Neil’s Origins Table – Viewer Project
This mind boggling project comes to us from Neil. Its an incredible lesson in “outside the box” thinking! Let’s hear from Neil:
I’m a South African living in Britain watching your American show – interesting how the world works huh? I’d like to enter a Viewer Project: my “ORIGINS” table. I really want to share this project with woodworkers because it has proven that I have to, like you say, think out of the box. Our schooling and everyday life causes the thought process to become rather closed and problem-oriented, rather than free-flowing and conceptual. It is like nothing I have tried before. Even after three months of making I still wonder how it all came to be.
It began about a year ago with an idea I had for a cabinet. My wife was pregnant and the whole process of birth become a fascination. The idea of male/female, yin-yang, parent and child etc, which I hope is evident in the design grew into the idea of using not only opposing woods, but opposing shapes, textures, types of board/timber. And then the cabinet wanted to become a table that supported a “child” if you will – the bowl in the middle.
Now what I have to keep reminding myself here is that I was trying my UTMOST best to NOT think about how I was going to make it. I’m sure us woodies are all cursed with this, but it has become so important (like with David Marks’ and furnitology’s) to concentrate on design and the “mindset” of the piece first, then problem-solve the issue of “how?” I made 2 HUGE mistakes and almost gave up but decided to go on. I was already on a tight budget for it (the veneers for the top alone cost something like $150!!) but I decided that once you pop, you can’t stop.
I found myself using tools I never had before: a round-bottomed spokeshave to finesse the curves, soil and dirt to tarnish the copper, sawdust and cyanoacrylate glue as wood-filler, a round-bottomed surform to finish the base. I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like, but it was make-it-up-as-you-go-along all the time and that was such a refreshing (though often frustrating) change. I strongly believe now that it’s not what you know, but rather what you want to learn that counts, and as long as woodworking is respective of the beauty that lies in wood, it will always be good :) It’s the ultimate material and unlike other things, it grows on trees!
Here are some construction details: “Female” consists of 27 layers of 19mm birch plywood – each piece individually routed round and then glued and pressed together. The final shape was eventually achieved after much use of a surform, belt sander, chisels and LOADS of 80 grit sandpaper wrapped around a 1.5 inch dowel.
Male consists of two halves. Each is two layers of 5mm bendyply veneered with walnut using contact adhesive (I was worried this would throw the shape out but the 2 layers of bendyply seemed to work well :) Making this was the most difficult part as the two halves had to be joined in a straight line, down a shape that curves in two directions and not only in the middle but where it joins the female too !! It took days of trial and error with a block plane to get that edge down the middle ! It’s still not perfect but hey we all have our limits :) I first made the structure then veneered one side at a time. The compound mitre on the base of the male proved to be challenging too since it does not lie flat on one surface but on an edge.
The cherry piece joining the two was made from a single length for continuity and just cut into smaller angled pieces to achieve the curve. The “foot” that joins the base of the male was done by hand with some chisels and a belt sander. The bowl also came to be using bendyply. Veneers are Maple, Walnut and I think Burr elm.
Once I got the male and female to join nicely with the cherry, and the bowl all fitted, I started on the top. I routed a 3foot diameter piece of 19mm ply and edged it with a 4mm cherry strip. I achieved this using strap-clamps and very straight-grained quarter sawn cherry to avoid it splitting/snapping (Yikes!). Initially it was to be more of a yin-yang shape on top but the waterdrop shape of the bowl called for a more refined curve. I first laid the burr walnut veneer, then the burr cluster maple (quite pink isn’t it?) then I routed the groove for the cherry inlay.
The cherry inlay isn’t conventionally liad. Rather than a thin slice of veneer it consists of about 10 layers of cherry veneer laid on edge within the groove! That proved to be a rather testing time :) After some hand-planing with a SHARP edge, it was flush to the veneer surfaces. I recessed the glass supports into the top and made the template for the glass by tracing on a piece of paper with a pencil (similar to the copper method). I sent it off to the glass-makers and they did a swell job. The glass lid is lifted out using the inch hole.
Now the copper came by accident due to the fact that I had to cover ugly screws sticking out of the female where I had screwed the ply pieces together. I tried to remove them neatly but it turned ugly after a while :) So I decided – as a friend once told me – rather make a display of your mistakes than try to hide them. I think I have realized now how helpful that can be. So I drilled the three 65mm holes 3mm deep around the screws, got hold of some 3mm copper plate and after making a rough paper template I ground them out and shaped them using a belt-sander on edge with 40 grit paper. I then tarnished them by leaving them outside on the lawn for a few nights and beat and scraped them in any way possible to create the aged look. I glued them in with PU glue and sanded them with 600 grit.
The finish: After much debate and much research (including the help of The Wood Whisperer) I finally came to a conclusion. Danish Oil is one of the easiest finishes you could ever apply (I hope Marc agrees here) I have done lots of spraying and used varnishes and oils of all shapes and sizes, but since I had been laid off at work, I had no access to the spray-shop and thus needed a really easy no fuss finish. And I must say – it does take a good 4 coats over 4 days to do the job but it is ever so easy to wipe on. A rub down with steel wool between coats and then some good-old-fashioned beeswax (2 coats) and some elbow-grease to bring out a bit of a shine and I am really very pleased with the finish. I did want to use a polyurethane spray but I think it actually worked out better this way since I can rest assured it is easily re-finished or restored.
Lastly I must say that it really has been an amazing learning experience and I would not have been able to do it without the advice and general positivity of online shows like TWW – so thanks Marc and friends!
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So what do household guests say after they pick their jaws up off the floor?
And as a new parent, I’ve gotta ask: what’s your secret to getting anything done in the shop?
Neil this is astounding and thank you for sharing. I especially like your thought, “it’s not what you know, but what you want to learn”. What a beautiful piece of artwork and what could you possibly do next to top this???
I know Marc calls this a family oriented site, but that is bad ass!!! I can’t seem to quit staring at it.
Somebody say something cuz I’m speechless…
Amazing design and execution!
This design is a bit mind boggling. Did you draw this all out in advance or design as you went along? I read all the text before I looked at any of the pictures and was just amazed at what I saw.
uhhhhhh holy sh….cow!!! That is a fantastic! I like the thought process you explained and how your vision changed as you proceeded. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful piece of woodworking art. Keep up the good work and good luck with the little one.
Dan
You know, when I see these tables and the other art work that your members create, it makes me know that I am such a minor league player here among some very talented major league players in this woodworking world. Going down so many roads in my life, although being creative in many fields, and enjoying the many things I have done, I wish I would have honed into the woodworking field earlier in my life. I feel I have come a long way since I started making things with wood this past year or so, but I sure know that I have many many more years of mistakes and accomplishment ahead of me. Seeing this table and the two before that you have posted Marc has done nothing but inspire me to continue to learn and get better, and I will for as long as I can hold a hammer.
Koodos to Neil and his very beautiful table.
~sound of jaw crashing to floor~ This is completely amazing to me! Neil, you have an incredible amount of patience. Congrat’s on this amazing creation!
All I can say is “Wow”, yet that simple word doesn’t come close to describing the finished product or the learning experience it provided.
Simply Marvelous!!
I’m like everyone else, this isnt just a woodworking master piece, but a work of ART. It seems now a day that ppl have lost that creativity that we use to have. The fast paced world around us has taken away alot of creativity, and design, but you have put a glimmer back in my eye that it’s still out there. This is something you can pass down to your new baby, and down to the next generation. Congrats, and a truly inspiring piece of art work.
Neil, words cannot do your work justice. I loved your free form thinking. As a new woodworker, I can hardly tackle the straight lines and I can’t imagine trying a project like yours. You have given me something to shoot for. Well done!
It is an amazing piece, and congratulations on it’s completion.
I guess I see this project more as art, and the art form happens to be wood.
While there is no question that you are extremely talented and patient, and clearly right-brained, I’m going to stray from the crowd and admit that I can’t decide if I like it. I know that it would look good in an art gallery, but I’m not sure I would choose it for my living room. I hope no offense is taken. It is truly a splendid piece of art.
Well, it’s been over a day and no additional comments. Hope I didn’t end the conversation. Saying again, it’s incredible in it’s artisan craftmanship and could only come out of the hands and mind of one talented individual. Something to be proud of and thank you for sharing it with all of us.
That is too awesome.
I see it as more than a table, more than art…It is creativity at it’s best. Breaking away from the programmed norms in our brains inspiring all of us, not only with our woodworking, but with our daily lives. Well done.
This is an amazing piece! One of my favorite parts of this craft is sometimes not really knowing what a piece will be like until it’s finished. Really great work!
Very interesting piece, I love it, its different…its unique, very nicely done sir. cheers