Olive Ash Burl and Wenge Coffee Table

[sawman101]

Nice, nice table Matt! I love it!:eusa_danc

 

[Jeff]

It's certainly unique and the design/execution is typical of you. The leg solution is the best of the bunch.

I got lost mentally/visually at leg pics 7-9. What am I seeing in pic 7 for starters? I'm looking, trying to decipher, and

 

[jazzflute]

I got lost mentally/visually at leg pics 7-9. What am I seeing in pic 7 for starters? I'm looking, trying to decipher, and

I think we are looking at the magic spline machine in pic #7; or most accurately, the spline-hole-slot-opening-creator-cutter-machine. (SHSOCCM for short; you know, to keep it simple.)

K

 

[mlzettl]

Well done Matt. Looking at the leg joinery I am quite certain that will hold up an elephant.

A couple questions:
Is that large slab really cut from a burl or is it from a wavy olive trunk? Its so big I've not seen a burl with that grain pattern from an outgrowth on a tree? That would be the largest burl in olive I've ever seen.

What finish did you use?

Again beautiful design and execution

Dan

Dan, thanks for those questions, and I appreciate your kind words. As far as calling this olive ash burl, I would agree that it is not really a burl. It has a lot of wavy figure, with smaller areas that one might term burl like inclusions. The owner, who is very experienced in both domestic and imported lumber, referred to it as olive ash burl, and rather than get into a "discussion" with him about it, I just referred to it in the same way. Also, olive ash is actually ash, not olive. My understanding is that it comes from a species of ash that grows primarily in Europe, which is where this came from. I think that the olive descriptor arises from the fact that the coloration of the wood tends to look somewhat like olive wood. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The finish is BioPoly NT from Earthpaint in Asheville. I have been using this product on furniture for about 8 years, and I really like it. Essentially, it is pine resin with some linseed oil in a citrus based solvent. The pine resin cures over time, turning quite hard (think amber). It must be good, because I got Ernie Miller using it on his harpsichords on parts that require a natural finish. :wink_smil

Cheers,

Matt

 

[mlzettl]

Matt, that is really gorgeous work!!

I absolutely love the tapers within the curves of the base; that is a great touch that lightens it up and elegantly draws the eye upwards to the focalpoint!

I too am curious about the answer to Dan's question. After avoiding the task for a mere 3.467 years, I have finally organized all the veneer that I have bought at auctions of yesteryear and I have discovered that I have about 100+ sheets [~3' x 4'ish(?)] of veneer that (sequentially) match the slab that you have. I have consulted my extensive digital archives and found the following images of the slices in question:

View attachment 20165View attachment 20166View attachment 20167View attachment 20168

I'm not sure that this is the same stuff; but the aforementioned digital archive describes the pallet as 'Myrtle Wood Veneer'. I am highly confident that two of those three words in the description are correct; less so about the remaining word. I will leave it to the reader to decide which words have earned my trust. (OK, in fairness, the FULL description included the additional words: "on pallet". FYI: I'm feeling pretty good about those two words as well...)

In any event; stunning work! You should be very proud of it!

K

Kevin, thanks very much for your complements and thoughts. I agree that from those photos the woods look very similar. All I know is that the gentleman who actually imported this over twenty years ago, and was in the business, said it was olive ash. I have no basis upon which to argue with that, but who knows, maybe it is something else. The grain in areas that were not really figured sure looked like ash to me. Of course, I don't name wood, I just use it!:wink_smil

I'm glad you notices the tapers. They are a bit subtle, and that was intentional. I think that detail adds some visual interest, and as you said, lightens up the construct.

Cheers,

Matt

 

[mlzettl]

It's certainly unique and the design/execution is typical of you. The leg solution is the best of the bunch.

I got lost mentally/visually at leg pics 7-9. What am I seeing in pic 7 for starters? I'm looking, trying to decipher, and

Jeff,

Thanks for your kind words. Regarding pic 7, Kevin (Jazzflute) is correct. This is the jig that I used to cut the slots for the splines. I first glued the miters together without any splines, slots, etc. I cut the curves on the inside surfaces before gluing the miters, and left the outside surfaces flat so that they could register accurately against the fences on the jig. The jig had a guide on the fence side that fully engaged the table saw fence so that the jig could not wobble side to side. I used a dado blade set to 1/4" width. After cutting one slot, the fence was moved 1/2" to cut the next slot, etc., etc. Two jigs were required, one for each set of legs, as the angles are different. It was actually easier than it sounds. Then I just made up a bunch of splines, aligning the grain so that it was perpendicular to the miter, and glued the splines in. After trimming all of the splines flush, the only thing left to do was to cut the outside curves. I cut to within 1/16" of the cut line with the band saw, and the final trim was done with a router bit and template that I had made before I started.

I hope I have explained the process satisfactorily.

Cheers,

Matt