Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Hopping outside the comfort zone, or ... making the log table base

With the exception of some sanding, the top of this rustic table is done. I turned my attention to building the base, but I'm getting dangerously low on wood. I have this one board left, plus one other much smaller piece. 

It's a little dicey cutting a board like this, especially with the live edge. With no flat surface resting against the fence, the board is liable to shift while crosscutting it. I used a few shims between the board and the fence, to keep it from rocking. 


And - since this board is wider at one end, it was a little tough to determine the cut that would make this piece sit perfectly perpendicular to the floor. A little measuring helped, I drew a straight line where I needed to cut. 


One piece is perfect, just like it is. 


It will be wide enough to support the top just fine. 


But the other piece was a little too narrow, so I pulled out the board stretcher I bought last year. It's a device I use when I need to make a board a little wider. 

Wait ... what?

Did you fall for that?

Since the board already had a crack down the center, I decided to slice the board open right there.  

I drew the line I wanted to slice along, 


and set up the Laguna. 


It sliced apart without any difficulty. 


In fact, it was awesome to watch. 

After cutting it apart, I was able to decide how wide the additional piece needed to be. 


Once all of the edges were run over the jointer, I glued this other side panel together.


I only have one piece of wood left - roughly a 2x6, which will be the center stretcher to connect the two sides. It's going to take a little creativity to attach the tabletop to the base, allowing for movement and weight, while adding strength. 

And while this style of furniture is really outside of my usual design aesthetic, I have to say that I'm really enjoying this project. The client is a joy to work with, and it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone once in a while. 

I highly recommend it!



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