JP's Thorsen Challenge Entry #1: Will I ever make up my mind?

Ever since the challenge began my mind has been going back and forth, and back and forth again, between design ideas. I haven’t even made the first cut, and this project has already been loads of fun. I bet I’ve done 50 sketches if I’ve done one. I’m talking about hand sketches here…. no Sketchup for me yet. It’s difficult for me not to bring my ideas to life in AutoCad while I’m sitting in front of my monitor at work for 8 hours a day, but I don’t think the boss is as enthusiastic about this project as I am.

I really want my table to have the signature look of a Greene and Greene piece because I’ve never done a G&G project before. I’ve been browsing G&G sites, reading articles about other G&G projects, checking out the G&G shop drawings book every time I stop in to say hello to the boys at Woodcraft, you name it. Because I’m in the mechanical engineering field I work hand in hand with architects on a daily basis, and I’ve gone so far as to have some conversations about the Greene brothers with a few of them. The research has been a wonderful learning experience for me.

The only down side of doing that much research is that I now have all this knowledge of G&G design, but I can only incorporate so much of it into this particular project. Picking and choosing my favorite design features has been a long and ongoing process. The upside… I can see a lot more G&G projects in my future…. but those are in the future. Right now I need to focus on the task at hand and make some decisions.

The first decision that needs to be made is what type of wood I want to use. I’ve seen posts on LJ from other jocks who are also having issues choosing their material so I don’t feel quite as indecisive because I know they share my pain. One thing is for sure… I will be using Walnut for a good portion of my table. I recently purchased some 8/4 stock with the intent of building the table entirely out of Walnut, but I’m now thinking I may want to use two different species for a little more contrast. I’m considering Mahogany as a secondary wood because it’s such a joy to work with and because I think it would really look great with the Walnut, but the same could be said for Cherry… oh… what to do… what to do… I’ll have to take a look at some other projects that have utilized contrasting woods before that final decision can be made. Maybe I’ll find some in the 1000 plus projects we have posted here on LJ.

Well, I’m off to Woodcraft to check out their wood pile, and run some of my ideas by the boys behind the counter. I’ll talk more about ebony pegs, oversized box joints, breadboard ends and who knows what else in my next entry.

Until then…...

-- JP, Shelbyville, KY