Expert to Beginner

the cylinder tables

2/26 ... the cylinder bedside tables left this week ... verrrrry funky objects ... we didnt get rich on this one, but hey, we love a challenge .... forgot to take a picture with the doors open and the shelves inside, but it all worked out and the client loved them .... we decided in the end to add hardware later if necessary. probably not as the doors open easily without it ...
there was a bench with a kilim covered cushion ( to be completed by the owners upholsterer) that is in the same room as these. the legs are similar and the photos are at the bottom of this post ...
update 2 11 ... we spent most of this week finishing the big island project ... more on that when its really finished and delivered. in the meantime we puttered on the cylinder tables, trevor made a jig and figured out how to cut the powderjet snowboards on the cnc, and we moved along on four different custom seating projects i have yet to post ... also, were tentatively entering the world of video ... slowly figuring out that people actually watch them ... i checked my you tube channel after i uploaded these two and found that a video i posted two years ago and mentioned once in my blog has been viewed 20,500 times. the others on my channel have also had limited but surprising view counts ... i was just figuring it out .. anyway, well try to do more and better as time allows. above, trevor and jim veneer the tops of the glued up cylinder tables and the doors. theyll be ready to assemble and finish next week. the new videos are toward the bottom of this post ... let me know what you think ... thanks ...
well, you know what they say, no problems? ... might as well invent some ... one of my longtime clients gave me the concept for a bedside table she had seen somewhere .. a cylinder with a door, and a space on top for a shelf, metal legs and a round top ... well, we love a new concept and, really, how hard can it be? a couple of forms, a little joinery? i mean, theyre only 18" x 27" ... how long can they take? ... ok, well try it ... that was a while ago, and while i can delegate parts, i cant exactly delegate a process that i cant actually describe myself .. whats next? hmmmm, lets figure out this step and then well see ... techniques build on techniques and this one is a direct relative of this one, maybe like a second cousin or great uncle ... related for sure ... click the pictures to enlarge them....
we went through a couple pre steps .. drawings, mockups, stuff like that until we settled more or less on the dimensions shown in the cad drawing above.
from the cad drawing, trevor made the form for laminating the wacky wood and bending birch sections of the cylinders ...
one still in the form ...
turn down your sound if you want to watch this video of the operation above. i forgot to record it with the sound off. ive made a lot of things with curved panels over the years and feel this to be a safe operation. some would protest and say im nuts ... so, disclaimer here: dont try this at home unless you have confidence in your wood working hand eye skills. you might want to use a higher reference fence to keep more of the panel in contact with the fence ... a foot operated off switch is helpful too ...
trevor also made the 1/3 jig for cutting the sections to fit together into a circle ... another video clip here ... worked slick ...
we stuck them together, figured out the angles on the solid wood pieces we needed to join them together and recut them using the jig and the new lines...
we added some dominoes to hold the parts together until we get the clamps on them and were almost ready to glue them up ... we still have to add the supports for the interior shelf and do some final sanding ... sams got the first three legs made ... next week, we should have something to see...
this metal bench was part of the same project ... welded steel with rivets by sam


a short note : i hate typing ... particularly on a laptop. my fingers are like carrots and i spend about half the time im writing, correcting my mistakes ... so, those of you who know me know i long ago eliminated capital letters from my email correspondence, i am now eliminating it from my blog posts unless a howl of reader protest ensues ... what would miss shelley say? i say content and time are more important than capitalization ... (three typing corrections in the last sentence, even without the capitals) ... all for now ... packers? ... steelers? ... im originally from penns woods so im going with the steelers ...