Big Table, Final (lots of big pics)

[DonJuvet]

Delivered a while back an just now getting to the final post on the large redwood dining table.
So, here is the story.
Freedom to design from customer.... Fit the space.

I found this wood in Ft Bragg. Here I am with the gnome that has quite a stash of old wood.





There were 2 main slabs to use for the top. I cut them off center in order to get the width I wanted.


*I think I drew that yellow line on the wrong side

About 4' on the narrow end, 6' on the other. About 9' long.
The tree was cut about about a 100+ years ago. The trunk was harvested and slabbed about 15 yrs ago.
Once cut in half, I noticed that the center of the table was quite boring. None of the curl went beyond about 12-14" into the wood.
There was also some rot to deal with.



I decided to take the portion I cut off and join them as a bookmatch pair. Then, use this to replace the boring center.





Line up, Mark, and cut





Here is the rough cut of the scribe line. I used a chainsaw.



Starting the Fit. I used a grinder and a series of rasps to get the fit I wanted.



Jump forward to the "voids" on the wide end. I wanted to fill them in.
I gave them options... Steel, Glass, or Leather.
They chose leather.



I started by router a rabbit to accept 9 play baltic birch ply.
Then scribed in the ply and glued it in.



I did have to fill on top of the 1\2" to get to the level of the table for leather thickness.
This also made for a very stable fill in.



Hide is from Tandy Leather. I even got it on sale.



Super secret tip.
Glue your leather down. Burnish it to show where the edge is.
Use a sharp knife. (not the one in the pic)



To design the base, lay out the parts on the upside down top.
I wanted big beefy live edge legs.





I needs a stretcher.



Mash it together



Finish it



Build a bench. They only needed one





Stain the leather and start finishing











I'll answer questions as quickly as I can.

Customer Loves the table.

[packerguy®]

Really cool!

The figure is sick.

[blackhat]

"Customer loves the table." I can sorta see why. Did you have to clean the forklift tracks off the dining room floor?

[DonJuvet]

Redwood is quite light when dry.
The base is easy to carry by one person.
2 people on delivery so nothing gets damaged.
Top was carried in by two 24 yr old men. I guided and prodded.
It got carried in sideways. (base not attached)
Then it's a pretty easy rolling technique my son and I do.
You really never pick it up when you roll it onto the base.

[MarkSingleton]

Don, you do good work. That is gorgeous!

[jteneyck]

You used a chainsaw to cut the scribe? Good grief, I would have had firewood for sure. I know I said it before, but I just have to say it again. That was genius book matching those pieces and then putting it in the center. And the leather inlays are really nice. I never would have thought it would look so good, or that you could finish it along with the rest of the top.

I need some customers who say "Just fill the space."

Congrats on another over the top table.

John

[AHill]

Definitely heirloom quality furniture. Awesome slabs and a superb eye to join them and finish them. I absolutely love the rustic character as well. Job well done, sir!

[Steve Friedman]

Don,

You know how much I love your work, but this is just so unusual. Can we have some more on the leather? I get the Baltic Birch as the base, but is is several layers of leather to build up the thickness? And what did you do on the edges? Is the leather wrapped around the Baltic Birch? And what do you coat the leather with to make it hard?

Lots of questions, I know.

Thanks and gorgeous work. I always want to touch your work.

Steve

[jasfrank]

You're an artist Don. That was one heck of a job of scribing you done there. Did you use an epoxy to seam the pieces together?

[Mags®]

Beautiful work.