WALNUT AND FIGURED MAPLE TABLE

One of several recent projects completed.

SHOP OWNER: Mathew Blubaugh

LOCATION: Spokane, WA

I wanted to post some prior and recent project shots. The first project I am going to talk about is this walnut and maple table. I just finished this great challenging project last month for a client. The main center section of the table is musical grade tiger maple, I bought 1'' thick lumber and split it in half so that I would be able to bookmatch as many pieces as I could. The tiger maple finished up at around 3/8'' thick. I then glued that to a sheet of MDF substrate. The outer band is made of solid 8/4 walnut. Looking for different ideas of how to put the corners together, I decided on an overlap pattern. I was looking to do something different from a regular butt joint or a 45-degree miter joint.

All of the walnut is tongue and grooved to ensure strong joints as well as keeping everything level. I stained the walnut a dark cherry concentrate. The very center is a turned piece of quilted maple. The hardest part of making this table was the center section, I don't know if any of you have ever tried to joint fiddleback maple, but it is a slow process. That stuff blows out if you look at it funny. Anyway, I had a great time building this project, which took me about 70 hours from start to finish.

The second project is actually my own bed and dresser. I love rustic hickory; I can just look at it for hours. These are pretty simple pieces, not much to explain. The bed is huge; its headboard is over 6' tall. The mattress height is 44'' off the ground. I made the bed first, and then of course I had to make a big dresser, so thats what I did. It stands just at 5' tall. Everybody thinks I should cut both pieces down so they are not so tall, but that is what makes it fun.

Finally, this is an outside view of the new shop we recently built.