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Just finished this coffee table. This is my first furniture project entirely of my own design. Woods are genuine mahogany, black walnut (from Missouri, I'm told), and zebrawood veneer for the inlay. The mahogany top uses two 11" wide boards with a little figure in them, which may come through a little in a pic or two. The walnut has some great ribbon striping that I hadn't seen in walnut before. I had some zebrawood veneer on hand, which I thought would look good inlaid into the top. The inlay process was pretty easy. I also found it very easy to sand right through the veneer on a couple occasions, necessitating some repairs two different times.

Mortise and tenon joinery for the legs and stretchers. 1" long tenons on the breadboard ends, with brass pins to hold them in place. Just a little glue in the center to allow for wood movement. Top is attached with tongue-and-groove blocks, also to allow for wood movement.

I filled the grain on the top with a pumice (4f) and BLO slurry. It filled the grain well, and doesn't muddy or obscure the figure in the wood too much either, but left a rough surface that was tough to sand down because it clogged the sandpaper so fast. I went through a lot of sand paper before I figured out that simply rubbing the top with a sanding disk cleaner quickly and easily removes the dried excess filler.

Finish is one coat BLO, one coat amber shellac, 6 or so coats of satin arm-r-seal, then Renaissance wax.

Dimensions: top 27.5" x 50"; legs 17.25" high.

Comments and critiques welcomed.

Gallery

Comments

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370 Posts
Very nice. Great contrasts with the walnut and mahogany. At first glance it looked as if you had inlaid a red leather centre piece!
Jim
 

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608 Posts
Beautiful work. I agree it does look like leather at first glance! Beautiful!

Nate
 

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418 Posts
I too really like the contrast of the walnut and mahogany. Will have to remember that combo! Nice table.
 

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13 Posts
Great composition. Very beautiful table and nice contrast too.

Tom
 

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1,217 Posts
Very beautiful, in every aspect.
 

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4,054 Posts
One of the nicest pieces I've seen on here in quite a while : )
 

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7,457 Posts
Most excellent work, congratulations on a fine build.
 

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20,131 Posts
Awesome work!
 

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21 Posts
Very nice looking table. I really like the bread board ends and the inlay. Thanks for sharing.
 

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133 Posts
I'd say that table falls in the category of "fine furniture". Not much of that on this site lately. Beautiful.
 

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116 Posts
Absolutely beautiful table, great job!
 

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Nice! No feet!!! No keys!!! And no drinks without a coaster!!! Brass pins….what size and what was their intended use? I have some brass pins normally used for a door hinge that I'm going to use on a art box lid…I think they're about 1/4 of an inch. How about yours?
Thanks
Tim
 

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Tim - The brass dowels are 1/4". Their use is to hold the breadboard ends in place, while allowing for movement of the top without busting the joint, by elongating the left and right holes in the tenon to allow the top to move, while the dowels hold the end against the top. If you subscribe to Fine Woodworking, I used the same construction method as in this video series: http://www.finewoodworking.com/subscription/arts%2Dand%2Dcrafts%2Dcoffee%2Dtable%2Dvideo%2Dseries/ (episode 5). Only I used brass instead of wood dowels.
 

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Beautiful in every respect!
 
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