Cool furniture, design objects and desiderata



furo said:

thinking of having this guy commission a media center... what do you think? It'd be a variation of his walnut media ctr

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The case looks pretty solid and it's priced very well. The large frameless solid wood cabinet doors and solid wood free floating shelves are worrisome because they will tend to cup over time. The joinery on the case would help prevent it from having those same issues, but the doors and shelves do not have that same consideration.

Shelves which are free floating are generally made out of plywood or mdf, not because it is cheaper but because the material is more stable. Doors are usually made utilizing a panel inside of a frame for the same reason. If the panel is made of solid wood, then often the joinery will be made to allow for wood movement to prevent cupping, such as tongue and groove.

Long way to go, but it's shaping up.



imatlas said:

http://www.amazon.com/Another-Science-Fiction-Advertising-1957-1962/dp/0922233357

A fascinating book about "envisioning the future", worth checking out if this topic interests you.

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sweet thanks. probably dip in and pick up a few of those. Almost stole one from the school library when I was in 4th grade.

Huh?

^I appreciate your link to that book. Will most likely purchase it.

I hope you do. Megan is good peeps.

Just scored these vintage Ole Wanscher chairs on the bay for a really great price - all original cushions and fabric -

much happier now that I can easily verify authenticity (had maker's mark and other tell-tale signs of the real deal)

Question for you furniture builders in particular. We recently got the Room & Board Resse in the custom cognac leather. As a result, we're looking for a new coffee table. I'm thinking about buying some black walnut and making one. Someone near me is selling some black walnut boards,and I thought it would be neat to take something like this and make a table out of it. In particular, I like the look of the top one.



What are your thoughts? If I do so, what are the steps to doing so, what stain should I use?

Furo nice find!

BC, generally you don't use stain on walnut. Your question has a long answer so I would suggest you start with the basic of which shape you need first. If it is round, which is what I would suggest for use with a sectional, my answer will be much different from that of a long coffee table.

Also, do you have any tools? Generally speaking slab tables look quite simple but are actually slightly tricky to do successfully.

Nice looking chairs Furo. Is that green wool? My monitor's color reproduction is pretty iffy.



imatlas said:

Nice looking chairs Furo. Is that green wool? My monitor's color reproduction is pretty iffy.

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I'm not sure, but it may be. Here's a closer shot from the seller - I don't have the chairs yet

Those are great--I love the green upholstery



SkinnyGoomba said:

Furo nice find!

BC, generally you don't use stain on walnut. Your question has a long answer so I would suggest you start with the basic of which shape you need first. If it is round, which is what I would suggest for use with a sectional, my answer will be much different from that of a long coffee table.

Also, do you have any tools? Generally speaking slab tables look quite simple but are actually slightly tricky to do successfully.

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I understand what you're saying. I just find the non-perfect shape of a slab appealing. I have some tools, but definitely not all the ones if I get a really rough piece: I would definitely be looking for something pre-planed. Ideally, I am looking to only have to sand/finish it. I erroneously said stain yesterday, I meant finishing it. From what I have read, linseed oil seems the most recommended for walnut. Is there something else you might recommend SG?

I know that I'm not going to be a master woodworker, and I understand that a slab coffee table isn't an easy first project. However, I think it would be fun, and spending $$$$ on a table just isn't in the cards. I mentioned black walnut because I saw some people posting some for sale around here on CL, and with the medium brown of the cognac leather, I think a darker table will look better.

I appreciate the advice SG, from what you have posted here you have really good taste and insights.

Thanks, I would buy two identical 'crotch' slabs, book match them and cut them to be short and wide. Looking for an abstract shape that takes up a squareish space. I would build a base that attaches across the width of the table (which helps keep it flat) with elongated holes for screws to allow for expansion and contraction.

I like the minguren style base by nakashima.

So, the steps you take are to have the boards rough planned, join them, then finish plane them. The last step is normally done by hand, because a power planer forces the board flat before cutting it . After cutting in that fashion it will not remain flat if it is unsupported by joinery.

You can always find someone to do this for you, which you will likely need to do if you are without a few well tuned planes of various sides.

Also. It's Import to find out some information about the wood, for a slab table it should be at least 8/4 thick and air dried to an appropriate moisture content.

Tell me if I'm going over-board with info.

I like Waterlox or just plain tung oil. I don't use linseed oil because one woodworker, whose opinion I trust, told me that linseed oil is the only oil which he has ever seen that has caused a rag to spontaneously combust.

No, that's great info, thanks man!