Padauk and massur birch coffee table

[orangetlh]

Hello all, ive been reading the forum for a while now and enjoy looking at all your projects, so im going to post one of mine. It has solid padauk legs, rails, drawer front and top frame with a massur birch veneer top. The internal drawer frame is hand dovetailed and made from european oak. Ive finished it with danish oil and waxed the sides of the drawer. Would love your feedback, good or bad, but go easy im only 21 and dont get to make many projects of my own.

 

[wizer]

stunning, absolutely stunning.

well done! :shock: 8)

 

[tim]

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

im only 21 and dont get to make many projects of my own

So you are young and inexperienced and yet can make a considered and beautiful piece such as this. Why on earth would I go easy on you?

I really, really like this - love the bevel to the top and the 'cross' stringing. Also the drawer front is gorgeous. What was your inspiration?

Well done.

Cheers

Tim

 

[Gill]

It's great! Well done =D> .

Did you cut those dovetails by hand?

Gill

 

[orangetlh]

thank you everyone, yes Gill i cut them by hand, i used one of those tiny japanese saws, you can get such fine dovetails with it. Thank you tim, the cross stitching was an afterthought, i bookmatched the veneer and it just didnt seem to look right, was quite an effort to bring myself to plunge the router in for the first time though just incase i made it worse. My inspiation was to make something simple but a design that i hadnt seen before. the drawer front was the piece that made me buy that particular piece of timber, had a lot of waste cutting it out but i think it was worth it.

Ps, tim do you have a showroom just outside hereford?

 

[matt]

From a technical point-of-view I am very impressed. From a design point-of-view less so. I love the base; the slightly splayed legs and the simplicity, "weight", and angles of all the elements sit together really well IMO. The top; however, seems at odds with the base to me. I'd have preferred to see something less fussy. Either something that is more in tune with the base or perhaps a piece of really nice slate .

Please don't be discouraged by my comments. They are purely a very personal opinion.

Cheers

Matt

 

[orangetlh]

Thank you mat, i'm not discouraged at all, i welcome any opinions, its what makes me look at my next design and look at it from a broader prospective. I know that my worst down side is my ability to be creative and design something functional and original. Personally i like the contrast, i find the massur birch is what draws people to look at it as it looks so interesting.

 

[PowerTool]

Very nice - like the finish and the proportions

Excellent work - please post more when you get chance.

Andrew

 

[Jez]

really nice great job, i love the contrast between the light and dark

 

[Matt1245]

Fantastic , wish i could get such good results.

Matt.

 

[Philly]

Looks lovely, O =D>
Where's the handle on the drawer?
Philly

 

[Chris Knight]

A very nice piece of work, The padauk looks really lovely in the first photo. I suspect the Masur birch is paler than the photos show and will no doubt be spectacular in the flesh.

Did you find the padauk very dusty? I was going to use it for a job of mine but tales of how messy it was to work rather put me off.

 

[gidon]

Very nice - well done! I particuarly like the veneered top.
Cheers
Gidon

 

[Adam]

Ooh, thats lovely.

Adam

 

[Keystone]

What a nice table. Really love the contrasting color and that top!

 

[dedee]

Very nice piece, I like it. I cannot see a handle on the drawer though. Does it have some clever opening mechansim? Or are you still looking for the right handle?

Andy

 

[radicalwood]

great looking piece. like you I like the top it give a good contrast.

all the best
Neil

 

[Johnboy]

Lovely. I like the contrast betweeen the top and the frame.

John

 

[orangetlh]

thank you all very much, the paduak is slightly more dusty than most timbers, the fact that it is bright red makes it look like there is more around. It is a very fine timber so the dust tends to clump together and fill saw teeth making it hard to cut. A wore a mask all the time when i was machining and sanding beacause the dust has been known to cause nose bleeds. I am still looking for the right handle or knob, think i might end up turning one myself. Also the birch veneer was a pain to put on as it crinkles, i used extramite and a few bags of compost to weigh it down but i still had lots of little areas where the glue didnt hold. I actually have another table the same style but made out of maple, but that was one of my first projects and its not brilliant, mitres opened up, dovetails with filler in them etc...

 

[Freetochat]

Very nice, and like others, I like the padauk. Never used it before.