Some Inlay on a Coffee Table

[Mike Henderson]

My wife, Judy, has been bugging me to build her a coffee table for a year of more. After the threats got really serious, I decided I had better get going on it. The table will have some inlay on the top surface and will have a shelf below that can be seen through the glass in the center of the top. The shelf below will have a marquetry design, probably white roses, that I haven't designed yet.

But I have completed the inlay on the top and that's what I have a picture of here. It's actually a pretty tough job. Getting the inlay in requires very precise work. The flower and bud on the right side was especially difficult to cut into the top. Luckily, Judy wanted mahogany and mahogany is one of the easier woods to work.

Only two corners of the top have inlay - the other two corners are plain. I'm usually not satisfied with my work but I felt this inlay came out well.

Mike

[The flowers are sand shaded holly, the stem is walnut, and the green veneer is dyed.]

Flower-inlay.jpg

[Harry Hagan]

Very nice Mike. I usually get real motivated around DEFCON 2 (Next step to nuclear war).

[Jim Rimmer]

Really nice, Mike. You are always posting some beautiful ites.

[Jim Foster]

It looks really awesome! I've seen some of your carving efforts and am not surprised how well it is done from a technical standpoint, but it's also a really beautiful design. I think your wife will find this very acceptable

[Gus Dundon]

This one completely blew me away! That is really nice!

[richard poitras]

Great job Mike can't wait to see the finished table....

Richard

[Jay Jolliffe]

Very nice Mike..Someday I'll try that....

[Harold Burrell]

VERY VERY nice, Mike!

[Jim Matthews]

When you've got it all set up, may we see a larger photo please.

I think this has the makings of a longer post, with sticky character.
The green dyed section is particularly slick...

[Mike Henderson]

When you've got it all set up, may we see a larger photo please.

I think this has the makings of a longer post, with sticky character.
The green dyed section is particularly slick...

Humm, never thought of that. Making the inlay is a job in itself and I didn't take any pictures. I'll see what I can do.

Mike

[Paul Cahill]

Very, very nice Mike. I have seen some of your other work - your repertoire is growing. Inlay is a a skill in of itself, in addition to the construction of the piece itself. Looking forward to seeing the completed table.

Paul

[glenn bradley]

Beautiful. You do good work Mike. I always enjoy seeing your stuff.

[Mike Henderson]

I'll add a "Work in progress" post. One problem with coffee tables is how to securely attach the legs to the top, since the top is usually just a single layer of wood thick. That makes a mortise and tenon essentially impossible.

The attachment technique has to be strong because someone could sit on the table, and it has to withstand racking forces as the table was dragged along the floor. I came up with an attachment technique that I was please with and I'll describe it here.

First, let me jump ahead to show what the table looks like with the legs attached. There will be a bottom shelf that will sit on the flats towards the inside of the table. That shelf will have marquetry on it, which will be able to be seen through the glass top.

You'll notice that I have shellac on some of the elements. I put it on the areas that would be hard to sand if I got contamination (such as glue from my fingers) on them. With the shellac I can wipe the contamination off fairly easily.

Judy's table - leg attachment 013.jpgJudy's table - leg attachment 015.jpg

Note that the top is "double thickness". The bottom half is actually just narrow pieces of mahogany that provide the look to the profile.

The next picture shows the top upside down. I cut out the bottom molding to fit the leg at a 45 degree angle. Note that I put two screws into the molding to hold it in place on the corners. It's glued down but I wanted the extra strength of the screws.

Judy's table - leg attachment 001.jpg

I decided to use a dowel between the leg and the molding to keep the leg from moving backward. So my first problem was how to drill a straight hole for the dowel without going through the molding. To do that, I cut a piece of scrap to make a guide block to fit into the slot cut into the molding and drilled a 3/8" hole through the scrap on my drill press.
Judy's table - leg attachment 002.jpg

I then took a long 3/8" drill and marked it so that it would extend 1" past the end of the guide block, then clamped the guide block into place (clamp not shown). I could then drill the dowel hole straight, and I could control how deep it went.

Judy's table - leg attachment 004.jpgJudy's table - leg attachment 003.jpgJudy's table - leg attachment 005.jpg

Then I had to drill a corresponding hole for the dowel in the leg. To transfer the location, I used a dowel location pin.

Judy's table - leg attachment 006.jpg

[Continued to next post because of the picture limit.]

[Mike Henderson]

[Continued from previous post]

I put the guide pin into the existing hole and then tapped the leg into place.

Judy's table - leg attachment 008.jpgJudy's table - leg attachment 009.jpg

I then drilled the hole in the leg for the dowel and glued the dowel into the leg. I domed over the end of the dowel so it would slip easily into the hole in the molding.

This next picture is of the leg installed into the table. To attach the rear of the leg, I glued and screwed two blocks to the rear of the leg. I don't show it in these pictures, but there will be a screw in each of these blocks to hold the rear of the leg in place.

Judy's table - leg attachment 010.jpgJudy's table - leg attachment 011.jpg

So that was it. I have all four legs on the table now and it's rock solid.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Another progress picture. This one shows the coffee table with bottom shelf - without the veneer and marquetry, of course. I next have to draw the marquetry design. I know what I want to do, anyway. Now I just have to convert that into a drawing, then do the marquetry. One problem will be that my scroll saw is only 26" so I'll have to split the design into two pieces so I can cut it out. I'll probably have to make the design connection between the two pieces as inlay because I can't depend on the two halves matching up perfectly otherwise.

I'll post again when I have some marquetry to show.

Mike

Judy's table - bottom shelf 01.jpg