First Project Finished - Coffee Table in AW Oak

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Shivers

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers
Neil

 

[CYC]

this is really beautiful. Just my style.
I like the proportions, the details and the finish.

I would consider copying it ;-)

 

[David_Nicolaou]

yeah but if it looks right - it is right

 

[Shivers]

yeah but if it looks right - it is right

Precisely thats why design knowledge is important,if you dont know design then everything looks kinda nice.Theres no hard & fast rules really,but thats why furniture making is a combination of skills.


regards.

 

[Shultzy]

yeah but if it looks right - it is right

I think that what Shivers is trying to say is that in order to make a piece "looks right" it has to have slight design changes to make it "look right".

I'm sure he will give out a few more "secrets" if we ask nicely.

 

[Shivers]

Thanks shultzy --maybe i gotta explain more clearly,


heres an example of how they should look.
Also note that the space at the top of the column is equal to the side space/reveal, again working on the 10/6 or 26/16 golden mean ratio.
This also applies to the bottom,but usually the bottom space/reveal is even larger again by 10/6 26/16 rule,so the object is to quietly build in detail that does not clash with other detail,the aim is to have a refined well proportioned look.

cheers

shivers.

 

[Anonymous]

I did a bit of design at college but have forgotton almost all of it.

I think what Shivers is talking about are certain conventions of proportionality which have been accepted since the time of the ancient Greeks (or maybe earlier) as producing buildings, furniture, indeed anything that is generally perceived to be the most pleasing to the eye.

Shivers isn't trashing your work, David, he's just making a constructive suggestion from the position of his experience and expertise as to how the design could be improved further.

I, for one, would love to reaquaint myself with some of these 'rules' so as hopefully to improve the quality of my own designs.

Over to you Shivers.

Brad

PS Diss my work & I'll slap you! :lol: :lol:

 

[Alf]

Adam Cherubini's Arts & Mysteries blog has started to delve into some of the classical practices used in designing, fwiw. More in his column in Popular Woodworking this month too - ignore the interesting garb and just concentrate on the info... :wink:

Given the troubles PWW was having with overseas subs, might as well add that the delivery these days is extremely prompt over here and has frequently beaten the 'Murrican subscribers' receiving date by a clear week. So if that's what put you off subscribing before, worth considering again I think.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

I like to leave a wider edge in my fluted posts. I also cut stop my flutes as i think it looks tidier.

The table looks nice, but I think the points on design are valid.

 

[Anonymous]

Mmmm, that does look nice, Senior.

Am I right in thinking that the top of the post is a seperate block?

Brad

 

[Shivers]

I had the benefit of doing funiture design exams,whilst doing my apprenticeship,the training that we used to receive at college was of a high order,
David i wasn't putting your work down,if only you could see my first attempts-not so good,but you'll find the more you do over time you'll start to develope an eye for detail,
Sometimes the only way to visualise a design is to do a full size drawing--this makes it easier to work out detail,i used to have a sheet of plywood standing upright with a parallel straight edge to do this with acuracy.
The golden mean was formulated by the ancient greeks,and you can see the same proportions everywhere in nature-even the human body is sized by these ratio's.

Happy new year.

shivers.

 

[David_Nicolaou]

Shoulders are broad enough to take a bit of criticism

No - no offence taken at all - thanks for the comments and will incorporate these designs into other pieces i am doing in the same style.

The surname is greek cypriot so i am into the greek design thing

Happy new year.

 

[dedee]

very nice job David, not at all bad for a first project.

Andy

 

[woodbloke]

David Nicolaou wrote:

Shoulders are broad enough to take a bit of criticism

David, I agree with others that your first project is not being adversely criticized and as I have said is excellent for a first project. I would welcome any positive suggestions from knowledgable forum members on any work that I posted onto the forum....I think generally you take on board suggestions and hopefully incorporate them into the next piece and try to make it better. Only my view - Rob

 

[David_Nicolaou]

Hello again everybody.

Having seen the flutes on the side of the cabinet of seniors, you are absolutely right shivers, the proportion does look better when the out flats are bigger than the in flats.

The leg detail on seniors cabinet is excellent and I can only aspire to such quality.

Thanks for the tips, they are hugely appreciated.

All the best for the new year.

 

[Shivers]

Hey david ,flutes are a bit of a bugger to get right,its only after you get used to controling the router for flutes that you then have a chance to think about what you are doing,making a huge hashup of flutes is very easy,

I learned the hard way by getting a few wrong,however in the end i learned that the way to get them nice & even was to use two fences on the router(each side of leg/column ect),do a full size layout of positions,& not make the flutes so deep(aim for around 70% router bit depth),this gives a nice conservative refined look, full depth of the router bit is too harsh of a look.

I know what makes this difficult as on nearly all routers the return springs are too strong,what i did with my big elu's & dewalts was to dismantle the base from the router body to get at the springs,i then took the springs out & shortened them by around 35mm,this gave me less tension to fight against upon a plunge action.


Happy routing.
regards for the new year,---shivers.

 

[CYC]

Some excellent comments and sample (senior's). Thanks Shiver for the information and thanks David for starting it off with showing us your excellent first project.
I can't wait to incorporate some flutes in my future projects, I always wanted to and now know more thanks to your two

 

[David_Nicolaou]

Yeah it was a bugger to control the router when i was doing them. I ended up making a secondary fence and making a jig that fitted around the leg to stop the router travelling too far.

I have the dewalt 625ek which is a beast and i do wish I had talked to you at the time as shortening the springs is a brilliant idea.

Get my tin snips out after work i think.

Cheers

David

 

[Shivers]

Just watch out for the cam on the plunge lock,if you undo the nut that holds the cam in place its nigh on impossible to get back together.At least on my old Elu electronic it was.
Since the springs are made of toughened steel you might want to save the snips & use a bench grinder to cut through

http://www.blackanddeckerspares.com/sto ... E12153.gif

parts No 38/39 be careful with those.(dwelt 625)same part No's on the big elu's mof 177 as well.

plus one last tip---set up all 3 depth stops with the 3rd being the final depth cut,this allows faster smoother operations/cut,whereas without doing this you are always guessing & bogging down/burning the wood,aim for a skim cut on the final (3rd)pass,this removes nearly all chatter/burn marks,& do it in one smooth medium speed stroke.(hanging around causes burns).The final skim pass neatens every flute out to a uniform look,of course these practices should be used for other router operations as well where possible.Using stops is a good idea although this can be hindered by the flat on the front of the base,making a removable block to allow for the difference between the round & flat would then allow you to merely turn the router around to go in the other direction.

If i keep on like this on this thread it's going to turn into a book lol.
anyway i think you get the drift of it.(buy a second fence though,this will really help)then i can give you my top tip on morticing.

hope this helps.
regards




shivers

 

[David_Nicolaou]

Marvellous Stuff,

I have been meaning to buy the microfence for a year or so - I hear its very good ?

What fence do you use or did you buy an additional dewalt / B&D fence from the spares list ?

Cheers Mate

David