Slatted Table

[alanwetherall]

Does anybody know what type of wood would be suitable for the slats on this table. 25mm x 5mm,
I hve a really good hard wood supplier (Mac Timbers in benifield northants) if its needs a hardwood, As a practice Ill make the first one out of pine to see how it goes
thanks
alan wetherall

 

[baldkev]

It appears to have square section in the centre of the bent pieces, so I'd imagine anything would be ok.... its not a small radius bend and the beng pieces probably just add to the stability instaed of strength.
You could make the centre section and bent pieces from contrasting strips, so 3x dark and 2x light glued together to form the centre square section, then 1 light and 1 dark either side of the centre piece?

 

[Ttrees]

Looks like something fancy those martial arts folk would chop.
Would be much much stronger if the panels were orientated the other direction,
so relying on the long grain instead of across, as a panel like shown
is asking for trouble, not to mention the pith being present, which might just split on
its own.
All furniture which has stood the test of time, has been based on the principal to utilize the structural properties of long grain.

About the legs, any straight grained timber would do the job, might be better to opt for
some hardwood for its weight properties.
Just glue in the centre, a hand plane would be the tool to make it look like a single piece of timber, i.e invisible joints.
Something stripey, when looking at the quartersawn face, i.e a board when looked at end grain would look like " IIIIIIIIIIIII "
and that would further hide any glue joints.

Hope that helps

Tom

 

[Jameshow]

Oak would be good as it responds well to streaming even a kettle if hot water over a towel wrapped timber will make them easier to bend and then set once they are in place...

 

[Orraloon]

I dont think you would need steam for that one in the picture. The bends are quite gentle and the wood quite thin. I watched a youtube clip on a table similar to that just a couple of weeks ago. He just applied glue to the middle of the slats then when dry splayed them to fit in the mortices. Think its the latest in thing.
Regards
John