A dining table delivered

This past Sunday I borrowed my in-laws' truck and took a short drive to Lincoln to deliver a cherry dining table to my wonderful client Charles and his husband, Jeff. I spent about 4 years making the Omaha-Lincoln-Omaha commute for a previous job, but hadn't done it for several months. It was nice to get out on the Interstate again, especially accompanied by Little Steven's Underground Garage channel on Sirius XM satellite radio, which I already miss. I constantly listen to music while I'm working. Omaha's radio stations leave much to be desired and I refuse to buy an iPod. Since it's too dusty in the shop for my turntable (and the road is a little too bumpy), it seems like satellite radio could be an adequate stand-in. But anyway, back to the table.

Charles' and Jeff's table was my first experience using a set of table extenders, as well as with making removable leaves. I chose to complicate things a bit by adding a yellowheart and paduak inlay pattern on both edges of the leaves to continue and grow the center design. Generally, the project went well, other than that I learned the hard way that using wood that isn't perfectly flat for the leaves can be a little problematic. Lesson learned.

Thanks to Charles and Jeff for giving me the opportunity to create a unique piece that will be a daily part of their home life for many years to come.

Charles' & Jeff's Dining Table

Here are a couple simple drawings of one of several tables I'm in the midst of making. This one is a dining table for my clients Charles and Jeff, who live in Lincoln. Aside from the legs, which will be slightly tapered, this is basically what the finished piece will look like. This piece continues my series of objects inspired in part by quilt patterns, though employed here in a subtler way here.

This, and another dining table I'm working on simultaneously, are my first forays into tables with leaves. For both I'll use a set of extenders that attach under each table top, allowing the top to separate in the center so the leaves can be dropped in.

For this design, the long side of each leaf includes 1/2 of a star pattern, which will allow the center star design to grow and continue as each leaf is added. The star inlays are paduak and yellowheart, and the table structure is cherry.

Cheers,

Peter

My plate is clean: Final Clean Plate Sneak Peak

I've told a lot of friends and acquaintances during the last few weeks that this July has been the busiest time I've ever had, as far as I can remember. Now that we've reached the end of the month, I've finished all the projects I (over) committed to, with a day or two to spare. Among these, of course, is the 14-foot Clean Plate dining table. The picture below is from about a week ago, and should give you a better idea of its overall size. But in order to see the finished piece, you'll have to check it out at the Empty Room. All I can say is that it looks gorgeous, and I'm happy and proud I had the opportunity to do it. I'm also proud of the fact that my dad got to help me with it this past weekend. We hadn't worked on many projects together since my first couple, so it was an interesting experience coming full circle almost ten years later with this more massive piece. Check out all the wood shavings in the picture below; Jean and Renee, sorry for all the dust.

For now my proverbial plate is clean - sort of - for a while, but I'm back to work on a new chair next week. Should be interesting. You can follow my progress at the shareyourchair blog.

Oh, and if you haven't heard anything about it, be sure to stop by Mosaic Community Development this weekend. On Thursday there's a Tweetup, Friday there's live music/food, and on Saturday, myself and the other Just Rest artists, Leslie Iwai and Kjell Cronn, will be doing demos/workshops from 11am - 2pm. Learn more at mosaiccd.org.

So I guess my plate isn't as clean as I thought. That's alright - I like it that way. Adios.

Clean Plate table sneak peak

I celebrated the majority of the July 4th holiday by not hanging out with friends and family; not relaxing in lawn chairs; and not blowing myself up with black cats and M-80s. I did, however, witness a pretty impressive fireworks display in the 2500 block of S. 49th St.

Most of my weekend was in fact spent on my back screwing... boards that is. I took advantage of an extra day off work to finish fabricating the first part of the Clean Plate table. I affixed the side rails to the 4 gorgeous solid walnut legs and created a sort of interior skeletal structure from poplar (a very straight-grained, durable wood).

I joined enough planks to create a full top that screws onto the structure from the underside of the table. In the picture at right, I'm using bar clamps to join the pieces laterally, and squeeze clamps to keep the board from buckling upward under the immense pressure of the clamping. This will also ensure that the piece will remain a flat surface after the glue dries.

Drilling up through the poplar structure into the underside of the planks will accommodate any expansion or contraction that may result from changes in temperature and humidity; this also makes the top look like it's resting on the legs and side rails, without any fasteners, which is a "cleaner" look.

The next phase will involve a pretty extensive amount of sanding on the top. This is the part of working with wood that I wish I didn't have to do. Not only is it hard, tiring work; it's also very dirty and not particularly good for one's health. I wear a professional respirator (those paper masks are worthless, btw), but still come home with nostrels full of brown dust and my eyes feeling slightly irrirated, like I'm wearing contact lenses that are past their expiration date. It's worth the work and risk to health - check out the contrast in the richness of the section of wood that has been sanded and coated with linseed oil and the section that has not - it's pretty dramatic and makes me excited to see how the top will look when finished. Hopefully that happens by the end of the week. Time is running short... Elle starts the move-in to Empty Room August 1.

Clean Table - Sneak Peak #1

I have the distinct honor of being commissioned to create a dining table for the upcoming Clean Plate residency at the Empty Room in NoDo. Starting in early August, Elle Lien will bring her flavorful feasts to foodies and concert goers. And trust me, having sampled this past Sunday's Mediterranean-inspired brunch, Omaha is in for a treat. The Empty Room projects are meant to be community-based. In that spirit, I'll be sharing occasional updates and photos of the building process. If you're going to be around the Bemis Center or are interested in checking it out, lending a hand for an hour or so or just want to hang out drop me a line. Here are a couple pictures with the basic layout of the top. The long pieces of wood laying vertically on edge will actually be the supports on the underside, and the uneven pieces running laterally are the top.

After several conversations, Elle and I settled on a Parsons-style table, which means the ends, sides and legs are all flush with the top, eliminating any overhang or lip. The whole table will be 16-feet long and 4-feet wide. This is by far the largest piece of furniture I've ever made and has already presented me with several logistical challenges. Namely, the length and overall size has caused me to build the table in 3 pieces so it can be moved out of my workshop and easily transported to the Empty Room.