Maple table

wow. start with a great piece of wood I guess. very nice

So the curved edge goes to the back right? I’d like to see a pic of it in its home. Incredible looking maple! I’ve never used Waterlox, I need to try it..

-- Craig, Springfield Ohio

You did a beautiful job. I like how you kept the design simple to show off how incredible the wood is. Thanks for posting it, it will make me think more about showing off the actual wood when I design and made a piece.

Ken, That’s an awesome piece of wood for the table top. Great design, build and choice of wood. Very, very nice.

-- John @ Myrtle Beach

That’s some beautiful figure in the top. Nice work.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Isn’t that what they call a “Waterfall” grain pattern? It’s really nice Ken. Good job.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Thank you one and all for your kind comments. This was designed for the woman in the photo, who wanted to build it herself….well, it helps to have a friend with a shop with thousands of dollars of sharp tools at your disposal and somebody there to help. She actually did a lot of the work herself but it is one of the reasons the design is as simple as it is….that and the wood is so overwhelming that no other decoration is needed as several of you have pointed out.

Scarcraig01: no, the curved edge faces out. If you’ll notice there is no bottom rail on the far side of the table so when you sit in the window seat in the nook there is room for your legs. The curve faces out to give a bit more surface area because the kitchen is quite small and every sq. in. counts.

Waterlox is my favorite finish for many projects. Easy to apply, very forgiving, yet incredibly durable with excellent wear and chemical resistance. You can produce almost any sheen you desire by how you apply it and rub it. Highly recommended!

Dadoo: I dunno if that’s “Waterfall” grain or not, but there sure is a lot of it, whatever you call it! Wood in general is amazing stuff, but this tree really produced some spectacular lumber. It doesn’t show in the photograph very well, but there is a fair amount of spalting in there as well. That makes the wood pretty difficult to finish as it means some of the wood is pretty punky so it tends to not sand or plane smoothly. When you sand it hollows out quickly and when you plane it it tends to tear out. Also it drinks up finish like a sponge so you have to keep pouring it on, letting it polymerize, then add even more.

Simple tables are fun to build. They go together fast, the joinery is often quite simple and the design possibilities seem endless.

-- ken

wow, thats beautiful. I like the simple design for that incredible figure.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Wow Ken
Fantabulous table outrageously beautiful wood WOW WOW love it.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture ,maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

Blake, you’re so kind! I went to your Web site and admired your work….great stuff. I don’t think that people always appreciate how much work goes into small objects, but I find them very time consuming. You need to do some of your best work here because people pick them up and inspect them very closely. With a table they tend to stand back and not notice small imperfections. They run their hand across the top and that’s about it. Keep up the good work!

Jim, this wood came from your neck of the woods! I brought it down from Coos Bay along with a bunch of Port Orford cedar, which was wonderful to work with. I love your shop! Do you like routers? (grin) Looks like you and I have the same problem with documenting our work…I’d rather build it than take photos, but I’m getting better at remembering to take some snaps before stuff leaves. Looks like you’ve done a bit of everything and that’s great; always a new challenge. A bunch of great work!

-- ken

Wow, I LOVE that table! I want it! It is elegant and that grain! Stunning! You are quickly becoming a favorite craftsman of mine…. in fact everyone around here is a favorite craftsman of mine. But anyway, yeah, looks great! :D

-- Adventure? Heh! Excitement? Heh! A Woodworker craves not these things!