Popular Post derekcohen Posted September 9, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 It's been a long time since I made a coffee table. This one is for my son, who recently moved to Sydney. New city, new job. He has found a great apartment, and has begun to request furniture, first a coffee table to replace an Ikea piece his girlfriend purchased. I think that he is playing with fire! No, she's great It's a long weekend in a fortnight, and Lynndy and I plan to visit. (We have family in Sydney, and old friends from when we lived there 30 years ago). My idea was to build a coffee table and take it on the plane as a sort of surprise (he knows I am building it, but will not expect it this way). Fun, eh? So, I needed a knock-down design. And a design along the lines of Danish Modern, which would fit in nicely in his home. I was taken with a piece by a Japanese maker, Ishitani. He has some great builds on YouTube which are worth looking up. Inspiration came from this design of his ... The top lifts off ... ... and the legs come apart ... The coffee table required two weekends to complete. That's a nice change from the pieces I've been building. The wood is Hard Maple. I've grown to like this stuff. I made a few changes to the design. Firstly, it is a little slimmer and larger (I think): 38" long x 28" wide and 16 1/2" high. Plus a few modifications. Here's the table ... To take this shot I had to crawl on the carpet. Much of the underside is unlikely to be seen, even at a distance. Here's what it looks like underneath. Where Ishitani left his rails straight, I've added a curve (you know me and curves) .. The legs come off for packing flat ... Join at the centre ... Ishitani connected breadboard ends with a dovetailed spline. I have used a true drawbored breadboard construction. The weather in Sydney changes from dry cold in Winter to high humidity in summer. I did not think that a dovetail would cope with this. Gotta show a tool - these were made with a Veritas Jack Rabbet (to balance the recent post of a power router for the mortices) ... Another change is the legs are connected with hex bolts. I really could not envisage the coffee table living a life with a loose top .. This was a very straightforward build. The only slight challenge was the legs - turning them precisely, and then morticing for the rails. The mortices were first cut in the blanks .. .. and then turned .. That's Peter Galpert's caliper on the lathe bed. I really recommend it for sizing spindles. The tenons were fitted into the mortice ... ... and marked out: .. before being rebated (is that the correct term here?) for the shoulder ... And that was it. Finish was a coat of Livos Universal Wood Oil to add a little amber to the very light maple. Then 5 coats of General Finishes water based poly was rubbed on for durability. This adds a little shine. Looks great. Can't wait to see Jamie's face! Regards from Perth Derek 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted September 9, 2018 Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 That should be a real surprise for your son. The grain in the legs is outstanding. Ishitani is my "go to" when I want to enjoy some woodworking with out the instructional yakity yak. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 9, 2018 Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 very cool build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keggers Posted September 9, 2018 Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 Nicely done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted September 9, 2018 Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 Beautiful table. Ishitani's version looks a little chunky to me, but I really like your lighter looking take on it. The curved rails look great. It's probably not something that many are going to see, but part of the fun of designing & building something is having those subtle, somewhat hidden details that make it more interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted September 9, 2018 Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 The use of figured stock for the legs works very well ! Don't forget to sign & date it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 9, 2018 Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 That's great! I'm sure they will appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronn W Posted September 9, 2018 Report Share Posted September 9, 2018 Nice. Very clean. I like it. You have great legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekcohen Posted September 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 5 hours ago, Ronn W said: .. You have great legs. Thanks. My wife thinks so as well Regards from Perth Derek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leaseman Posted September 10, 2018 Report Share Posted September 10, 2018 I love the look of the pass through dowels in the bread board ends. Getting those to fit just right has been a challenge for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Gubbins Posted February 24, 2019 Report Share Posted February 24, 2019 Derek, New fellow here and I'm beginning to browse around a bit after coming out of my shop and the dust... Really nice job you did on this guy. I like the way you detailed the important aspects of the job as it answered some questions. Nice work indeed. I'd be proud!!! Thanks for taking all those pics too. Good stuff! Jeremy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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