Thanks for the help in finding a difficult piece of wood

[Mark Henshaw]

In late November I was in need of a 16/4 Walnut turning square to make a pedestal for a tilting tea table. Having called all of the local wood mills in Missouri as well as several of the larger wood sellers that ship wood throughout the U.S., I was starting to panick. Several locations had the 16/4 wood but required that I purchase the entire board (most of the time at well over $1,000, not including shipping). My last recourse was to inquire on the Creek as to anybody that might know of suppliers of 16/4 turning squares. Within 3 days I had mulitple suggestions for suppliers with several people even offering wood that they owned and were willing to sell. Long story short, special thanks to Steve Mawson. a fellow Creeker, who sold me a great piece of wood for a very reasonable price. I could not have done it without this great communication resourse. I have posted a couple of pictures of the table and chairs I just completed. Thanks again!photo 1.jpgphoto 2.jpg

[ray hampton]

How did you do the details on the table, I hope that you sign your name on the table bottom so that it will pass for a antique

[Marc Myers]

Very beautiful pieces! The ball and claw foot it appears you used is on my bucket list of things to try. Looks like yours came out well!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mark..........gorgeous work! I dearly like that scalloped edge on the table!

Did you dovetail the legs into the pedestal?

Again....nicely done Sir! Thanks for posting!

[Larry Frank]

That is very nice work on the table and chairs. It would be very nice if you could post more pictures showing the details and the joint.

[Brian Tymchak]

Wow, that's pretty! Congratulations! One of those is on my list of To Dos.

[Mark Henshaw]

Ken
Yes, I did dovetail the legs to the pedestal, I built a small jig to hold the pedestal horizontal and locked in place. Routered 3 flats onto the pedestal 120 deg apart from each other. Then I added a templete to the top of the jig that was nothing more then a 1/4" piece of plywood with a 1/2" dado cut into the center that would guide a 1/2" router bushing. I chucked up a 1/2" straight router bit and cut the waste, followed up with a 1" dovetail bit. Used the same 1" dovetail bit to also cut the matching dovetail on the legs.

Marc, this was my 4th time making sets of legs with Ball and Claw feet. I get better each time. In cutting the feet this time I tried the use of a small shoulder plane to help shape the ball round. I found it to be a huge time saver for me.
Thanks for the comments,