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Thread: Coffee table

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,469

    Coffee table

    It's been a long time since I made a coffee table. This one is for my son, who recently moved to Sydney. New city, new job. He has found a great apartment, and has begun to request furniture, first a coffee table to replace an Ikea piece his girlfriend purchased. I think that he is playing with fire! No, she's great


    It's a long weekend in a fortnight, and Lynndy and I plan to visit. (We have family in Sydney, and old friends from when we lived there 30 years ago). My idea was to build a coffee table and take it on the plane as a sort of surprise (he knows I am building it, but will not expect it this way). Fun, eh?


    So, I needed a knock-down design. And a design along the lines of Danish Modern, which would fit in nicely in his home.


    I was taken with a piece by a Japanese maker, Ishitani. He has some great builds on YouTube which are worth looking up. Inspiration came from this design of his ...





    The top lifts off ...





    ... and the legs come apart ...





    The coffee table required two weekends to complete. That's a nice change from the pieces I've been building. The wood is Hard Maple. I've grown to like this stuff.


    I made a few changes to the design. Firstly, it is a little slimmer and larger (I think): 38" long x 28" wide and 16 1/2" high. Plus a few modifications.


    Here's the table ...





    To take this shot I had to crawl on the carpet. Much of the underside is unlikely to be seen, even at a distance.





    Here's what it looks like underneath. Where Ishitani left his rails straight, I've added a curve (you know me and curves) ..





    The legs come off for packing flat ...





    Join at the centre ...





    Ishitani connected breadboard ends with a dovetailed spline. I have used a true drawbored breadboard construction. The weather in Sydney changes from dry cold in Winter to high humidity in summer. I did not think that a dovetail would cope with this.



  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,469
    Gotta show a tool - these were made with a Veritas Jack Rabbet (to balance the recent post of a power router for the mortices) ...








    Another change is the legs are connected with hex bolts. I really could not envisage the coffee table living a life with a loose top ..








    This was a very straightforward build. The only slight challenge was the legs - turning them precisely, and then morticing for the rails.


    The mortices were first cut in the blanks ..





    .. and then turned ..





    That's Peter Galpert's caliper on the lathe bed. I really recommend it for sizing spindles.


    The tenons were fitted into the mortice ...





    ... and marked out:





    .. before being rebated (is that the correct term here?) for the shoulder ...





    And that was it. Finish was a coat of Livos Universal Wood Oil to add a little amber to the very light maple. Then 5 coats of General Finishes water based poly was rubbed on for durability. This adds a little shine. Looks great.


    Can't wait to see Jamie's face!


    Regards from Perth


    Derek

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    7,254
    Blog Entries
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    Beautiful work! I like the breadboard ends, dovetailed ends can be a bit delicate.

    Your son knows when to call in the big guns and impress his girlfriend, he’s a smart one, I’m sure! And it sure is nice to see a piece of IKEA getting replaced with a handmade item.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    N.E, Ohio
    Posts
    3,026
    Beautiful. The knock down is ingenious.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Lubbock, Tx
    Posts
    1,490
    Great work and pleasure to come along on the build as always.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    Nice looking coffee table.

    Maybe the Ikea table can be set on the curb with a "FREE" sign on top.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Austin Texas
    Posts
    1,957
    Nice work as always Derek and thanks for sharing. For whatever reason, in general, I have always preferred lighter colored wood furniture. Looks like a keeper.
    David

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Clarks Summit PA
    Posts
    1,733
    Very nice table Derek...unique...and great to transport.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Ottawa, On, Canada
    Posts
    82
    beautiful and stylish, definitely a keeper.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    South West Ontario
    Posts
    1,502
    I do think Ishitani nailed it. His deeper rails and thicker top both provide far more leg support for all those years of abuse. His loose top would not be a problem. My shaker cherry coffee table has had a loose top for 20+ years!
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    3,222
    Nicely done, Derek. Love the curl in the legs...nice design feature.

  12. Great work, I'm a big fan of Ishitani's work and youtube videos.

    Interestingly Richard at The English Woodworker makes a very similar style flat pack design in his video series https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com...bridle-guides/ which is worth checking out for a 'build-along' series.

  13. #13
    Perfect. I love the design. Clever construction. I love the visual effect of the apron.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Provo, UT
    Posts
    390
    Great work. Add another to the WWDD (what would Derek do) category!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    The Sunny Southeast
    Posts
    646
    Ishitani's youthful exuberance is fun to watch. His dog seems to have quite the personality.

    Ron

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