a custom oval walnut table

a client sent us this image of an antique italian table they lived with for a while ... they wondered if we could create a larger one with a true eliptical shape ... they also sent the image below of a couple pedestals they liked.

so we blended the inspirations together and came up with the drawing below ... we sent them a full size cardboard template of the top for them to place in their room ...

 

for a minute, we explored altering the true oval shape to create more room at the ends, but i strongly recommended against it. we did one a few years back with a leaf.  ...
i must say, i feel its more pleasing as a fixed oval shape. 
you can see some of our other oval tables at this link

 

you can put 12 good friends around it, or seat 10 gracefully.

we glued up the top and cut the aprons and beads on the cnc ...

the top and aprons assembled, with 1" white oak stiffeners ... we filled in the space between

the stiffeners where the columns attached too, but i missed that photo

on to the turned columns ... we glued up two of these blanks, which weighed about 

70 pounds apiece before they were turned ... about 30 pounds each after

they were too big for our lathe, so we had our friend hannes michelsen, the original wood hat guy,

turn them ... hes about 20 minutes down the road, and weve been friends since the 70s.

 he is also selling his line of very nice turning tools and grinding jigs at his website hannes tools

there are some cool videos of his at this link

trevor turned the discs on the cnc and added the ply top that will be screwed

 to the stiffeners in the photo above.

altogether now

waiting for approval on the finish samples ... 

hope to finish up this week ... ill be back then ...

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always nice to have a fresh start for the new year

this is the page for 1/1/16 ,,, ive been keeping track of stuff this way for years ..

if its not written in the notebook, i likely cant find it,
so this has become my filing system for my to do lists.
click the photos to enlarge them ...

this particular sketchbook started this year in april .... 

looking back through these is another form of the year in review ...

obviously, after one of my first rounds of golf for the year

and after a little fishing

june bug!

a sub list for managing the individual projects happening in the shop

i usually have about 10 things going at once .. sometimes more ..

this one was after a road trip when i was admiring the graphics of the yellow and black road signs ..

clock date .. 9/14

class of 65, 50th high school reunion

a particularly busy couple weeks

couldnt do all this without my neon markers

some modified roman numerals

and late in the fall, i started emailing and sharing my lists to the guys so they have more info

about the upcoming projects .. ive also started printing out the drawings ahead of time so 

they know what they will be building next .. we are also trying to have brief daily

meetings when necessary, but everyone starts at a different time so that can be tricky.

just trying to keep it together .... 

it doesnt actually get that much easier, even after 36 years of practice ...

write it down, check it off .. whats next?

Happy New Year!

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