Thornsen Side Table #1: Laying the foundation...

That’s Mahogany? It’s absolutely gorgeous!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

That’s some beatiful wood. It looks like it has a finish on it already.
It should make a beautiful table.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Dick,
I sanded it to 180 and wiped it with mineral spirits before I took the photo.

Scott,
If you happen to live near a guy who buys wood by the pallet from a nearby hardwood dealer, and sells it on-line, then you can sometimes go through his stock before he lists it and pick out what you want – especially if you pay in cash. ;)

Sometimes it takes a bit of searching, but I’ve been pleased with the results so far. Now the real question is whether or not I can (or want to) work some of the wood into the project…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Ethan, that wood looks just like the type of mahogany we used on an church alter we built and it was called African ribbon striped mahogany. We not only had the 3/4 boards but some 1/2” & 3/4” plywood which ran a cool $120 a sheet. Believe me when I say I took all the leftovers home. I probably had 6 1/2 sheets of the 1/2” plywwod and tons of the 3/4 stock. You win some and you loss some and I think I may have won that round. Good luck with the design.

I just got started on my Thorsen Challenge table and pictures are to come.

-- " All Things At First Appear Difficult"

Looking forward to seeing your table! Good to see you back blogging again. Have things slowed down a little for you now?

-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan

Beautiful wood.

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Rog,
It is quite similar, though this is Honduran Mahogany (swientenia macrophylla). I have a good supplier who just lives three or so miles from me. (I don’t know if my wife knows just how much closer we’re going to be to my wood pimp after we move into the new house – if she did, she might not have agreed to buy the house!)

Actually, they really haven’t, Mark! But… as long as I can keep it organized, I tend to work better with pressing deadlines. For example, the president of my woodworking guild had asked me to write the article he usually includes in the monthly newsletter, giving my take on the Frank Klaus weekend. I agreed to do it, without giving it much thought (i.e. without considering the fact it was just one more thing on my ever-increasing list of things to do). When I came in to work this morning, I saw an e-mail from the newsletter editor saying he needed the article by this morning, as he was going to print with it!

Oops.

So I had to spend 10 minutes writing the article. It actually turned out pretty good! Maybe I’ll add that to my Masters blog series…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Looks like some great lumber there. Good luck in your selection.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Looks like the competition is getting fierce… beautiful choice.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

It is some good looking lumber. The question remains, will it fit in with the Greene and Greene furniture? Their focus seems to be more on the simplistic side (though there is some great understated design to their work that shows a great attention to detail). Will the graining of this wood detract too much from the overal design and appearance?

Possibly.

I might reserve the figured wood for a future project and try varying my Thorsen project in a different way.

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Karson said, ”build it your way,” it doesn’t have to be an exact replica.
Put yourself into it, with what you have.
I think that wood would be nice.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Eh… I know what your saying, Dick.

But at the same time, you’re making the assumption that I’m building a table! ;)

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

I was assuming you were building an umbrella holder. Was I close? LOL

-- JP, Shelbyville, KY

How about a Thorsen boat dock. That would be really original. LOL

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Sorry; that’s all I’m going to say about it for now…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

I apologiize Ethan !!

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Very nice wood Ethan. I say use it in your project and you will not be disappointed. I believe the wood workers from way back would use what they had available. If they had the power tools we have today, they would have used them. If they did not have a certain wood, they would use another.

I am sure you can make your design compliment your wood selection, not distract from it.

I can’t wait to see the final project.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

No worries, Dick. Just trying to add some mystery. ;)

Who knows what wood I’ll end up using…

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

I’m with you Ethan, keep them guessing. Now if you want to send me private mail and tell me, I promise I won’t tell anyone else.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Ok, Karson! Just keep an eye out for it, and I’ll try to get that to you!

If, by any chance, you don’t get it today, then be sure to look for it tomorrow!

Now… I might be pretty busy over the next, say, 52 days, so if you don’t see anything in your in box one day, just be sure to check that very next day! I’m sure I’ll eventually be able to get that to you.

;)

-- Ethan, http://www.merganserwoodworks.com, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

good comeback, Ethan hahaha

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Yeah, Karson… hold your breath.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

That is some great looking wood.

-- JohnShackleford,North Carolina