# Carved Coffee Table II



## AlanY (Mar 19, 2008)

*Making the apron profile*

I am building a coffee table that is based on a piece I built in 2007. The first table has a solid top made from Sapelle and a base where the apron and legs were from Mahogany.










The new table will have the same general shape-in all sections-top, apron and legs. The changes will include, walnut for the legs and apron, and a top that is veneered with inlayed designs. The carving's on the legs and aprons will be different too. I began taking pictures of this second table when I was building the first, as my original plan was to build both at the same time. I quickly became absorbed in the first design however and finished it completely while the beginnings of the top and the four walnut legs for the second table were shuffled off to the corners of my shop.
Let's see where we are now. As I mentioned-the top of the first table is solid sapelle.










The top for Table II is made from a plywood panel edged in Mahogany. It is then veneered in Mahogany and will have some decorative inlays added later on.










Below is a shot of the top in the vacuum press as the mahogany veneer is being applied.










The top will serve as the guide for making the profile of the apron/leg assembly. The legs were cut out in general profile whe I build the first table. The four apron sections come from large pieces of walnut. The first task-(already completed before I started photographing the process) was to place the legs in position and desired angle. The profile of the top determines the basic location but in the end it was done by what seemed pleasing to my eye.










Here's a closer shot of one end.
The angles "are what they are"...ie after placing the legs where I thought they looked good, I just transferred their "footprint to the adjacent corners of each apron piece. From there I marked them with an t-bevel and transferred that to my miter gauge on the table saw where I made the trim cuts.










The legs will be joined to the apron sections by pairs of loose tenons. I cut the mortises for the legs first on the table saw with a tenoning jig . Then I used the legs to mark the corresponding sections on the aprons. I cut the apron mortises on the band saw.




























Here is Humpty Dumpty in pieces with all mortises cut.










The legs are then set in place over the tenons (3/8" Baltic Birch Plywood) and clamped together










I then carefully grabbed the entire assembly and turned it over.










Each end clamped together in general position.



















That is a big relief to get this joinery this far.










Now I'll proceed to shape the apron sections. I begin by centering the top over the clamped assembly:










I then traced the profile on to the apron sections with a medium tip Sharpie.










From here, I cut all the profiles out on the bandsaw.










I cut the outsides based on the top profile but I also cut a general 2"=3" curve on the insides of each apron section to lessen the weight.
Here is Humpty Dumpty in pieces after the diet :^)










Re-assembled and clamped up.










Re-assembled and clamped up.
Turned Right-side-up.










I'll do further refining with a router and fine tuning by hand. But you can see that the apron and legs follow the top's profile.


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## rtb (Mar 26, 2008)

AlanY said:


> *Making the apron profile*
> 
> I am building a coffee table that is based on a piece I built in 2007. The first table has a solid top made from Sapelle and a base where the apron and legs were from Mahogany.
> 
> ...


Really great blog please continue as you make more progress


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## AlanY (Mar 19, 2008)

*Carving the legs and apron*

It's time to turn my attention to shaping and carving the legs. Let's look at the leg profile and design pattern from the first table:










The profile is a generously shaped cabriolet form.










The carved design is an acanthus leaf descending from a flowered shell figure. The leg profile narrows as the foot ends in a modified French Toe- a small carved scroll on "point"










The legs are still in fairly rough form.


















Now I'll shape the legs through the use of a spokeshave and various carving gouges, and files.










I finished the general shaping and carving of all four legs except for the Fleure de lis element that will be at the intersection of the top of the leg and the apron pieces. 
I carved the Fleure de lis elements separately. I drew the design then cut the lines into the wood with various gouges.










From there it's a matter of removing the background till the element is "raised"




























Once each piece is defined I cut it from the stock and begin another.










Each element gets glued to the top of a leg. I'll refine the carving further once the piece has set.





































Next we'll start carving the apron sections.

The end and side sections of the apron each have a descending block









From there the surface is filed and carved.

The profile of these sections is transferred to smaller pieces that are cut out and glued to the apron.










The design for the end apron sections has a repeat of the descending diamond in the center block.










A simple scroll bead detail runs from the center block around the apron ending in another scroll where the leg joins the apron.



















Now I'll continue the long process of refining the carved elements.
Alan


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## jordan (Nov 5, 2009)

AlanY said:


> *Carving the legs and apron*
> 
> It's time to turn my attention to shaping and carving the legs. Let's look at the leg profile and design pattern from the first table:
> 
> ...


Very well done.


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## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

AlanY said:


> *Carving the legs and apron*
> 
> It's time to turn my attention to shaping and carving the legs. Let's look at the leg profile and design pattern from the first table:
> 
> ...


This is a very informative post. Thanks. It is beautiful work.

Tom


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

AlanY said:


> *Carving the legs and apron*
> 
> It's time to turn my attention to shaping and carving the legs. Let's look at the leg profile and design pattern from the first table:
> 
> ...


impressive
realy a great and informative blogs you have done so far
ceep them comming I´m looking forward to see the finished table

Dennis


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

AlanY said:


> *Carving the legs and apron*
> 
> It's time to turn my attention to shaping and carving the legs. Let's look at the leg profile and design pattern from the first table:
> 
> ...


This is an interesting story to follow. Already looking forward to the next entry.


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## Chips (Mar 27, 2008)

AlanY said:


> *Carving the legs and apron*
> 
> It's time to turn my attention to shaping and carving the legs. Let's look at the leg profile and design pattern from the first table:
> 
> ...


Great job


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## mtkate (Apr 18, 2009)

AlanY said:


> *Carving the legs and apron*
> 
> It's time to turn my attention to shaping and carving the legs. Let's look at the leg profile and design pattern from the first table:
> 
> ...


Uhm. Wow.


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## AlanY (Mar 19, 2008)

*Leg-Apron Assembly and Glue -Up *

I made some more progress on the Carved Coffee Table. Last set of pictures dealt with carving the aprons and the legs. Today I have a series of pics documenting the glue-up process and some profile refining of the top. Getting accurate cuts for the leg/apron joinery really becomes apparent in glue up process-I used loose tenon joinery….. here's a shot from the earlier stages:










Now that the aprons and legs are shaped and carved it's time to glue them together. This task requires a fair amount of patience.
I glued each joint separately and and only one joint per day. I used Titebond Liquid Hide glue because of the the open time and it's reversibility - although I'm sure I would not want to attempt "reversing" any of these joints…










Here is the first leg/apron joint.










The best way to clamp these pieces is to use some cleats-screwed to the opposing apron sections and parallel to each other.










This allows a set of clamps to pull the joint tight.










I'll do one leg at a time until it's set.










The first leg is not to complicated to get clamped up but even with the cleats, getting the second leg clamped up was next to putting a cat in a tub of cold water. If you try something like this-it's helpful to get another set of hands.










After I managed to get the second leg clamped in position, I placed the other apron end and two legs loosely in place.










Getting close to the end of this operation-gluing the other two legs in place. I'll add the end apron section in the final assembly.



















Here is the last glue-up- which was almost a screw up as I had the assembly set up on a couple of boards over a garbage can.










I got the last apron piece all in place and clamped up and began congratulating my self when I realized the apron was clamped up side down. Fortunately the liquid hide glue I used for this table has a long open time and re-setting the apron wasn't a catastrophe.

I'm moving back to work on the table top now. The first step is to finalize the profile. I want the top to mirror as close as possible, the curvature of the base. I used a long pattern bit for this job.










The bearing follows the top edge of the base while the cutter brings the top profile flush.










Here is one end apron section….










After the full profile is trimmed I change bits for the edge treatment. I'll use a three stepped ogee profile.










The bearing for this bit runs along the lower edge of the top. I cut this profile in two passes to avoid tearout.



















I like this look. The resulting profile "pulls the top edge back." The routed profile will get a slight gilding in the finish and will act as a nice transition between the mahogany top and the walnut base. Later this week I'll have a set of pictures showing the inlay designs for the top.

Alan


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## AlanY (Mar 19, 2008)

AlanY said:


> *Leg-Apron Assembly and Glue -Up *
> 
> I made some more progress on the Carved Coffee Table. Last set of pictures dealt with carving the aprons and the legs. Today I have a series of pics documenting the glue-up process and some profile refining of the top. Getting accurate cuts for the leg/apron joinery really becomes apparent in glue up process-I used loose tenon joinery….. here's a shot from the earlier stages:
> 
> ...


The Baltic Birch plywood is void free and a nice consistent thickness. All I have to do is rip to width and cut to length-no planing for thickness and wasting good surface stock….

Alan


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## AlanY (Mar 19, 2008)

AlanY said:


> *Leg-Apron Assembly and Glue -Up *
> 
> I made some more progress on the Carved Coffee Table. Last set of pictures dealt with carving the aprons and the legs. Today I have a series of pics documenting the glue-up process and some profile refining of the top. Getting accurate cuts for the leg/apron joinery really becomes apparent in glue up process-I used loose tenon joinery….. here's a shot from the earlier stages:
> 
> ...


Absolutely not. If anything the plywood is stronger because of it's cross grained lamination. Solid walnut stock could crack along the grain under the wrong tension….. But in this case if any pressure were put on these joints that caused a failure-I'm sure the last part to break would be the tenon-plywood or solid stock. The first failure would probably be the leg splitting…Any action that caused this would be beyond reasonable usage…


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## AlanY (Mar 19, 2008)

*Inserting Inlays in the Table Top*

Here is another set of pictures from my Coffee Table project. I mentioned earlier that this top has been sitting around my shop for almost three years now. In that time it sustained some small nicks and gouges as I moved it around from corner to corner of the shop. These damaged areas are "design opportunities." I'll place inlayed designs in sections that are damaged. The center of the table will get a double fleure de lis figure. I'll also utilize the descending or stretched diamond from the knees of the leg.Here's the layout of the fleure de lis.










I cut out the profile on 1/4" plywood.










This profile gets transferred to the various veneers that will be inlayed to the top. The center gets a walnut inlay. I traced the profile with a sharp pencil then used various carving gouges to "cut" the waste from the top.










One of the damaged areas was this apron end. The veneer had chipped and lifted. If it had just lifted I could have reglued it. But the chipout meant a different solution.










I used half the fleure de lis profile with an anigre veneer.



















Even though the opposite end was fully intact I had to cut it out also to balance the design. The center sections were also OK so I didn't replace them either.

I did place curved diamonds at the edges of the center and stretched diamond figures finished the inlays.
Here are some pictures of the top after a washcoat of thinner to reveal the general look.














































A fair amount of final sanding and then I'll begin the finish process.

Alan


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

AlanY said:


> *Inserting Inlays in the Table Top*
> 
> Here is another set of pictures from my Coffee Table project. I mentioned earlier that this top has been sitting around my shop for almost three years now. In that time it sustained some small nicks and gouges as I moved it around from corner to corner of the shop. These damaged areas are "design opportunities." I'll place inlayed designs in sections that are damaged. The center of the table will get a double fleure de lis figure. I'll also utilize the descending or stretched diamond from the knees of the leg.Here's the layout of the fleure de lis.
> 
> ...


Very cool looking! Thanks for posting the process. That table sure looks awesome.

David


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

AlanY said:


> *Inserting Inlays in the Table Top*
> 
> Here is another set of pictures from my Coffee Table project. I mentioned earlier that this top has been sitting around my shop for almost three years now. In that time it sustained some small nicks and gouges as I moved it around from corner to corner of the shop. These damaged areas are "design opportunities." I'll place inlayed designs in sections that are damaged. The center of the table will get a double fleure de lis figure. I'll also utilize the descending or stretched diamond from the knees of the leg.Here's the layout of the fleure de lis.
> 
> ...


Thanks for a great blog, wonderful table.


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## RalphNevin (Feb 6, 2010)

AlanY said:


> *Inserting Inlays in the Table Top*
> 
> Here is another set of pictures from my Coffee Table project. I mentioned earlier that this top has been sitting around my shop for almost three years now. In that time it sustained some small nicks and gouges as I moved it around from corner to corner of the shop. These damaged areas are "design opportunities." I'll place inlayed designs in sections that are damaged. The center of the table will get a double fleure de lis figure. I'll also utilize the descending or stretched diamond from the knees of the leg.Here's the layout of the fleure de lis.
> 
> ...


Alan,

What a nice design and great craftmanship. Are the apron and legs all hand carved?


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## AlanY (Mar 19, 2008)

AlanY said:


> *Inserting Inlays in the Table Top*
> 
> Here is another set of pictures from my Coffee Table project. I mentioned earlier that this top has been sitting around my shop for almost three years now. In that time it sustained some small nicks and gouges as I moved it around from corner to corner of the shop. These damaged areas are "design opportunities." I'll place inlayed designs in sections that are damaged. The center of the table will get a double fleure de lis figure. I'll also utilize the descending or stretched diamond from the knees of the leg.Here's the layout of the fleure de lis.
> 
> ...


Ralph-
All the carving on the legs and apron were done by hand- no rotary grinders etc…

See my Blog entry no.2
http://lumberjocks.com/AlanY/blog/13744

Alan


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## AlanY (Mar 19, 2008)

*Gilding and Staining :The Finish*

I finished the Coffee Table last week and took some pictures of it at my neighbor's house yesterday afternoon. Here is one more set of pictures from the Shop. These show the finishing process- The final look and finish is no doubt not to everyone's taste. The gilding wasn't in my plan till way late in the process -even then I hemmed and hawed a lot over weather or not I should…I decided that I had the 1st coffee table with a single finish all around and that this was the one to set at full blast….:^) Here goes…......

The table is ready for the finish. I'll employ a multi-step process involving these products.
Sealcoat de-waxed shellac to seal the inlays,
Super Brass Mica Powder and Clear Shellac for gilding,
A Red Mahogany Stain for a base coat stain on the base and the top,
A mixture of Tung Oil finish and General Finishes "Nutmeg" gel stain to tone the base only.
Polurethane for the top coat of entire piece.










The top will get a coat of red mahogany stain. I don't want the light inlays to get stained so I start by sealing them with de-waxed shellac.










The next step is to gild the routed profile of the top and the carved elements of the base. The gilding solution is a mixture of Mica Powder and clear shellac. There isn't a real formula here-it's just a matter of how dense a gilded texture is desired. I want the gilding to sparkle but not totally cover the grain pattern.










I use an artists brush to apply the gilding to the edge. I want to cover the entire edge but not the top surface. If any gets on the top I just let it dry then scrape it off with a sharp chisel.










The edge is gilded, and the inlays are sealed.










The shellac/gilding solution drys within a half hour so while the top sets I move on to the carved elements.




























The gilding on the base is finished.










Next- I brushed on the red mahogany stain then wiped it of quickly. I couldn't take in between shots as I didn't want the stain to set too deeply especially in the top.

The stain went on quite dark and covered the gilding and inlays but because of the shellac base on those elements, after wiping off the stain, a nice contrast is revealed.



















After wiping off this first stain coat I let the table set over night. The next day I made a glaze out of Tung oil varnish and the gelstain. This was applied to the base only and there just to the non-gilded sections










I let this set over night and then the next day applied 2 coats of Gloss Polyurethane.










The Finished shots are on the Project Page. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/29190

Alan


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## dcutter (Mar 27, 2009)

AlanY said:


> *Gilding and Staining :The Finish*
> 
> I finished the Coffee Table last week and took some pictures of it at my neighbor's house yesterday afternoon. Here is one more set of pictures from the Shop. These show the finishing process- The final look and finish is no doubt not to everyone's taste. The gilding wasn't in my plan till way late in the process -even then I hemmed and hawed a lot over weather or not I should…I decided that I had the 1st coffee table with a single finish all around and that this was the one to set at full blast….:^) Here goes…......
> 
> ...


cool blog and great work. thanks for sharing.


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## rwingnut (Aug 4, 2012)

AlanY said:


> *Gilding and Staining :The Finish*
> 
> I finished the Coffee Table last week and took some pictures of it at my neighbor's house yesterday afternoon. Here is one more set of pictures from the Shop. These show the finishing process- The final look and finish is no doubt not to everyone's taste. The gilding wasn't in my plan till way late in the process -even then I hemmed and hawed a lot over weather or not I should…I decided that I had the 1st coffee table with a single finish all around and that this was the one to set at full blast….:^) Here goes…......
> 
> ...


Beautiful job. I'm starting a project to make some picture frames that look like port holes and am trying to go for a metallic brass/bronze look to them. I am thinking about using the mica powder that you are using here. Did you put down anything before the shellac/mica powder? How translucent is the shellac/mica powder? I've read that you can adjust the shade/tint by using different colors underneath. Thanks for sharing.


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