Thread: Wishbone table

i really like the simplistic look of this table, really nice work, well done.
nice joinary as well.

Originally Posted by Pratty

i really like the simplistic look of this table, really nice work, well done.
nice joinary as well.

Thanks Pratty.

Nice table and great workmanship. I like your work, it looks very tidy.

Definitely elegant, nicely done

Originally Posted by Wongo

Nice table and great workmanship. I like your work, it looks very tidy.

Thanks. I consider myself far from expert but I do take my time to get the joints and finish to a high standard. The elegance of the original design of desk that inspired me also helps a great deal - something eye-catching and elegant takes the eye away from any flaws!

Originally Posted by dusteater

Definitely elegant, nicely done

Thank-you. The comments and likes really help to inspire me to make things - one of the great things about these forums.

As I said in another post, the original designer of the desk that inspired me deserves a lot of the credit for look of the table, even though I modified his construction design extensively I kept the "look" he had created.

Another device I use is for superb timber figure to help to distract the eye - imagine a table top in your lace sheoak! That would be amazing.

David

Gorgeous looking table. If I did one like thta my wife would have me forever working in the shed

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

Loving it. I'm a fan of mid-century furniture and this is a unique but fantastic take on it.

Well done!

Originally Posted by DaveTTC

Gorgeous looking table. If I did one like thta my wife would have me forever working in the shed

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

Thanks Dave. Re: "my wife would have me forever working in the shed" -- Sounds like heaven to me!

David

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

Loving it. I'm a fan of mid-century furniture and this is a unique but fantastic take on it.

Well done!

Thanks Luke. As I implied in the first post, I am not usually a fan of mid-century furniture, having grown up in that period, but I agree that some of it was very elegant and well made. This 'look' really caught my eye when I was asked to make a table for my son and daughter in law. I didn't want to make them a standard 'leg at each corner' table and this one posed me enough challenges to keep me happy.

David

I would love it if it payed the bills. I aspire to it

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

Well done David, that is so clean and simple yet so elegant looking

Can you pease tell us about the joints in the leg, just under the table surface? They must be particularly strong.

Why so many screws?

Originally Posted by Dengue

Well done David, that is so clean and simple yet so elegant looking

Can you pease tell us about the joints in the leg, just under the table surface? They must be particularly strong.

Why so many screws?

Hi Dengue, easiest question first - the 316 refers to the type of stainless steel, not the number of screws. 316 ss is the marine grade, other grades like 302, are used in ss sinks and tanks, and will corrode in some circumstances. I used the higher grade because they were affordable rather than any real need to prevent corrosion, and because it appealed to me as correlating with the elegance of the design.

To try to answer your question about the joints in the leg I have attached some more photos of the sub-frame and end blocks that I used to give strength to stop the legs twisting or folding under the table.
1-Legs after dowell holes drilled b.JPG The legs were joined with two 10 mm dowels and boatbuilding epoxy. Legs in the background show the dowel holes (just).
2-Dowelling into the end of a stretcher a.JPG the thin "rails" were joined to the legs with four 8 mm dowels. Here I used PVA
3-Assembly detail 316 ss screw with two washers iPhone a.JPGscrews were set into slots in the rails and had to washers to span the slots so that the table top can expand and contract without splitting
4-End stability blocks after drilling and before shaping.JPGMarking the end blocks and drilling for four 10 mm dowels
5-End stability blocks screwed down a.JPG The end block after chamfering the edges and gluing to the legs where they join - PVA used as adhesive
6-Sub-frame screwed down.JPG Shows end block, one side rail and end of leg extension screwed to table top to give strength
7-Wishbone table sub-frame iPhone oblique d.JPG Whole sub-frame assembly after finishing (very messy heavy work bench in background).

I was particularly concerned that the table should be able to withstand being tipped on its end, as is often required to negotiate hallways and doors. I am very happy to be able to say that it did withstand exactly that when I delivered it to my Son and Daughter-In-Law.

I have realised that it is remiss of me not to have named the original design inspiration, as it is his design "look" that is very largely responsible for the elegance of the table. He is an American woodworker named Aled (sic) Lewis and the desk was featured on the back cover of Issue 232, Mar/Apr 2013 Fine Woodworking Magazine. The author of the article was Jonathan Binzen. I have not met either of them, but was inspired by the design, although I chose to make the table quite differently to how the original designer made his desk.