure (popping the grain). The top was recoated with same mixture but not sanded back this time. The base was now glued and clamped. When the glue dried the base and the top received 2 coats of BLO.

Now to the inlay on the top. The grooves on the top were all taped off using blue painters tape, the inlay was cut 1/8" x 1/8" using an off cut from the top stock. The inlays were then glued into the 3/16" grooves. Once the glue dried the inlay was planed back using a low angle block plane to just proud of the masking tape, then finish sanded by hand to 220 grit. When the tape was removed the inlay sat proud of the table top by the thickness of the masking tape, that would be dealt with in the final coats of finish. The top was then recoated with BLO to help seal the inlay.

Both the base and the top received a sprayed on tack coat and a wet coat of shellac to seal the project. Once the shellac was dry, both the top and base were rubbed down using a fine 3M pad. The base received 3 coats of Deft Brushing Lacquer sprayed on. The top received many coats of lacquer, until it appeared that there was enough finish thickness that the finish could be sanded back until the inlay and the table top felt flush. Then one final coat of lacquer was applied.

The project was allowed to dry for several days then wet sanded to 2000 grit, a coat of wax was applied and the top fastened to the base.

I'm quite pleased with results and I was able to apply some new techniques I haven't tried in the past.

[Jeff Heil]

Beautiful Work! You design maximizes the figure of the wood!

[Don Bullock]

Exquisite!!! Your pictures are great and show the detail and your superior craftsmanship very well.

[Clara Koss]

i've never seen anything like this floating table before... it is really an eye catcher... is it common???? enjoy it....:p

[Mike Harris]

Thanks Clara

No I wouldn't say it's a common design, I've seen maybe 4 or 5 examples of similiar tables.

Mike

[stephen stidd]

Mike,

Great job! I hope you took some honers with your competition.

Question: If you dyed the top, how did you mask the the inlay? I've heard of using a coat of shellac but haven't tried it.

Again nice job.

[Mike Harris]

Mike,

Great job! I hope you took some honers with your competition.

Question: If you dyed the top, how did you mask the the inlay? I've heard of using a coat of shellac but haven't tried it.

Again nice job.

Thanks Stephen, I still don't know about the competition yet, June 2 they announce the top 24, then the public votes on their favourites till the top three are picked sometime in August.

The top was dyed before the inlay was installed.

Thanks again
Mike

[Duncan Potter]

Outstanding in all respects!

[Lee Koepke]

Outstanding work.
It would be difficult for someone to beat that table in a competition !!

Good Luck, and thanks for sharing.

[Craig Mitchell]

Wow!!!! I love the design!! Great work!!

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Very, very nice! I really like the design.
-Jeff :)

[Tim Martin]

outstanding work. Beautiful, I really like it. Well done.

[Mike Harris]

Afternoon All


Thanks again for your comments, just found out today my table made the top 24, I'm thrilled. Here's the link.

http://reg.taunton.com/webapps/nmw182.html

Looks like I'm up against some pretty stiff competition though. Feel free to vote for your favourite;)

Thanks again
Mike

[Lee Koepke]

Afternoon All


Thanks again for your comments, just found out today my table made the top 24, I'm thrilled. Here's the link.

http://reg.taunton.com/webapps/nmw182.html

Looks like I'm up against some pretty stiff competition though. Feel free to vote for your favourite;)

Thanks again
Mike
congrats !!!

There was one other 'floating' table from curly maple that could give you a good run. I still liked your table better :cool:


PS: dont forget to remind us to vote again in Round 2 .... my memory may not be as good as it used to be ...

[Brent Smith]

Hi Mike,

Beautiful work, and congrats on making the first cut. I think we'll be seeing more of this piece.

[Mike Harris]

Hi Mike,

Beautiful work, and congrats on making the first cut. I think we'll be seeing more of this piece.

Thanks Brent, good to see you over here!

Mike

[Jerome Hanby]

I went over and voted for you. Good luck!

Afternoon All


Thanks again for your comments, just found out today my table made the top 24, I'm thrilled. Here's the link.

http://reg.taunton.com/webapps/nmw182.html

Looks like I'm up against some pretty stiff competition though. Feel free to vote for your favourite;)

Thanks again
Mike

[Mike Harris]

Thanks Guys, I appreciate the support.

Mike

[Mark Valsi]

WOW !!

that project rates an "A+".

Great design
Great choice of wood !!!!!
Great top
Great underpinings

You should be proud of that !!!

[Jason Tuinstra]

Mike,

Very, very nice. I like the use of the contrasting finish. It really adds some nice pop to an already nice design. Quality!

[john master]

Mike,

Was that hard or soft curly maple that you used?

Thanks!

[Doug Shepard]

It was nice seeing this in this months FWW Gallery pics tho I forgot to take note of what place you ended up in. Congratulations.

[Mike Harris]

Mike,

Was that hard or soft curly maple that you used?

Thanks!

Hi John

It was soft curly maple.

Mike

[Mike Harris]

It was nice seeing this in this months FWW Gallery pics tho I forgot to take note of what place you ended up in. Congratulations.


Hi Doug

Thanks, I finished 3rd. And yes, it was cool to see it in the Gallery and the Magazine. All round it's been an Awesome Experience and I got to meet Norm as well.

Thanks again
Mike