41 – Sculpted End Table (Part 5 of 6)

Video - February 27, 2008

We have some big design decisions to make. And thanks to all the great suggestions from you folks, I had a lot to think about! But I finally made a decision. I show you how I use a Kutzall carving burr and a die grinder to blend in the protruding center piece, and I discuss the creation of the template for the top. I also show you how I rout the grooves for the steel dowels that will suspend the tabletop in the middle of the piece (you’ll understand when you see it).

Products Used

Kutzall Carving Burrs

Discussion

Peter Tremblay February 27, 2008 2:05 pm

I love the table. I really like the contrast of maple and walnut and that really is a nice ‘design’ for the top. It reminds me of some of the best woodworking advise that I have gotten, “Don’t hide the mistakes highlight them.” It sounded odd to me but in my designs when this was well done it added lots of character to the piece. I say that because the ‘inlay’ of maple and walnut looks to be a great idea and very appealing, visually.

What’s going to be the finish?

Peter

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The Darkness February 27, 2008 2:30 pm

Very interesting Marc.
I had a almost exact idea in mind for that table top.
Well done…..
Now…. what’s next ;)

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Jim Jones February 27, 2008 3:41 pm

OK, you’ve got us dangling again waiting w baited breath for the next episode to see what the floating flower will look like… Can you just show us a still shot??? :-)

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thewoodwhisperer February 27, 2008 3:46 pm

Thanks guys. To answer the questions so far, the finish will be my old standby, Seal-a-Cell and Arm-R-Seal. I was going to play with a waterbased finish, but this particular shape does not lend itself well to experimental spraying. Too tricky. So for the sake of getting the job done with a reliable finish, I went with the classic.

Can I give you a still shot? no. lol But…the good news is I really expected this to be the last episode. So the remaining scenes are shot and being edited already. That means a follow up episode very soon.

The finale will be worth the wait, I promise!

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David (runningwood) February 27, 2008 5:33 pm

Love the table and design and of course the video is fun and educational as always.

The design has some Sam Maloof like flavor to it, if only it were a chair . Thats a compliment by the way!

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LarryL February 27, 2008 6:14 pm

Yesâ

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Jonathan February 27, 2008 6:49 pm

I kept checking the time remaining and thinking “put the top on, put the top on, why isn’t he putting the top on? theres only 30 seconds left, what, wait, the top!” End of episode.

I was also thinking something similar at the beginning only it was about turning it upside down. I thought it would look cool upside down, but after you turned it, I changed my mind. The shape of the legs just didn’t look right in that orientation.

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Rob Horton February 27, 2008 10:04 pm

I hope you will have the time to share your “Seal-a-Cell and Arm-R-Seal” finish approach for us finishing neophytes.

rjh

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Steve February 27, 2008 10:32 pm

I especially like the addition of the inlay and the steel dowels. The combination of wood and metal is nice touch. I’m looking forward to seeing it all come together.

Thanks for showing us how a design/construction challenge can be transformed into a pleasing design element. This is an important lesson to remember.

Reply
wilbur February 28, 2008 6:01 am

Hi Marc,

Nice job on the table so far!

One thing I thought of when you were cutting the grooves for the dowels — it would have been very quick to do that with a hand saw followed by chiseling out the waste, and you wouldn’t have to have rigged up your router support apparatus to make that cut. Probably would have been a lot quicker too, since you wouldn’t have had to spend time on making the support boards for the router.

I kept thinking during that part of the video, “That hand saw hanging on the wall right behind Marc is saying, ‘Use me! Please use me! I want some camera time, too!’ ”

:@)

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thewoodwhisperer February 28, 2008 9:53 am

lol wilbur. I can absolutely guarantee that it would have taken longer and require much more work for ME to do that with a hand saw and a chisel. Not to mention, I planned on inlaying something into that slot so it is absolutely essential that the grooves all be exactly the same size. So Im not saying that the hand tool method isn’t better/faster. But I am saying that its not better/faster in MY hands. :)

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Darin February 28, 2008 9:56 am

You made some comments in the podcast about wood movement in the finished piece, and that made me realize I don’t have a good feel for how the various pieces of the table will move relative to each other. I’d love to hear how you think about wood movement and any rules of thumb you use when designing a piece.

Thanks!

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Henry February 28, 2008 10:06 am

Hey Marc, big fan. Quick question, I am assuming that the rods don’t go all the way to the ends of the slots. How far do they go and how will you cover the ends?

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Mike February 28, 2008 11:33 am

Hey Marc,

Great project – I’ve been watching all the episodes and it’s a great learning experience to follow the progress of a project and hear all the thoughts in your design.

One criticsim – I can’t believe you didn’t show us a dry fit with the top and the dowels in place. You obviously could have taken 5 seconds to let us see how it was going to look and we all know you had to do that! Made me feel like I was watching one of those “to be continued” shows. I think everyone would agree that noone likes that! (I really dont’ think you have to worry about all of us coming to see the finale, even if you gave us a preview).

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thewoodwhisperer February 28, 2008 11:52 am

Wow. Now I know what the writers of Lost must feel like. lol. I only wish it was something I put that must strategic thought into.

I actually expected this to be the last episode. Once I started editing, I realized that there was just too much content. So I had to pick a spot to cut it short. The next scene involves the finishing process and you wont see the top fit into the legs until a few minutes into it. I just didn’t film the first dry fit. But you will see it in the next episode.

Remember that these videos tell the story as it happens. And because of the nature of this type of “film as I go” style, I am bound to miss something here and there. Its the nature of the beast. So you will see the table being attached to the top in the next video, simply because that was when it happened.

And seriously, are you really going to fault me for trying to build up a little suspense? The next video is only a week away………

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thewoodwhisperer February 28, 2008 11:53 am

Hey Henry. The dowels only go about half way and the inlay material is notched to accommodate the dowel. I show the whole process in the next video.

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Bryan February 28, 2008 12:19 pm

Hey Marc –
Another fantastic episode. My question is about the Kutzall carving burrs and your electric die grinder. I currently have a dremel that I have used quite a bit for doing bone carvings, and I was wondering if I would be able to use this along with the Kutzall burrs since they have several different types of shank sizes. I do know that the diameter of the shaft will limit the size of the burr itself, but want to make sure there is enough power for this or if it is even worth it.
Thanks

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William February 28, 2008 3:09 pm

Excellent design on the fly, Marc! I love the creative process in action.

I’m glad to see you’re keeping the base in the original orientation. I like being able to see those dovetails. I take it that the steel dowels will be completely invisible. Clever solution. I’ll be curious to see how the top and the legs will visually interact now that the tops of the legs will be exposed and highlighted by inlay rather than covered by the top.

This should be interesting!

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Jason February 28, 2008 4:26 pm

Man it is lookin good!

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Vic February 28, 2008 8:02 pm

Sweet, you did incorporate the reverse curvature to bring the table back into balance. Can’t wait to see whether the dowels will be epoxied onto the legs or into the top.
For all who wondered why there was no dry fit. Ever hear of suspense! It’s called a teaser.
Great job Marc! A design that is all you and very original.

Vic

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Greg February 29, 2008 1:54 am

Well Marc should we expect anything less than an outstanding design. The walnut is such an attractive wood and the woodgrain is very appealing. I can hardly wait to see the finsihed product. Awesome job… please continue to design on podcast.

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Germain February 29, 2008 12:31 pm

For more info about the Seal-a-Cell and Arm-R-Seal process, you can visit David Marks’ web site. I’m a newbie at woodworking. Yet I followed his simple finishing instructions on a basic bookcase I made last summer and the finish turned out great!

http://www.djmarks.com

Basically, you just build up thin coats of finish and knock them down with 0000 steel wool between coats.

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LONGHAIR March 1, 2008 3:22 pm

Darin, as far as I can see, the wood movement that has potential to cause a problem in a project like this would be the top itself.
Since it is “solid wood” it will want to expand/contract mostly in the width (perpendicular to the glueline). This would push/pull against the legs above the cross structure, which is the short part of the legs. If the table were turned over, you might get-by with-out compensating for the movement. The longer part of the leg would probably flex enough to eliminate the need.

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thewoodwhisperer March 1, 2008 3:39 pm

Sorry Darin. LONGHAIR’s reply made me realize I totally missed your question. The main concern is indeed the top. And that was part of the challenge. Fortunately, wood movement issues are completely eliminated by one simple trick. I just drilled the holes for the dowels about a 1/4″ deeper than they needed to be. Plenty of room for seasonal movement.

Now you might also see some movement in the dovetail joints, but given my weather conditions here in Phoenix, I doubt it will ever surface as a real problem.

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Larry Mayfield March 2, 2008 11:48 am

I liked your technique of using the die grinder and burrs. Can you give a recommended maker of die grinders that you like? I am guessing that you used 1/4″ burrs. Nice job so far!
Larry

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Chadd April 5, 2009 5:04 pm

Marc,

Why did you decide to cut a groove for the dowels and didn’t just drill a hole through each leg, pass the dowel through the hole and into the table top and then insert a wood plug to seal the exposed hole?

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- thewoodwhisperer April 5, 2009 5:10 pm
  
  Mostly because I wanted to do something that was visually interesting. A plugged dowel is kinda boring. But a slot filled with a maple and walnut sandwich is pretty nifty! Just personal preference really.
  
  Reply
Tom April 20, 2009 9:27 pm

Hi,
LOL!
So apparently all my ideas were sent in to you as notes as well, but I learned a lot more from what you decided on and I liked it. It allowed me to expand my awareness of what could be done and I like to know more. It gives me a better prerogative when I chose to do my work.

I felt the same way you did as you mentioned the learning experience of others opinions. Do this more often. It was fun.

Tom L

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David Haniquet April 12, 2012 11:42 pm

Why not reference the center point on the legs after the router rails are in place insuring that they are in absolute line with each other. Now I know that you are not going to change your router guide from one side to the other. I would just find it easier to center, provided the rails are the same dimension, off of the rails, being that trying to find the center on a less than perfectly circular shape. FFT.

KAISER OUT!!!

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Drew Short February 11, 2013 9:45 am

I am having issues watching this video and all the safety week videos just ahead of this one. They will not load. I am using an ipad to watch them. Is there a compatibility issue with the video being watched on a portable device?

Drew

Reply
- Marc Spagnuolo February 11, 2013 2:06 pm
  
  We are trying to move away from our current host in hopes of improving compatibility. I’ll try updating the embed code for now in hopes that it will improve performance for you.
  
  Reply
  - Drew Short February 12, 2013 7:07 pm
    
    Thanks Marc your awesome!!!!!
    
    Reply
Thomas February 20, 2013 11:18 am

hello Mark,

I wish to thank you for the time and effort you have put into all your videos and this wonderful website.

Now I must complain, and I really don’t like to, I watched the first 4 videos just fine they were in the mp4 format, but this one is in a flv format and there is nothing I can do to get the jerky, stuttering video and sound to work right. I’ve rebooted, wiped and reinstalled my codecs.

I’m not sure what your options are on that end, but flv file format to me just isn’t the way to go..

Again, Thank You for your time
Thomas

Reply
- Marc Spagnuolo February 20, 2013 12:47 pm
  
  Hey Thomas. With older videos like this one (about 5 years old now), you might find some quirkiness and inconsistency with our current quality level. Back then, it wasn’t common to upload full HD versions of our videos as we do now. Some day I’m going to go back and re-encode all of the videos to today’s standards but that’s a ways off. For this particular video, there might be something I can do quickly to improve the quality so I’ll start working on that now. Hopefully it will work. If not, we’re stuck with this for a while.
  
  Reply

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41 – Sculpted End Table (Part 5 of 6)

Products Used

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