Coffee table with suspended drawer box

[Mick S]

33 minutes ago, Coop said:

That is one beautiful table Mick! I like it all! The leather drawer pulls are cool. It’s all cool! I guess I’ve never seen mesquite veneer, much less shop made. Have I ever told you how much I like mesquite? Great job bud! 

Thanks Coop. I've never seen mesquite veneer commercially available. My whole purpose in buying the big SCM bandsaw last summer was to be able to cut and lay up my own veneers. And it is amazing. It lets me stretch my inventory way beyond what I could otherwise do.

[Coop]

Do you have to run the pieces thru the drum sander, I suspect? 

[Pondhockey]

(I guess this is a bump!)  Very nice work, Mick.  I have to tell myself "well, Mick teaches wood working", to not be too intimidated.

Your living room could pass either for a comfortable actual living room or a formal living room;  I'm curious how you use it (for example, do people put their feet up on the coffee table?)

Edited June 15, 2020 by Pondhockey
correct spelling

[Mick S]

On 6/11/2020 at 10:05 PM, Coop said:

Do you have to run the pieces thru the drum sander, I suspect? 

That's what I do. I run it through the drum sander a couple of passes mainly to guarantee uniform thickness.

6 hours ago, Pondhockey said:

I have to tell myself "well, Mick teaches wood working", to not be too intimidated.

Honestly, I teach woodworking because I'm good at teaching, not because I'm any great woodworker. Plus I enjoy it. Alison doesn't seem to appreciate my efforts at telling her how to do something as much as my students do, so it's an outlet for me.

6 hours ago, Pondhockey said:

I'm curious how you use it (for example, do people put their feet up on the coffee table?)

We are definitely feet-on-the-table people. It's an informal space. The only "formal" furniture in the house is a dining set Alison bought years ago used mainly as a horizontal surface for collecting bills, purses, glasses, etc.

[pkinneb]

2 hours ago, Mick S said:

...Honestly, I teach woodworking because I'm good at teaching, not because I'm any great woodworker. Plus I enjoy it. Alison doesn't seem to appreciate my efforts at telling her how to do something as much as my students do, so it's an outlet for me.

Just to be clear you are a great woodworker too

Funny thing about wives they really don't appreciate when we tell them how to do something do they LOL

[Chip Sawdust]

Mick - Nice combination of G&G elements with "steam trunk" leather additions. Goes together really well. Not only a good woodworker, but an eye for design as well. I like it!

[Dave S]

I just discovered this thread this morning. Don't know how I missed it. Really lovely, but what caught my attention most is the great design. As I'm late to this game in my life, I find the design part of it is the most challenging. Building someone else's plan introduced me to the techniques required, changing those plans to make the project my own came next, but my ultimate goal is to do what you did here. See some design elements and simply turn them into a project from your mind. Really inspiring to see. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Mick S]

11 minutes ago, Dave S said:

Building someone else's plan introduced me to the techniques required, changing those plans to make the project my own came next, but my ultimate goal is to do what you did here.

Thanks, Dave. I don't know if you're a subscriber to Fine Woodworking online, but this is a really good discussion about design. What you said is exactly how Mike Pekovich describes his approach to design. It's all been done before, but it's up to us to figure out what we like and make it our own.

[Dave S]

Thanks for the tip Mick. I'll check it out. I'm expecting some patience will be needed on my part even if I have a more step-by-step idea of how it's done. In my previous career as an educator, mastery preceded creativity. Once I knew the material cold I was going to teach, then I could get very creative with how I taught it. Teaching design if you will. If design in woodworking is like that, I'll need some patience as I practice the skills. Nevertheless, a step-by-step process I suspect will jump start that whole thing. Thanks again for the reference to FW. They have a show on my public television station that I watch religiously.

[Mick S]

49 minutes ago, Dave S said:

Thanks for the tip Mick. I'll check it out. I'm expecting some patience will be needed on my part even if I have a more step-by-step idea of how it's done. In my previous career as an educator, mastery preceded creativity. Once I knew the material cold I was going to teach, then I could get very creative with how I taught it. Teaching design if you will. If design in woodworking is like that, I'll need some patience as I practice the skills. Nevertheless, a step-by-step process I suspect will jump start that whole thing. Thanks again for the reference to FW. They have a show on my public television station that I watch religiously.

I've found the same to be true.  I think you'll find Mike's step-by-step approach to be very pragmatic. Design is an evolutionary process. I've struggled with it and doubted my own efforts for years, but at some point we become proficient enough to try new things a little at a time with the results sometimes hitting the mark and other times pointing us in a different direction. 

He makes so many good points that are common to us all. For instance, I had to learn not to point out my mistakes and all the things that I could have done better to everyone who looks at my work. You have to remember that no one else spent 219 hours staring at the grain patterns in the wood to make sure they were just right; nobody else knows or needs to know that 7 of the eight mortise and tenons went together perfectly but that that one right there had to be shimmed, recut, etc. and still has a little gap in it.

[Chet]

I really like the rich look of Mesquite and it really fits the pieces you have done with it.  I which I had access to it.

Did cut all the leather or did some one do that for you?

On 6/15/2020 at 5:27 AM, Mick S said:

Alison doesn't seem to appreciate my efforts at telling her how to do something

 

On 6/15/2020 at 7:53 AM, pkinneb said:

Funny thing about wives they really don't appreciate when we tell them how to do something do they LOL

I just assumed I was always giving my wife bad advise and she was ignoring me because of that.  Now I see it is a common situation and I will quit thinking I am the problem. 

[Mick S]

4 minutes ago, Chet said:

Did cut all the leather or did some one do that for you?

Texas Heritage, Jason Thigpen did the leatherwork.