A Lot of Bits

 

I took my time setting up to cut the diamonds and as a result it looks like I have a positive outcome. The picture shows the cramping block I made being used with 4 cramps on it, it shows all the loose diamonds ready for gluing together and in the back ground the first few hexagons I have glued together, most of the pieces are 10 mm thick a few are 18 mm thick, as I glue up the hexagons I am gluing a thick paper to the back I intend to glue a thick paper to the front then split the hexagons in half so I will have twice as many, I may get 2 tables out of this.

I am finding I have a discrepancy over the 3 widths of .1 of a mm, I am also finding if I put 2 hexes together a 3rd is not the snug fit I would have liked into the recess, there is a long way to go yet and it’s a lot of pieces there could be some sweat over this one, so when I say positive outcome I think it could have been worse

Waste not

I have had a bucket of teak off cuts in the garage for about 6 years, another boat job its waste from the deck.

As a lot of it is narrow and short I can only see myself joining lots of pieces together, I have long thought of a hexagon table but with smaller diamonds hence a lot more of them, see the July 2010 post I have made 3 tables using different timbers the diamonds are about 85mm wide this time I am thinking 45mm wide so that is about 90mm over the hexagon as is the sample I have made.

I can see the challenge is going to be getting each hexagon accurate enough so any inaccuracy does not compound itself. 

I so much wanted to post a video of the computer desk but it would seem it was too big to publish.

A finished work of art

What started of as using up a piece of left over wood has become a feature of the room.

The curved piece of Mahogany on the front edge of the desk top was left over from a boat building job and I just had to find a use for it, the patterns on the end of the desk was something I had seen in a newspaper and was longing to use somewhere, the veneer on the draw fronts would have been thrown out and there was no waste what so ever as I made the draws to fit what I had, some of the European Beach was free, but still I have spent about $1000 on this piece and a lot of time. I am thinking of a slide out keyboard table to match the top it will have the same banding to the edge and maybe a mini version of the pattern that is on the top. I would also like to put a tray in one of the deep draws, it is the sewing materials draw so it could be just for the cottons and pins, it all sounds a bit obsolete these days.

Draws Draws and Draws

I decided to put these draws on steel runners and of course they need room, I did think the draws were going to be small and by sacrificing 24mm in width I have kept maximum height in the draws, then I had to close off the gap that they create this I have done with a piece of Mahogany, the fronts will be veneered with a quilted Mahogany and edged with a 1mm veneer so the fronts will look solid Mahogany, the base is 3 thicknesses of 6mm bendy ply with a 3mm dress ply on the inside, this was layed up on a former using a vacuum bag.
It has been fun going through the process of attaching the fronts to the sides and keeping them all flush, now the challenge is to get that veneer on and be flush with the frame around the draws.
The end is neigh, I want to attach the handles with a biscuit so there are still some anxious moments to come. 

I had to decide what to do on the draw fronts, the material I had and wanted to use I thought looked a little plain and needed connecting to the rest of the unit, I would normally finish a piece of furniture then go looking for some handles to compliment it, I did so want some pattern on the draw fronts so it had to be the handles, I wanted to be sure I could do this before I continued with the fronts so the handles had to be made first.
The one bottom right is a finished product I think, all the others have burn marks from the circular saw that will be sanded out sometime.

Progress

I took the top for a coat of lacquer in part to keep it clean but also to give me an idea of the end result it also helps promote me to be careful with a finished item, yes it looks good from a distance, the padouk has bled into the maple not every where but oddly enough it mostly happened at the corners, I should have known this was possible as I had wiped it with a solvent at some stage and stained the whole area red which then had to be sanded out, fortunately I have the thickness there to stand a good sanding. I have experimented with giving a spare piece of the banding a coat of water based polyurethane no bleeding then  had the lacquer applied on top of that, to date there is no adverse effect.

   As a result of the Queen having a birthday in NZ the top now has some legs, for the photo the top is just sat on the leg there are no draws yet, thoughts of these are on going as there is a 140mm difference in the two draw sides which means that on the long side a lot of draw will be left inside the cabinet when fully open.
I did wonder if I was overdoing the detail of this piece but now I see it at this stage I am pleased, the creativeness is satisfied thus far.  

The end of Autumn

May morning sun rise

The end of May let us know winter was upon us with this stunning morning view of the sun rising and hitting the mist that still lay in our valley, it was a chilly morning for Auckland considering may is not a winter month I am sure we will get colder yet and good views but not always the time or inclination to get out the camera.