FWW Oct. 2015


Coop

Recommended Posts

==>^^^

It looks like a Mahogany (Swietenia - or closely related species)... Honduran's a good bet -- but I'll go a bit out on a limb (because I'm basing it on tone and that's hard to judge in a photo) that it's one of the sustainable Honduran-related species -- you see it labeled "Genuine" these days (because it's genetically-related to Swietenia), but in the small print, "plantation grown". I've got a lot of Honduran in the shed (old and new growth) and most of it's just a hair darker... But I've got a hundred or so bf of Genuine (sustainable) that would be a dead ringer...

As a side note, the sustainable stuff is so close to Honduran that it's not worth talking about -- except price... The sustainable is a good couple of $/bf lower. Real Central-American Honduran is pretty pricy, with the South American a close second... The plantation-grown is a good cost effective alternative and it looks way better than the African (we'll call it Mahogany, even though we know it's not Mahogany) species...

 

Just eMail FWW -- they'll pass it along to the author and I bet he'll answer it for you...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. I just thought it looked unusually neat. Also in the same mag, in the back where it features work done by others, there is a 66" long bench that is pretty cool. I think that will be my next project if I can figure out his leg dimensions. I've already done cutting boards using the laminated design in the seat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Tom. I agree on the top measurement as I was comparing it to the thickness of the top itself, which looks like it is a full 1", but could not tell about the bottom part. Also still trying to see if the legs are tapered on all 4 sides or just the outside two? If it's just the outside two, it will certainly make construction of the mortise and tenons easier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If just the outside two faces of the legs are tapered the piece will look bow legged. If it's only two faces being tapered it should always be the inside two faces. I made this mistake on 2 end tables well over 30 years ago. One look after gluing them up and I realized it wasn't even worth making the drawers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks to me as if the inside faces are parallel - look how the aprons are attached. Then the outside show faces are tapered.

Personally I don't like the three species that have been used. Two would have been enough but that's just me. He should have made the lower rails in wenge the same as the aprons. The dimensions of the whole bench are shown. The top is 16" wide so you can guestimate it's thickness proportionally and I agree it's around 1"

The legs look about 2 ish " thick at the bottom finishing off to around an inch at the top tenons over the 19" height.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Terry. Tom mentioned the same about the wood. I agree from the pic that the outside of the legs look tapered, but didn't know if it was just from the angle the pic was taken from. I googled the guy and he has a website, hoping to see more pics of the bench, but it wasn't shown. I'm not sure why I'm attracted to this thing. I built Marc's contemplation bench, then one by C. Becksvoort in the Feb. 2013 FWW mag. Maybe I'm just a bench kind of guy and need to get over it!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   0 Members, 0 Anonymous, 50 Guests (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    422.2k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,784
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    walo47
    Newest Member
    walo47
    Joined