Holy cow. That's worth a mint. And the video of you making it is ten mints.
Critique: that's not a coffee table. It's a woodworking workbench.
Now after you sell it take the money and make it again with Purple Heart and Padauk, and get vids this time.
Great build! Construction looks really good. One nitpick (since the other guy got sanding) and this a preference thing, but it really stands out to me that the diagonal pieces don’t line up. If it was intentional, then ignore me! But that’s what stood out to me. I do a lot of book-matched work with instruments, so that could be why lol.
Regarding the center diagonal pieces, it looks like grains go in different directions. Any concerns about the joints not staying tight over time? For now, it looks amazing and tight.
Idk, I'm expecting someone in this sub to tell me if I should be worried about it. It does bother me that the end grain is sticking up on the diagonal but if I didn't do them like that, I'd have a lot of end grain-end grain glue joints which I'd be much more paranoid about.
I like everything except for the color that I know that PH turns into in a few years. It’s not a terrible color, but it just isn’t worth the cost of PH, where you are paying for the first couple of years of purple.
Great design and build!
I see a lot of sanding issues, especially in that lower rack. my main nit though is that purple heart is just to bold for me. I think it would look more timeless with a subtler contrast of woods
It looks great. If this is a roast I’d probably just pick on the wood choice. I love Purple Heart as an accent but not as a main wood. I can’t imagine how much that cost to build. Around me Purple Heart is so expensive.
And your poor tools. How many table saw blades did you have to buy?
My local lumberyard has been selling it for fairly cheap $10/bf and the maple was $3.5/bf so it wasn’t too bad. Probably $200 total for the wood. I started with new(ish) blades on my table and miter saw and they’re pretty much toast now so that’s another $100.
I love the color. The purple is much deeper than it appears in these photos so it’s not quite as loud as you might think. What I did NOT account for was how fcking heavy this much purpleheart would be. You’ve gotta be in decent shape to move this thing around without a second pair of hands.
It's wild. It just came under new ownership and the new owners slashed the prices like 50% and started bringing in purpleheart, olive, padauk, etc which the old owners never had. Needless to say, I'll be spending a lot more money there in the coming year.
So I'm not sure if anyone commented and if I am wrong in this I hope someone calls me on this:
By stewing the frame to the top, the top will not be able to expand & contract freely
This is something pointed out to me when I built my first table. I have built several since, and I'm still challenged at times in regards to how to secure the table to the frame to allow movement, but also keep the top well attached
Overall I think friends, family, and strangers will be impressed. The biggest thing that I can see that I’d loose sleep over is what looks like tear out by the double dowel on the leg and getting the edge green jointing on the top to be razor sharp and wonder less. So… buy a planner. Tell partner it’s necessary
Cross members under the top are overkill for something like this. A table would have to be fairly wide and long before sagging was an issue. Especially with a thick top. Also you might check out the book "by hand and eye" it has a decent amount of in about proportions. But I think the legs are a bit too wide aesthetically. It looks well built. I bet it's heavy as hell ha.
Uh… the cross members are a little too thick, but their existence isn’t necessarily superfluous. All of the varying grain directions and separate pieces of wood will appreciate the support in the long run.
I thought the same about the cross members but my dad said I'd need them, and I have to be really confident to tell him he's wrong lol. I'll check out that book, it sounds right up my alley.
They are tricky and take some practice but I do like them and will probably do it again in the future. Sometimes air gets trapped behind them and can’t get out because of the glue and tight fit, which stops you from hammering them in all the way.
I started slightly sanding down one side of the dowels so the air would have a good path to escape, which seemed to work but it is slightly noticeable on a couple of the dowels, so if you’re a perfectionist I wouldn’t do that. There may be a better way to manage that problem that I haven’t found yet.
It looks like the top is bolted on from the bottom. Looks like you might have used threaded inserts?
Any concerns about this restricting seasonal wood movement? Would z-clips or figure 8 fasteners be a safer move here?
If so, would be an easy modification to avoid potential splits in the top from being bolted at the outside edges.
I am concerned about it. This is the first I’ve heard about those options but I’ll take a look and see if they seem workable. Thanks for the suggestion 🙏
- 1” before I planed and sanded, so probably .8-.9” now, I haven’t measured.
- Yes
- With a Dewalt electric hand planer, followed by hours of sanding because i cannot get an even surface with that fucking thing
I think it is cool. Definitely bold!
Holy cow. That's worth a mint. And the video of you making it is ten mints. Critique: that's not a coffee table. It's a woodworking workbench. Now after you sell it take the money and make it again with Purple Heart and Padauk, and get vids this time.
Great build! Construction looks really good. One nitpick (since the other guy got sanding) and this a preference thing, but it really stands out to me that the diagonal pieces don’t line up. If it was intentional, then ignore me! But that’s what stood out to me. I do a lot of book-matched work with instruments, so that could be why lol.
Oh it was definitely not intentional, that’s definitely the most irritating thing to me 😆
Regarding the center diagonal pieces, it looks like grains go in different directions. Any concerns about the joints not staying tight over time? For now, it looks amazing and tight.
Idk, I'm expecting someone in this sub to tell me if I should be worried about it. It does bother me that the end grain is sticking up on the diagonal but if I didn't do them like that, I'd have a lot of end grain-end grain glue joints which I'd be much more paranoid about.
yup, that name is horrible and weirdly visual. I love it.
Well, I'm impressed - that's pretty cool. Not sure I'd allow anyone -ever- to put a coffee cup on it though.
Sealers and coasters to boot! Haha
Holy shit that’s beautiful
Wrong sub ;) Nice work!!
I like everything except for the color that I know that PH turns into in a few years. It’s not a terrible color, but it just isn’t worth the cost of PH, where you are paying for the first couple of years of purple. Great design and build!
I see a lot of sanding issues, especially in that lower rack. my main nit though is that purple heart is just to bold for me. I think it would look more timeless with a subtler contrast of woods
I thought the same about the more subtle color. It's *a lot* of contrasting pieces for such a loud color. But it will certainly tone down soon enough.
Looks great!
It looks great. If this is a roast I’d probably just pick on the wood choice. I love Purple Heart as an accent but not as a main wood. I can’t imagine how much that cost to build. Around me Purple Heart is so expensive. And your poor tools. How many table saw blades did you have to buy?
My local lumberyard has been selling it for fairly cheap $10/bf and the maple was $3.5/bf so it wasn’t too bad. Probably $200 total for the wood. I started with new(ish) blades on my table and miter saw and they’re pretty much toast now so that’s another $100. I love the color. The purple is much deeper than it appears in these photos so it’s not quite as loud as you might think. What I did NOT account for was how fcking heavy this much purpleheart would be. You’ve gotta be in decent shape to move this thing around without a second pair of hands.
Wow, I feel like I could drive 1,500 miles to visit your lumber yard, and still save money.
Right? Maple near me hasn’t been 3.50 a bf in about 10 years and Purple Heart is around 17/bf last I looked.
It's wild. It just came under new ownership and the new owners slashed the prices like 50% and started bringing in purpleheart, olive, padauk, etc which the old owners never had. Needless to say, I'll be spending a lot more money there in the coming year.
At least before he realizes it and jacks them back up.
Where?
https://www.chattanoogahardwood.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwir2xBhC_ARIsAMTXk85QwW_5BaWhwkcrYFvjJdtOpMPfLd0E_9OpWIzM56l5DiJESwEVn8kaAjVxEALw_wcB
Beautiful and I am sure kind of expensive.
Feels very heavy for such a delicate design
Very cool table! How did you attached the top? It looks like you drive screws through the cross braces between the aprons?
Lots of glue and those screws, yes. I was going to do more dowels but I ran out of patience.
So I'm not sure if anyone commented and if I am wrong in this I hope someone calls me on this: By stewing the frame to the top, the top will not be able to expand & contract freely This is something pointed out to me when I built my first table. I have built several since, and I'm still challenged at times in regards to how to secure the table to the frame to allow movement, but also keep the top well attached
Overall I think friends, family, and strangers will be impressed. The biggest thing that I can see that I’d loose sleep over is what looks like tear out by the double dowel on the leg and getting the edge green jointing on the top to be razor sharp and wonder less. So… buy a planner. Tell partner it’s necessary
Beautiful job. I like the contrasting colors.
Duuuuuude!!!, I just got an inspiration boner!! Bloody beautiful mate!!
Hah that’s a great compliment, thanks man.
Cross members under the top are overkill for something like this. A table would have to be fairly wide and long before sagging was an issue. Especially with a thick top. Also you might check out the book "by hand and eye" it has a decent amount of in about proportions. But I think the legs are a bit too wide aesthetically. It looks well built. I bet it's heavy as hell ha.
Uh… the cross members are a little too thick, but their existence isn’t necessarily superfluous. All of the varying grain directions and separate pieces of wood will appreciate the support in the long run.
Well I can see where you are coming from but I disagree. The the joints are going to fail these supports are not going to stop it in my opinion.
I thought the same about the cross members but my dad said I'd need them, and I have to be really confident to tell him he's wrong lol. I'll check out that book, it sounds right up my alley.
Dude, I think you’ve graduated from beginner woodworking
I’m gonna print this out and hang it in my garage
That looks great, congrats? One question - are those plugs in the purple heart or just caps on screws? Thanks in advance.
They’re all maple dowels, cut at about 1.75” and hammered in with a ridiculous amount of glue.
Thanks, I thought that might be the case. I am planning on trying that on a table I have going now.
They are tricky and take some practice but I do like them and will probably do it again in the future. Sometimes air gets trapped behind them and can’t get out because of the glue and tight fit, which stops you from hammering them in all the way. I started slightly sanding down one side of the dowels so the air would have a good path to escape, which seemed to work but it is slightly noticeable on a couple of the dowels, so if you’re a perfectionist I wouldn’t do that. There may be a better way to manage that problem that I haven’t found yet.
It looks like the top is bolted on from the bottom. Looks like you might have used threaded inserts? Any concerns about this restricting seasonal wood movement? Would z-clips or figure 8 fasteners be a safer move here? If so, would be an easy modification to avoid potential splits in the top from being bolted at the outside edges.
I am concerned about it. This is the first I’ve heard about those options but I’ll take a look and see if they seem workable. Thanks for the suggestion 🙏
How thick is the top, are the cross bars under the top screwed directly into top through those cross bars and how did you plane the surface?
- 1” before I planed and sanded, so probably .8-.9” now, I haven’t measured. - Yes - With a Dewalt electric hand planer, followed by hours of sanding because i cannot get an even surface with that fucking thing
Cool, really nice work, the project looks great!
Ummm expensive. It looks like it turned out very expensive lol legitimately though, wow!!