I've admired G&G style for many years, but lived in a house where furniture of that style just wouldn't have looked good. A couple of years ago we moved and our current house is a better match for G&G. We also needed a new coffee table so it was time to give it a shot.

African mahogany with ebony splines and plugs. I dyed the mahogany with Peart's suggested mix of General Finishes orange and medium brown. I added a bolection style (raised) inlay in opposite corners of the top, after a similar design on the Blacker house dining table. The inlay is Pau abalone, silver, and copper. Finished with 5-6 coats of Waterlox satin.

I really enjoyed making this table. I'd never worked with any of the woods or materials before, never used hide glue on a project before, never used Waterlox before. Had to learn how to cut shells and bend silver. I also had to learn how to do the raised inlays. I pretty much had to inlay into a finished wood surface since leveling and sanding after setting the pieces was out of the question. Cutting grooves and recesses for the inlayed parts into a finished surface with little room for error was an adventure, but worth it. I love the feel of running my fingers over the inlayed parts.

IMG_0283.jpgIMG_0285.jpgIMG_0288.jpgIMG_0291.jpg