Apple coffee table

[Dave.L]

Evening all,

A few years ago my parents cut down a large and long unproductive apple tree from their garden, I used to climb this a lot when I was little and I really liked the idea of making something to remember it by.
I asked for advice on this forum about how to season it which was very helpful indeed. I managed to get it roughly cut into boards, but probably not quick enough - it was also felled at a bad time of year, as a result there has been quite a bit of cupping and twisting, but patience and an old scrub-plane have seen me through.
Fast forward to 2016 and I felt it was time to try and salvage something recognisable from the pile of firewood I had amassed.

It was an interesting process as I could not design a piece of furniture and then draw up a cutting list, rather I had to work with the wood I had available and try and see how it might be used.
Eventually it became clear that a small, nakashima style coffee table should be achievable, and here is the result. Apologies there is no WIP, I didn't really think about it until it was finished.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with it, the boards for the table top are rather thin, but I'm afraid I had to go to that level before I had eliminated some rather annoying twist. I found I had a lot of tear-out when working with this, which I'll put down to inexperience and poor technique.
The photos aren't the best, but the top has a lovely if rather busy figure to it and the colour is very warm.

Comments, advice and criticism (not too harsh) are welcome!
Thanks,
Dave

 

[Bm101]

I like that a lot. Do you have any photos of the underside?

 

[MattRoberts]

That's a really elegant and beautiful piece, well done! Love the fact that it has memories for you too

 

[Dave.L]

Thanks very much for the kind words, my prior woodworking experience is essentially one shaker side table (under close guidance) and a few utilitarian pieces made from sheet materials and screws, so this was a pretty steep learning curve for me.

I haven't got any photos of the underside at present, but i'll take some tomorrow. My terminology will be all wrong, but hopefully you'll understand what I'm trying to say here; I made some cross-supports in a very similar fashion to the feet, these were half lapped onto the legs and then the table top itself is attached using a slotted hole, washer and screw. This was a real head-scratcher for me, and I hope it adequate for the potential movement in the boards.

 

[paulm]

A lovely story and a lovely piece, thanks for sharing

 

[rob.]

I love the fact that it holds fond memories for you, that's a really lovely story.

 

[DTR]

Very nice =D>

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Lovely job. I like 4 things about it:

The provenance. Having a personal attachment to the original tree makes the wood infinitely more valuable.
The wabi sabi design. A lovely organic shape.
The Dutchman on the RHS.
The fact you've left in the sapwood as well as the heartwood.

Almost all commercially available furniture seems to have fallen into the trap of the notion of uniform grain/colour etc. I find that boring. A piece which celebrates all the wood in it's infinite variation appeals far more to my taste.

The fact you have little experience only serves to make the end result more impressive. A big thumbs up from me

 

[custard]

Exactly what Bob said!

Plus Apple, like most fruitwoods, acquires a stunning patination as the years roll past. So you've got the happy prospect of your beautiful creation becoming even more beautiful over time.

=D>

 

[Dave.L]

Apologies for the late reply, its been a pretty busy week.
First up - a shot of the underside for Bm101

As you can see, the underside is rather more rough than the top, but seeing as it's just me and my wife who will see it, I'm not too bothered.

Thanks again for the constructive and encouraging feedback - I didn't know that fruitwoods acquire such good patina, so I'll be looking forward to how the years affect it.
Getting rather hooked on this woodworking malarkey, trying to choose a suitable next project.