Coffee Table (Sketches)

Adam informed me that the first thing I should build of my own design would be a coffee table. For my own house. I'm not sure that I want or need a coffee table at the moment, but I have no particular bias against the design and construction of a coffee table. And since Adam is essentially providing me with all of my materials, tools, and guidance, I began sketching coffee tables.
I talked to my room-mates about what they might like to have in a coffee table. And I thought about what I would like. Also, about what I would like to build. Ideas were generated.

The final concept took for granted the use of a natural edged section of cherry that Adam offered. (And the partially-milled pieces of pine to its left.)

I wanted to preserve the natural edges, but was concerned about the leg injury hazard of exposing the edges to pedestrians. I decided to turn two edges in on themselves and create a second table layer in the gully between them. I began to think about it as a river valley or canyon and realized that by using the wider face of the cherry slab as the table-top, the undercut on the natural edge could be utilized as a handle which would, in turn, encourage the owner/users to further explore the edges with their fingertips as well as their eyes.

I sketched the concept a bit at home:

Then, not wanting to bring in my sketchbook, I did some new sketches at the shop:

Adam was encouraging, but suggested I build a quick model in SketchUp to get a better idea of the dimensions I would be working with (the materials pictured were just available contrasting Paint Bucket options; they bear no reflection on my choice of actual materials):

The SketchUp model allowed us to discuss the details a bit better and when I decided to use hardwood and reclaimed materials for a frame and panel construction, I did a few more sketches:

I'm considering wooden hinges:

Then created an organized page of dimensions and required materials:
 

Used that to put together my cut list then started cutting some of the pine timbers to approximate dimensions (after yanking a few stray nails):

 That's what I've got so far. It's a slow process and I have done most of the work in small chunks before and after work. Adam has also given me (14, 15?) Oak Kneelers that he was given from a (demolished? renovated?) Church for the panels in the body of the table. I pulled them from the bottom of the rack, under 1/16th inch of dust and riddled with long staples, short screws, and covered with the remains of an adhesive-backed padding. So far I've pulled the staples out of half of them. I'll take pictures as they improve.

Adam Rung Woodworks

So, quickly, before I get started on the coffee table, I thought it might be a good idea to give a bit of an idea about my place of work. I will say upfront that I truly enjoy working there (not that every activity I do fills me with pleasure, but it is among the best jobs I've ever had) and that I feel privileged every day to have come across a such a complementary situation. He's willing and able to give me what I want and every day I'm more able to give him what he wants. I'm always willing.
Adam Rung Woodworks operates out of an old coffin factory in Port Richmond. Adam has been stationed there for...somewhere between six and ten years, though I always seem to get a vague answer. He is an avid collector of items in which he sees potential for a furniture-related use. Coming into the shop in the morning, he is regularly armed with anything from an old lamp, a steel base from an old school desk, to a hexagonal grid of cast iron. Sometimes there is a decades-old corner cabinet from a local row-home waiting in the back of his van for me to unload and find (=make) a space for somewhere in the back of the shop.
He tries hard to recycle and repurpose found items and sometimes we refinish old pieces of furniture that he has tumbled upon. Most of the time we are building new things, though even they often include wood from old pine joists and the like. A full portfolio can be found on his website, but below are a few pictures from the showroom (slash office, slash cafeteria).

Scrap Lamp

I built this lamp from (mostly) scrap pieces of wood. Some I collected from my old job with John Doyle and at least one I pulled out of a scrap bin in Adam Rung's shop when I was mostly finished building the lamp. I wanted a bedside table lamp and had a bit over a week off. Adam requested that I limit my activities in the shop to hand tools while he was away. I built this....mostly....with hand tools. There were brief interludes with the drill press, the table saw, and the cross-cut saw.
AND, of course, none of the wood would have been in such a workable condition had it not been joined and planed on machines at a different time.
BUT it still took quite a bit of work with my block plane to get a smooth surface on the long, narrow pieces.

I did zero sketches for this project and (oh wait, one quick doodle that is reminiscent of the finished project, but having no notion that I could or might put it together with scraps in one day) took no measurements. Consequently, the lamp turned out to be far too low to use in its intended location. So, first I hauled up an out-of-use speaker from the first floor to elevate it off the chest that I use as a bedside table. Still hovering about a foot over my sleeping or groggy head, I decided to part with it as a graduation gift for Sherpa (Dan McIntyre).

Being assembled from scraps, the lamp has a bit of a hodge-podge look. The trapezoidal piece up top is Spalted Maple. It is tacked on top of a length of what I believe is Oak which is, in turn, suspended on two sticks of Cherry (might be Mahogany left from a project with John Doyle where we needed some trim sticks for a lot of mahogany-veneered MDF). Those vertical sticks have through-tenons (which were cut poorly and needed to be supplemented by perpendicular pins: dowels) that go through a beautiful Walnut base (that I milled--then  accidentally cut to the wrong dimensions in pursuit of another project for Adam). The base is raised by two trapezoidal lengths of Cherry.
I bought the lamp hardware at Home Depot for few dollars and put a Compact Fluorescent bulb in it because the lampshade I hand-stitched from the sleeves of an old Adidas t-shirt (that I "borrowed" from Sherpa years ago) wound up being too small and ignitable for an incandescent.

Would never call it quality craftsmanship, but there it is. A satisfying days work, some lessons learned, and a fine gift for a computer nerd in need of a desk lamp.

It's getting late...coffee table stuff tomorrow. Er, over the weekend...

Beginning

I happened to fixate on the phrase, "An Alternative View of Change" when I saw it in the opening credits of a PBS documentary from the late 1970s called Connections. James Burke, who has published numerous books (including one that I cited heavily in my written thesis document) claims to be presenting this Alternative View, but I thought it seemed just as valid a claim for anyone to make so long as they are relating, in some way, the passing of events. To me, it makes the telling seem far more insightful, though. And perhaps even a bit subversive. And so I've adopted it.

Through this web log, I intend to document my early excursions into woodworking and, more specifically, the construction of pieces of furniture of my own design. I plan to post content as it comes into being (though I'm not sure I'll always be able to keep up) so it should provide the opportunity for anyone following along to submit their comments, compliments, criticisms, and advice. I will always welcome and consider your inputs, but understand that after certain benchmarks in the construction process, some words of advice can only help to guide future projects while highlighting the shortcomings and missed opportunities of the current project. So please don't take offense if I am ever dismissive of good ideas that are too late to be implemented.

One more thing:
Last week, while collecting scrap from the woodshop beneath ours (solid wood scrap, to deliver to Adam's parents for firewood in the winter) I found a couple of worthwhile keepers that you can see in the photo below. I'm thinking about turning one (the larger walnut slab) into a hall table for the Fannings and maybe using the cherry for a bench or side tabletop.. We'll see.

My List (so far):

Lamp (completed)
Coffee Table (in process)
Bookshelf
Refinish Sam's Kitchen Table
Hall Table (Fannings) ?

Chair(s)
Desk, perhaps

...something with some drawers...