08-29-2010, 02:17 PM
I have started work on a Duncan Phyfe style Dining Room Table. The closest on-line image i can find of such a table is located at The Federalist.
While the overal design is very similar, my pedestals have a slightly different shape.
The table will be 52" x 14' (yes, that's feet) when fully assembled. The table proper (as shown in the link above) will be 52" x 8' in 2 sections that are 48" x 52" wide. This will make for the standard table that will be in use daily. When needed, a additional section can be placed in the center. This section is a single pedestal with 4 legs that adds 28" to the length. The center section is used as a server when not in use (more on that later). Then if I ever move into the White House, I can add the two leaves that are 18" a piece, giving me a 14' table. No, I don't have the room for a 14' table....yet. Still, it is better to build it all at once.
So, I acquired two very large Mahogany boards. They were 28" x 16' and 22" x 20'. From these two boards the top boards are being machined.
Below is the 28" board after having one 5' section cut off.
The 28" sections will form the two end-most pieces and the center section.
The second board is cut into two 20" x 52" pieces and two 18" x 52" pieces. The 4" offcuts will be used later. They will not be wasted.
After all is cut to rough dimensions, they were placed on the fence to judge placement and grain patterns. This caused a lot of neighbors to stop by while i kept moving these really large boards around and just staring at them for a while. In the picture you can just make out my triangles marking position and placement.
The legs will be made from 12/4 stock and the top has stringers underneath to HELP maintain flatness (more on this later)
All of the wood minus the turned urns is in this picture. For reference, there is 34' between the shop and the house.
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After that back-breaking day came more back-breaking work. I don't have a 30" jointer or planer. There is only one way to flatten these. So, out came the #8 and three weeks later we reached a point that I like.
I really considered going to a local cabinet shop that does have a 60" wide belt, but I wanted to do it in house.
The outer sections were glued together and squared giving me two giant boards at 48" x 52".
The other boards were squared and trued and then I began to cross-band the top.
I really like doing inlay. I find it fun. I like the meticulous nature of it. I acquired a 12" x 10' piece of quartersawn beeswing-figured satinwood. The 12" means a LOT less joints than I would usually do. The edge is excavated using a trim router with edge guide to form the inside lip and a block plane to remove the rest of the waste.
Here you can see the process of doing the cross banding. A lot of cutting, taping, clamping, etc.
A close up of the cross banding in process:
Today I got one of the large sections complete. The rounded corners are the only difficult part. Here you can see the figuring a bit better and the grin match on the two pieces is pretty good. This one was sanded after the banding applied. What you see on the banding is figuring, not glue.
In the next week, I will finish the cross banding. I am nearly done with the second large top. The leaves will not take much time, as straight sections go really quickly.
I will then make the 8/4 stringers. I will then put the top aside and work on the pedestals. The urns were turned a while back (about 2 years ago).
I will update as I make progress.
-Wayne
While the overal design is very similar, my pedestals have a slightly different shape.
The table will be 52" x 14' (yes, that's feet) when fully assembled. The table proper (as shown in the link above) will be 52" x 8' in 2 sections that are 48" x 52" wide. This will make for the standard table that will be in use daily. When needed, a additional section can be placed in the center. This section is a single pedestal with 4 legs that adds 28" to the length. The center section is used as a server when not in use (more on that later). Then if I ever move into the White House, I can add the two leaves that are 18" a piece, giving me a 14' table. No, I don't have the room for a 14' table....yet. Still, it is better to build it all at once.
So, I acquired two very large Mahogany boards. They were 28" x 16' and 22" x 20'. From these two boards the top boards are being machined.
Below is the 28" board after having one 5' section cut off.
The 28" sections will form the two end-most pieces and the center section.
The second board is cut into two 20" x 52" pieces and two 18" x 52" pieces. The 4" offcuts will be used later. They will not be wasted.
After all is cut to rough dimensions, they were placed on the fence to judge placement and grain patterns. This caused a lot of neighbors to stop by while i kept moving these really large boards around and just staring at them for a while. In the picture you can just make out my triangles marking position and placement.
The legs will be made from 12/4 stock and the top has stringers underneath to HELP maintain flatness (more on this later)
All of the wood minus the turned urns is in this picture. For reference, there is 34' between the shop and the house.
.After that back-breaking day came more back-breaking work. I don't have a 30" jointer or planer. There is only one way to flatten these. So, out came the #8 and three weeks later we reached a point that I like.
I really considered going to a local cabinet shop that does have a 60" wide belt, but I wanted to do it in house.
The outer sections were glued together and squared giving me two giant boards at 48" x 52".
The other boards were squared and trued and then I began to cross-band the top.
I really like doing inlay. I find it fun. I like the meticulous nature of it. I acquired a 12" x 10' piece of quartersawn beeswing-figured satinwood. The 12" means a LOT less joints than I would usually do. The edge is excavated using a trim router with edge guide to form the inside lip and a block plane to remove the rest of the waste.
Here you can see the process of doing the cross banding. A lot of cutting, taping, clamping, etc.
A close up of the cross banding in process:
Today I got one of the large sections complete. The rounded corners are the only difficult part. Here you can see the figuring a bit better and the grin match on the two pieces is pretty good. This one was sanded after the banding applied. What you see on the banding is figuring, not glue.
In the next week, I will finish the cross banding. I am nearly done with the second large top. The leaves will not take much time, as straight sections go really quickly.
I will then make the 8/4 stringers. I will then put the top aside and work on the pedestals. The urns were turned a while back (about 2 years ago).
I will update as I make progress.
-Wayne
