After creating the template discussed in the last entry, it was time to make a prototype. For this table, a prototype is critical simply because there are just too many things I DON’T know yet. I need to see this thing in 3D space before I can determine if I’m even on the right track. And as much as I would love to do four or five prototypes, I’m afraid I will only have time for one.
So the first step is to transfer the template shapes to a piece of poplar. Everything is cut out at the bandsaw and cleaned up on the oscillating spindle sander. The three pieces are connected using Domino joinery, which really makes quick work of what would otherwise be a tricky angled mortise and tenon joint. And speaking of the angle, getting this sucker glued up was a bit of a fiasco! A hastily-constructed curved caul saved the day, but this was another big lesson learned from the prototype!
Once the assembly was dry I took it into the bedroom to get a better in-place visual. I placed the leg near the existing desk and tried to use my imagination. In the first image below, you’ll see what the leg looks like on a slight angle. Not too bad. The shape is pleasing but the legs could probably use a little more meat. All in all, it seemed like I wasn’t that far off. Well, that is until I looked at it from the front (second picture, below). My jaw just about hit the floor as I realized how far off I was in my original estimation. This leg will look like a skinny little twig under a big 92″ long top!! So although the profile looked acceptable, the thickness just wasn’t there. And to make matters worse, consider that this leg will be heavily rounded over and sculpted to achieve the look I want. Literally, it was time to go back to the drawing board.
So fast-forward a few days and here’s my second prototype. Problem is, this is actually the real leg. I just call it a prototype since I am still not 100% sure about the dimensions and everything. But time’s a wastin’ and I need to get moving. So I am running with it. But as you can see, I made a number of changes from the original prototype. Not only did I use thicker stock, but I also widened the stance a bit. Now I have plenty of material to sculpt away and in fact, I could very well have too much. Fortunately, I can always take wood away, but I can’t put it back. So tomorrow I’ll head back in and do some initial roundovers and try to figure out if I want to slim the leg down a bit. But one things for sure, these will look far better under a 92″ top!
I happen to see it on itunes podcast, so I watched it. The table was very nice,great job! After nearly 40 years I finally turned my garage into a workshop. I did woodworking when I was young and now into it again.
Thank You, very lovely table.
The thicker legs definitely look better. I have a hard time getting stock over 8/4 in my area. Would there be any reason not to laminate the legs?
Primarily just because of looks and grain direction. Its very difficult to get two pieces of wood to truly look like one. And especially when you have to do some carving and shaping, the glue lines can be obvious. In this particular case, I had no choice but to do a lamination in order to get the thickness I needed.
Good call on the thicker legs…I would have liked to see some really really BEEFY legs like even 8″-12″ think, a few ply, or even carved from a stump!
Anyways, I look forward to seeing your progress, more power to curves!
I love the sweeps that you’ve started already. It’ll look great as the computer desk? that you’ll be using for. But seeing your last prototype leg makes me have ideas of how to make a dinning room table base out of that similar design. Hmmm…. Now if I only had a shop of my own to build it!
wow, eager to see more. love the thicker let too.
I love curves in any type of furniture… 3 times the work… 30 times the interest! Any thoughts yet on the top? hopefully not rectangular! :)
haha, yes…rectangular. :)
Hey Buxton,
I know when I prototype I not only do it to get an idea of the basic shape Im going for but also what type of jointery I may incorperate. Poplar is a very inexpensive hardwood(just as cheap as pine in most cases) whereas Pine is a softwood so jointery characteristics are very different between the two. Of course Marc may have just had poplar laying around so he used it.
Also if you are using construction Lumber I would highly recommend staying away from that whenever possible. Its just all in all a bad idea in the furniture world. Try finding a hardwood supplier that carries Poplar this is a great wood to learn on and should be very inexpensive for you.
Thanks Travis… That all makes alot of sense. I never really realized the price of poplar was that low (I’m new).
Any reason not to use poplar more often for finished projects? I only ask since my wood budget is quite tight ;)
Only reason not to use it is because of the look. With its green and brown streaks, its not exactly the prettiest wood. And you will usually have to stain it to get it to look half-way decent. Unfortunately it doesn’t take stain well either. But, it can be done.
I like the shape of your prototype leg, but can see what you are saying about it being too light when viewed from the front. Have you considered using two of your legs on each end with a space between them? I think it would add a lot of interest especially with the trestle connecting them, and give you the extra heft you need for a 92? table.
I’m new to the concept of prototyping so I was curious why you used poplar instead of, say, pine. I know this may be obvious to some, but I’m trying to get good at this and would like the details. Thanks.
Generally, you want to use the cheapest stable wood you have access to. Poplar is definitely cheap enough and acts more like a traditional hardwood than pine. So I find it to be a more suitable prototyping wood.
My, what a good looking leg you have, Marc.
You flatter me sir! :)
The second leg looks much better. Should provide a much stronger look.
Have you put any thought into cord management, and all the peripherals that go with a computer? You know, Printer, Microphone, webcam, etc? I am really anxious to see the final design, but I’m not sure about having a nice clean open space (like a trestle table) completely covered in power strips and computer cables….Or do you have a way to hide them under the table top against the wall (a channel or cubby)?
This is actually a gaming desk and we have very little in the way of peripherals on the desk. And at this time, I am 100% focused on making a great table. I may or may not have time to worry about things like cord management. If I don’t have time, I’ll probably do some post-modifications down the line.
OMG That’s not a Mac ….
Mark,
Reading Krenov’s “Impractical Cabinetmaker”. He had a terrible time drawing a piece. Shape and form and function were considerations. Looking at your other pieces tells me you will see it. Unless you have promised the piece to someone, just let it happen. It will be great. Let the wood tell you where you are going?
Thats good advice man. thanks.
Marc, will you be using a router for the initial rounding over or do you plan on doing all of the sculpting with hand tools? Also, will you be attending Woodworking in America next weekend in Cincinnati? If so, I’ll see you there.
Yes the initial stuff will be done with a router. And I am indeed going to be at WIA. Should be awesome! See you there!
I would love to meet you too! (If you can, bring some extra Schwarz shirts for Saturday’s Schwarz Day…I’d buy one from you.)
Oh yeah, great progress by the way. I like the second leg as well. As a gut reaction, I think the 65″ span between legs will be fine with 6/4. You just might start to see a bow after time with it being thinner. Also, if you go much thinner, then the legs may just look too big in comparison. (I would keep the top plain…I think adding curves would just be too much and distract from the main feature, the legs.)
marc,
I really can’t wait until we see the finished desk. Are you going to prototype the whole desk? Have you for sure finalized the types of wood???
If I had time, I would at least make one more leg prototype and then work out the cross members. Maybe use a piece of cardboard to represent the top but that’s about it. And yes, the wood is finalized. Honduran mahogany.
Looking really good! I can’t wait to see the next step!
Nice looking legs! 24x92x6/4 top, 3 1/2″ thick legs, a tressel and possibly stretchers of unknown thickness sure seems like a strong, heavy table. You been getting secret hints from the Schwarz or multi-tasking info from Alton? Because that “gaming table” sure sound like it could double for a work bench. Are you going to assemble the table in the room or can you navigate it throughout the house assembled and who is going to help carry this behemoth? I volunteer if needed, although I would need notification so I could fly out from Ohio. Looks nice, can’t wait for the finished product. Speaking of finish, how are you going to finish it?
haha, fortunately just about all the doors in the house are double doors. :) Plenty of room. But you can still fly out if you just want to BBQ and and hang out. :)
Hey Marc,
Looks great. Cant wait to see the video on this one ;) I messed with some round overs in Sketchup. I did a rough drawing of the legs you designed, they arent perfect but good enough to get the point accross. Did you do a sketchup drawing of this prior to your prototypes or did you just dive in with an idea or rough sketch?
Would be happy to send the drawing over if you want to mess with it and dont wanna take the time to draw one.
No SketchUp on this one Travis. I would love to see what you came up with.
Looks like it’s coming along great Marc.
I love the curves!
Extra points for the plush murloc!
Nice looking table! I can’t say enough for the benefit of doing a prototype for precisely the same reasons that became obvious with your thickness issue. A person can draw out the project but until it becomes real some issues will never become apparent. I don’t always build the whole project as a prototype. Usually I just test out the joinery ideas.
That being said I would not want to understate the importance of a good working drawing though. A lot of time and money are saved by solving problems on paper first.
i can,t wait to see this completed, i have an old liberty ship hatch cover that needs to be made into a table of some kind and the trestle legs may be the answer.
What size dominoes are they? They look huge.
The largest ones I have. I believe they are the 50mm size.
Wow 92″ is a big span to have computer stuff on top of. Can’t wait to see what you come up with for the top. 2 legs or three?
Well, its a 92″ top with 10″ overhangs on both ends, approx 3 1/2″ of support on both ends, which makes it a 65″ span. Both monitors are off to the side and there won’t be anything in the center. I am hoping to go with 5/4 or shoot, maybe even 6/4 for the top. I am thinking this should be sturdy enough…… I hope. :)
The second one definitly looks better, stronger. Cant wait for the round over. Say, that’s a nice chest of drawers next to your desk.
haha, thanks for noticing Bill! :)
I’m with Chris, how thick was the prototype as to the new?
Lookin’ good!
Original prototype was 1 3/4″ and the new leg bumped up to 3 1/2″
“And speaking of the angle, getting this sucker glued up was a bit of a fiasco!”
I was watching that one with over 200 of your closest friends. Until you flipped us off that is. The feed, not your viewers.
There was drama, tension… I cried. Well not really, unless it gets me a guild membership. In that case I cried like a girlscout with skinned knees.
I am guessing that the 2 angles were not parallel to each other and thus made it almost impossible to put equal pressure where you wanted it during clamping.
Without knowing your solution, if I had those 3 pieces I would likely have glued them together in 2 stages to allow proper pressure at each joint.
A picture of your curved caul would be helpful to understand how you fixed the issue.
Keep the blogs coming, I know I am enjoying and learning from them!!
Well the video will go into greater detail on the clamping. I will see if doing two parts at a time offers any advantage.
Looks great! I cant wait to see the sculpting! The cantilevered look really adds to the ‘defying gravity’ look! keep it up!
Cheers
Nice work, Marc. With the legs getting closer to the final look, what consideration have you made with the trestle itself and the top? Carrying the curves across the 8′ span? Breadboard ends on the top?
As always, thanks for the info.
Sean
Still undecided. Doing all kinds of curves in the top feels like it would be carrying the theme too far. But I am considering throwing in two curved bump-out areas for the mouse arm. Both of us are right handed and it might be nice to have additional support for that right arm. This would create two but it wouldn’t be symmetrical. Not sure how I feel about it yet.
I really like it Marc. For some reason I was imagining something completely different from how you’ve been talking about it. Looking forward to seeing this one.
Hi Marc,
Looking ahead on your project. Last year I did a trestle dining table, only 32 x 50. I used wooden “button’s on the top trestle pieces. With the propensity of that top to cup and/or wave, I wish I had perhaps added some cleats to aid retaining a higher degree of flatness. The dual stretchers were at the top of the leg assemblies, so cleats could have nested perpendicular to those nicely. Your table will be much longer than mine. Don’t recall reading width. Any thoughts on adding some support like that?
Should be a great addition to your family play time.
The width is going to be around 24″ Tom. I didn’t plan on adding any cleats since its rather narrow and the trestle itself should help, at least to some degree, keep things flat. But if I notice any issues developing I wouldn’t hesitate to add a cleat or two.
Not sure what your going for in the overall finished look.
One idea is to have more of these legs.
Like two or three of the skinny legs (or larger ones) a short distance a part (2-6″) could create an interesting look. They could be joined together in sets for strength with interesting horizontal pieces or darker wood. So for example, you could have 1 set of these on each side of the table.
Another idea is add features. One feature might be an artistic small shelf on the outside (or inside of the leg) to get your computer case off the floor – helps for dust prevention and vacuuming. Another small shelf for the controller might be fun. Will you have a cross member between the right and left legs? How about a shelf for the sub-woofer.
Hiding any and all cords would be a bonus. Often to do that you might need to stash a power strip (or two under the table that could be hidden with wooden sides that hide it from view. Make sure you use the kind that can accept a lot of power adapters.
Clear the deck: Other fun ideas would be slide outs for the keyboards and mouse and to hang the monitors on the wall.
Seems like your project is going well.
It’s interesting to see how much creativity it’s possible to bring to such a utilitarian project… and a good lesson in why prototypes are important…
That looks like a great start! Can’t wait to see what you do with the top of the desk.
How thick did your second “prototype” end up being? from the picture I would guess close to 3 inches, which would certainly give it a sturdy look.
The new legs are at 3 1/2″.
Wow! That’s really cool! I can’t wait to see the real thing.