Crafts Council listing…
August 5, 2010
Tom Aylwin -’bespoke furniture maker’ has been accepted for entry in the directory of furniture makers at the Crafts Council. A great resource for designers, makers, interior design, architects and private clients.
4 metre [extending] dining table
August 5, 2010
My current project is an extending dining table that grows from a round 8-seater to a long 20-seater. The client has chosen ‘olive ash’ as the timber. The ash, from a tree felled on an estate in the North, arrived this week and a long day of milling has revealed some good colour and attractive figure in the grain.
Timber conversion
August 5, 2010
The ash is converted from slices of log (otherwise known as waney edge through and through boards) to square section using planing machines. The british hardwood is then stacked to allow it to ‘settle’ before further milling. This helps ensure it stays flat – crucial for the ‘extra leaves’ of the table.
Making the extending mechanism
August 5, 2010
While the table top ash is ‘settling’ the sub structure is built. This involves making the sliding components of the extending mechanism. The overall shape is made so that the sub structure cannot be seen up to 3 metres away (my stipulation!). This will give top of the dining table some lightness and elegance.
Fine tuning
August 5, 2010
A combination of router and hand plane are used to create the grooves and sliding keys. Precision and patience are key here as is a note of the seasonal weather conditions to allow for timber movement.
coopering the cones…
August 5, 2010
This round table stands on a central conical pillar within a pillar. The outer splits in two as the table is drawn apart and extended.
Selecting the timber for the table top
August 5, 2010
Olive ash has in it an array of colour from light yellow to pinks to greys to browns. My plan for the top is to show this off in all its random beauty. Unfortunately this isnt a case of playing pick-up-sticks and placing any old lengths of ash together. To get an even spread of grain shape and colour over the entire 4 metre table took a day of chin scratching.