Finally finished buffet...

detail shot 

Matt -- Los Angeles

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Wow!

Dar

>Wow!! Now that is what I call a work of art!! And... a 'work of the heart'! A family heirloom to treasure. You must be very proud.

Dar

That's great!!

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>Matt, that looks fabulous!!! I got a bunch of questions, if you've got the patience.

Did you put the design together yourself?

All hand tools?

What did you think was the hardest part of the overall effort?

If you had it to do over again, would you do anything different (I sure can't see anything that'd need to be done different).

You should be proud - a very nice looking piece.

Regards -

Dave

Thanks Dave

Matt -- Los Angeles

>I did the design myself but in a really sort of nominal way. I took the basic dimensions from an existing buffet we had. I then fudged the drawer and door sizes to my eye.

Like I said, I was matching an existing table so i stuck with pretty much that feel which is a large blocky sort of thing. I'll post a pic of that here in a minute.

All of the mortises were chopped by hand and the dovetails were hand cut. I did use the TS to cut the shoulder lines for the tennons and then cut them by hand. The rosewood inlays were done with handtools as well. No sanding, all planing and scraping.

I'd say the toughest part was raising the panels with a panel plane. I found it difficult to get them smooth and even.

Oh, that and the glue-up of the case was terrifying!

If I had to do it again, I'd probably put double panels in the doors, just for more long term stability.

Thanks for the kind words,

matt

here's the table

Matt -- Los Angeles

>I should get a shot of the 2 pieces together I guess. The table's color has really mellowed in only about a year.

Cool ! And a table question!

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>Thanks, again, Matt.

I had forgotten your table, but on seeing the pic of it I remembered. That was impressive, as well. They should go great together.

My wife has asked me to make a kitchen table for her, and I've been wrestling with the design. We need to be able to sit six comfortably (2 on each side and 1 on each end). We don't have a trestle table at our house and before now I haven't given it much consideration for this project. I'd always thought that the people sitting on the sides (especially if there were two on a side) might always have the trestle "feet" in the way while they were sitting at the table. Do you ever side two on a side at your table? Do you find this to be a real issue/concern - or is this just in my imagination?

Regards -

Dave

P.S. Thanks for the answers to my questions. Double panels might have been nice - but it looks nice the way it is, too.

I don't know how hard the rosewood diamonds were, but I think they add alot to the piece. I can't tell from the pic of the table, did you put any rosewood in the table?

Re: Finally finished buffet...

Richard March

>Wow I love it. Nice job.

Re: Cool ! And a table question!

Matt -- Los Angeles

>hey dave,

I know what you are concerned about and I gave it a lot of thought before I built. We often sit 2 on a side and sometimes 3. When there are 2 people, the chair legs can be placed on either side of the trestle feet with no discomfort. The table is large enough however to accomodate 2 chairs inside the trestle, just a bit cozier is all..

I think with some basic planning and sort of jockeying around an existing table, you can pretty easily make your measurments. Now, I am anything but an expert and I rely heavily on standard table and chair sizes. From from there I can make minor alterations to suit me.

I love the trestle design. I think it is much more attractive than 4 legs. Also more fun to build. That's just me though.

Matt

Re: Finally finished buffet...

Jack from Maine

>I like that too Matt. Also the table. Not only is cherry a nice wood for furniture I prefer the style more than fancier stuff.---Jack

Great Job!

Bruce, a MN galoot

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Beautiful, but a finishing question

Sanford Levy

>Great work. The designe is great. I wonder how you finished your table? Sanford

Re: Cool ! And a table question!

John Truxell-Svenson (jvs)

>Very nice work on both!

Dave, there is a Taunton book (can't remember if it was Kim Carleton-Graves' or "Practical Design;" both are out on loan right now) that has ergonomic specs for dining tables. If I remember correctly, the standard was 22-24"/person on a side, with ~14" from a trestle support on the end--both somewhat variable depending on the chair design. I've built three now with these general specs, and they work out fine.




/jvs

Re: Beautiful, but a finishing question

Matt -- Los Angeles

>Sanford,

The finish on the trestle and legs is an oil/varnish mixture. Wiped on. The table top is a thinned wipe on poly that I wouldn't use again. Rather I would use more coats of the oil. I thought the poly would give me better protection and maybe it will but I found harder to work with...

Matt

Re: Finally finished buffet...

Ernie Miller Topeka

>They both look realy nice Keep up the good work.

Thanks all

Matt -- Los Angeles

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