Two New Tables With Glass
The new hall table has quickly evolved from the model stage to near completion good thing since the Architectural Digest Home Show is coming right up. This often happens when the miniature has clarified the major design considerations. I knew that this was going to be an interesting piece and more importantly I knew exactly what needed to be done. All of the head scratching was out of the way, thanks to the model building process. I will add a photo with the clamps off so you can get a feel for the process of going from model to real piece. The structure is faithful to the scale version but all of the detailing came to life in the full scale version.
The glass is on order and I am feeling inspired so I set out to make an accompanying piece. As I think about the upcoming shows that I will be participating in I realized that I would like to have a new pedestal table. I often use them as studies for new techniques and explorations. I am feeling like it is time to introduce something personal to the glass that is incorporated into my work.
Up to this point I have worked with glass in its most basic form- the rectangle. My furniture is capable of incorporating a stock material like this. Everything around that conventional piece of glass pushes, pulls and shifts away from convention. The natural evolution of this type of development is that I get to the point where I am comfortable with the new material and I can begin to push it from its expected form. This is the exact same process that I went through when I introduced concrete into my work. I cautiously incorporated it and then I began to allow it a greater role in the composition. Now I am ready to start the process with glass surfaces.
A pedestal table will serve me well for this experiment.
This time I am flying without a model so there will be a start and stop cadence to this one. The table is clamped to my workbench as I figure out the structure and the joinery. I am using steam bent curves from my inventory. I have an inventory of steam bent maple curves that I purchased from a company that specializes in making these parts.
The last curve is clamped in place to get a feel for the final form of the table. Now I need to figure out the glass top. This piece would suffer with a rectangular piece of glass – all I know is that the table needs a unique shape for the top.
Cardboard and scissors are my choice to work out the shape. I work it out so the glass hugs the shape of the dynamic under structure and it also adds dynamoc movement to the composition.
Now is where I panic – How much is this piece of glass going to cost?
I shift gears and make a drawing so I can get a quote. I create a grid on the template and then I draw it on my laptop and email it to my glass supplier.
Here is the drawing I sent them. The outer square is for reference only but it nicely shows the movement of the glass top. The silence of the glass supplier means that they may not have received my email or it could mean that this is ghoing to be cost prohibitive… my fingers are crossed.
Regardless of the glass snafu I press on with the table.
Before I left for the day I was able to shape and assemble one more leg. Today I will loosely assemble the third leg and work out the third curve. I seem to insist on not taking all of the pictures I need so I will be adding another post shortly.
Model Making For The AD Show And A Commission
I broke out my trusty model making tools today to help me design two new pieces. The tools include the hot melt glue gun and a tube of krazy glue. This session did not start out on the right foot. I had a defective tube of glue. It took forever to dry, about half an hour- thats not Krazy at all!
I got a new tube and I then stepped over tot he bandsaw to make some curves. I am a woodworker so the moquettes are made of the same hardwoods that i would use to make the actual piece of furniture. This should give an idea of how I cut the bent parts out of a solid block of wood. I wish the actual bend was as easy!
Here I have the curves that i will need for two different pieces. One of them is a commission for a major outdoor piece. The other is going to be a hall table.
Below you can see the hall table as it is evolving. The work is detailed and results in a certain amount of satisfaction. It is not quite as fulfilling as building the actual piece but it is pretty good feeling for sure.
Here are the results shot to make them look as if they were real pieces. This helps me evaluate them in a different way.
This hall table is being built for my own collection of furniture. It should bridge the gap while I wait for approval on the other piece. I have built one glass topped hall table which I just shipped to a gallery in Sarasota Florida, J. Kaplan Contemporary Art. I am beginning to think about the work that i will need for the Architectural Digest Home Show, Made Section, in New York City. I am going to build the table out of Maple, not the Sapele that the model is made out of. I think I want a lighter palette for the show in NYC.
This piece is going to be a challenge from start to finish. The people commissioning this piece had the vision to want me to adapt one of my best pieces for outdoor use. This is so gutsy that I doubt I ever would have come to this on my own. I am very excited about the project which will also include a stepping stool and concrete pads to make the transition to the ground.
I am waiting on materials for the hall table. Then it is off to the races.
