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New Project


jaxenro

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I have no clue what it is - maybe a pedestal coffee table?

I made a sandwich of three pieces of 1/16" walnut and veneered the four edges and the top with burl walnut. Mainly I was told the Miniwax Antique Oil finish puts a really good finish on burl so I wanted something to test it with. It is about 1 1/2" by 3" so sounds about right for a small table unless anyone has a better idea. I have some 3/4" square burl walnut pen blanks so I could make a (ugh) *modern* looking pedestal coffee table 

 

https://www.minwax.com/wood-products/specialty-finishes/minwax-antique-oil-finish

New Table 01.jpg

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22 minutes ago, jaxenro said:

... t what do you think of this? Two veneered vase shaped supports?

The overall design of the table is elegant, but I think I'd use a plainer (tight-grained) wood for the legs/base -- basswood or similar -- with a stain slightly lighter than the burled walnut. In a small scale, I think the burl could make the piece look heavy/busy and reduce the elegance of the burl. I see the burl as precious rare wood to be showcased in a special piece.  

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Most of my designs are neoclassical in some form or another so in furniture mainly American Empire style. For the most part everything, including the legs, are veneered and heaviness is sort of a design feature. It's tricky to pull off correctly, as you point out, without getting too cumbersome, and tends to look heavy and dark to modern taste, unless done properly. American Empire came in every price point and while the expensive pieces are fantastic the lower priced ones tended to give the whole style a bad name

I am practicing up for a mahogany library table with a flame or crotch veneer top. No scraps for that one but I want to get the finish and veneering thin pieces like the table edge tested first, not to mention maybe veneering some curved surfaces. Similar to the one below

X.jpg

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A piece like the one in your photo, in 1:12 is going to look VERY chunky & clunky unless you are exceedingly careful.  And if you're going to cover the shapes with burl veneer, you'll need to go extra delicate on the base pieces.

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Agreed like I said based on it not a exact copy. I will need to slim it down in spots. Oddly an exact scale replica would probably look “overscale” 

most of these test pieces will be geared around working up towards making pieces like that though. Using burl veneer on a 1/8” table edge takes a little practice.  As does gluing up curved edges that small with veneer

 

 

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12 minutes ago, jaxenro said:

...gluing up curved edges that small with veneer

I imagine carefully shaped strips of the veneer to follow all the curves.  No wonder Ferd Sobol gets so much for his exquisite mini furniture!  (Major fan here!)

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As an aside I tested some burl veneer on a curved test piece (1/8" diameter dowel) if i soak it long enough it wraps around without splitting. I am working on a jig for pre curving longer pieces to use on the molding on the table edges. I am thinking something like this to build up the balance of the top the top piece being the one shown (not to scale):

 

 

Test.jpg

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Needs some cleaning up with sandpaper and maybe a touch of filler but this is my first shot at making the molding using curved veneer. Not Sobol quality but it is a start. I went with concave molding instead of convex like in the drawing. A bit rough but I learned a lot from it

thumbnail (1).jpg

thumbnail.jpg

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