Post a photo of the last thing you made
- Thread starter DTR
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
John15
Established Member
That's a beautiful coffee table moupe. The top appears to be floating - delightful.
John
John
That certainly is an impressively classy table.
Is it yours or for a client?
Also, if you have any shots looking up from underneath I'd be interested to see how you joined the legs to the top. Are there flat stretchers connecting the tops of the legs?
Were the legs sawn from solid, laminated or bent?
Is it yours or for a client?
Also, if you have any shots looking up from underneath I'd be interested to see how you joined the legs to the top. Are there flat stretchers connecting the tops of the legs?
Were the legs sawn from solid, laminated or bent?
Thank you. It's for me- I'd love to make it for a client but I couldn't realistically charge what it cost to make in terms of hours.
There's nothing special underneath. The legs are set in 1/4" mortises but not glued or screwed in. I did this for two reasons.
First, the base is very heavy so as to make the centre of gravity as low as possible for stability. Then I was worried someone would move the table by picking up the top and the heavy base would put too much force on the screws attaching it to the legs. This way the top can be moved separately from the base and legs.
Second, the mortises are deep enough to stop the top rotating and tight enough to prevent the legs delaminating and springing out. The legs are laminated from 8 x 1/8" cherry strips using yellow glue.
There's nothing special underneath. The legs are set in 1/4" mortises but not glued or screwed in. I did this for two reasons.
First, the base is very heavy so as to make the centre of gravity as low as possible for stability. Then I was worried someone would move the table by picking up the top and the heavy base would put too much force on the screws attaching it to the legs. This way the top can be moved separately from the base and legs.
Second, the mortises are deep enough to stop the top rotating and tight enough to prevent the legs delaminating and springing out. The legs are laminated from 8 x 1/8" cherry strips using yellow glue.
custard
Established Member
mouppe":26bhqp6n said:
I disagree Mouppe, I think your work is good enough to command a realistic price. Selling your furniture might not be the way you want to go, and that's fair enough (I've been doing it for a few years and it's certainly not the road to riches!) but before I went full time I'd been selling the occasional piece for some time previously because there comes a time when you just run out of space to house your own production, or you want to experiment with different design variations around a similar theme. So unless you're especially generous with a very large circle of family and friends, there comes a time when you pretty much have to start selling your work in order to keep developing as a maker.
Furthermore, it's pieces like your table that are some of the best items to sell. It's pointless offering bread and butter furniture, but impactful, prestige items that occupy a very visible position in the home can always find a market.
Incidentally, I think you could take that design a little bit further. I'm not sure mixing mahogany and cherry is a natural combination as they're just too similar, plus there are too many mid-priced, factory produced alternatives using these woods. But a sun burst veneer in Macassar Ebony for example is a jaw dropping feature. Another thing to consider might be a subtle touch of inlaid stringing in holly or sycamore to really make the design sing, laminate the legs from tapered lamina to produce a more subtle curve and you'd really have something special.
I asked how many hours because I can see you've got the technical ability but I wanted to see if you were efficient enough, and you are, fifty hours is actually pretty slick. Look around for an open exhibition, enter a piece like that with an appropriate ticket price, and you might be pleasantly surprised to find out that there are people out there willing to pay for individual craftsmanship, not many it's true, but you only need one!
Good luck, and once again, very well done!
Thanks Custard, I appreciate the advice, particularly on the design. Because the top is not fixed to the legs, I could make another table top and interchange it. I could also experiment with the legs. I thought about tapering the lags actually but decided against it because I was worried about compromising their strength.
I've been asked to make things for friends and family several times, but some expect to pay less than Ikea prices because it's hand-made (!) and others expect to pay unreasonable prices because I'm a friend and it's not from a store. One thing I am considering is collaborating with our interior decorator to make one-off custom pieces for his clients. That could be interesting and challenging.
I've been asked to make things for friends and family several times, but some expect to pay less than Ikea prices because it's hand-made (!) and others expect to pay unreasonable prices because I'm a friend and it's not from a store. One thing I am considering is collaborating with our interior decorator to make one-off custom pieces for his clients. That could be interesting and challenging.
Here's a picture frame I've made for my nieces birthday with a photo of her favourite dog.
I struggled getting a decent image with my proper camera (he wanted to lick the lense !) so had to settle on a smartphone picture instead
It did feel like I was creating a little frankenstein cutting and pasting bits of his body :lol:
Coley
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
I struggled getting a decent image with my proper camera (he wanted to lick the lense !) so had to settle on a smartphone picture instead
It did feel like I was creating a little frankenstein cutting and pasting bits of his body :lol:
Coley
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
woodiedonald
Established Member
- Joined
- 10 Mar 2013
- Messages
- 142
- Reaction score
- 0
Racers
Established Member
- Joined
- 22 Apr 2005
- Messages
- 9,172
- Reaction score
- 132
Sheffield Tony
Ghost of the disenchanted
What woods have you got there Pete ? Like the colour on the middle one. And did you work them whilst green ?
A "nutsaver." A leather wrench/ spanner for brass knobs for when you need a little extra torque but don't want to pull out the pliers and damage the brass. Mine is sized for the knobs on the fence of my Veritas plough plane, but it works so well I think I am going to make another one for the fence on my honing guide which is often too hard to unscrew.
I copied the idea from a tutorial by berncarpenter on instagram.
I copied the idea from a tutorial by berncarpenter on instagram.
Attachments
Thanks panda [WINKING FACE] it's not her birthday until the 11th so she's not seen it yet. I dropped off her hutch I made for her yesterday so now all I'm hearing is ' when's the rabbit arriving, when's the rabbit arriving' The hutch wasn't even out of the van and she'd already started asking about the wabbit !!! She lives with my mum now after her own mother tried to strangle her,so I think she deserves a little spoiling for a few years atleast !Panda":1piq64fs said:
Coley
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
