German Documentary on Building a Table

[Andy Kev.]

Here's a link to a documentary which was aired on the local telly here on Friday and it covers building a table (with machine tools) form start to finish.

http://www.ardmediathek.de/tv/Im-Südwesten/Handwerkskunst-Wie-man-einen-Tisch-baut/SWR-Fernsehen/Video?bcastId=27081432&documentId=35557880

It's part of a series dealing with Handwerk in the region. (Last week there was a genuine handworker, a chap who made a saddle.) There are a number of interesting things but perhaps the most remarkable is the use of solid aluminium rod in lieu of tenons! The stopped sliding dovetail is also an interesting idea. The only hand tools used are a chisel, a shop-made device made from a plane blade for scraping off hardened squeeze-out and a sanding block.

Even if all the machinery does seem a bit soulless, it is a well made short film about how modern cabinet makers go about their business.

Obviously it's all in German but should anybody want a particular bit translating, just click on the time bar and note the start and finish times of the desired bit and I'll do my best.

Edit: The link there is playing up. It works if you copy the whole thing up to 8 figure number at the end, then paste into the address bit at the top of your screen.

 

[AndyT]

Well, that was interesting. I was struck by several things - the huge investment in thousands of euros worth of capital equipment for starters!

The long dovetail cross-battens are commoner in German work than over here, I've read. (I can't help thinking that a taper would have meant there was no need for the big glue clamper to get them in place.) And the glued in dowels were something I would not have expected.

When they started, I thought "that wood's a bit thick - it's going to be a chunky table" but they removed so much in the machining and sanding that the final proportions were very nice.

But yes, a bit sad to see someone dialling in the finished size and having the machine do the rest.

 

[Andy Kev.]

The investment has paid off though. It's a family firm which specialises in making furniture out of solid wood and according to the commentary they get orders from all over Germany. You may have noticed towards the end a few glimpses of other projects in progress.

The firm reckons that the aluminium dowels are an improvement on wood in terms of joint stability. I can see how aluminium is super stable and I suppose that we have to believe that the glue used to hold it in the holes is the bees knees.