FURNITURE DESIGN

• Dining Room Table Design: Concept to finished product design and build
• Design under Tudor Woodworks, Kansas City MO

Meeka Santamino wanted a dining table. Not just any run of the mill piece made in China… She wanted a real, hard wood, mortise and tenon, heirloom piece. She wanted a table that she could call timeless, and pass on to future generations. She started by coming into Tudor Woodworks. I drafted the first sketches of designs from her suggestions. She wanted something in the farm-house style with a touch of shaker influence, and a bit of modern flare. After a few rounds of proofs, we settled on this design.

Believe it or not, this project really started taking shape at the sawmill. Ms. Santimino wanted an heirloom piece, so we wanted to work with the highest quality materials we could find. The sawmill we worked with is such high quality that the wood is normally used to create gun stock. Tudor Woodworks valued traditional old school ways of woodworking. At this particular saw mill the wood is air dried instead of the more modern kiln dried method. The kiln drying process is much faster, but the wood looses much of its rich color. We selected a spalted maple plank for the table base, and a red walnut plank for the table top. By milling the table parts from one large piece and cutting each part down from the it ensures fluid woodgrain and color throughout.

Strapping on the giant wood planks to the top of the truck, we journeyed back to the shop to start the fun part. After waiting for the wood to adjust to the new stabilized climate, we started marking out where the parts would be. We needed to get the whole table base out of the one piece so planning it out was very important. After marking out the pieces with room for minor mistakes and milling, we began cutting it up. The piece was too thick to run through our table saw; too long, heavy and cumbersome for our band saw, so we began with hand tools until the parts were small enough for the finer tools to handle.

The table began to take shape quickly. We started jointing and planing the wood down to square stock, and hand cutting mortise and tenons. This process was especially tedious for me because I was more familiar with the new age technology of joinery. I used no power tools, just a razor, a marking gauge, and a hand saw. Although I struggled through the process, the table base began to come together.

Four tapered legs were connected to the aprons by joints so tight the table stood without clamps or glue. At about the same time we began assembling the table top. The walnut plank produced five beautiful boards. We arranged them so the grain matched-up as seamlessly as possible, and glued them together. With the framework completed, we continued on to map out the stretcher bars.

Ms. Santimino decided that the straight bars at the end of the table were too traditional. We modified the design to include two curved side stretchers that met in the middle like a “V”. This new design posed extra challenges. The first challenge was how to connect the curves to the middle stretcher. The second challenge was for how to secure the curved stretcher pieces to the tapered legs and the third challenge was how we would get the wood.

 

Because we had cut straight stretchers for the original design, we had only scraps left from the original maple board. Lucky for us, the curved design fit into the scraps of the board perfectly. The grain in the crotch of the wood was curved. We had originally discarded this section because we wanted straight grain for the stretchers. But now we wanted curved grain. The curved grain would actually provide better support and integrity to the curved stretchers rather than making a curve by process of lamination.

We plotted out the curve, and cut four identical curves. We then cut mortise and tenons to fit the aprons into the legs. This process was purely by hand with extreme precision. Then we cut out of the center stretcher to fit the two tenons of each of the sides. The work paid off because the design began to stand without glue or clamps. We clamped the stretchers in the center, and pegged them together. Finally we glued everything the together. We strapped the legs with tie downs to ensure squareness.

After the base sat square and true, we started on the top. After cutting off the edges, dovetailing a few cracks, and sanding down the top, the natural beauty in the wood was brought to life with a bit of tongue oil and wax. This is called a ‘soft’ finish. It is a traditional method that uses no dies, lacquers or stains. The gleaming patina is brought out by rubbing the wood to a perfect finish. It will keep its healthy glow forever with little to no maintenance, and ensures the table grows with age. Any scratches dings, or dents will add character without peeling cracking or creating rings.

Despite my pleadings, miss Santimino decided to paint the base. Even though I was heart broken to cover such gorgeous spalted maple, I knew that if she ever changed her mind the finish we used could come off without any damage to the wood underneath. Another traditional timeless soft finish, milk paint, was used to create layers of character.  The base was first painted in a deep red and then an onyx black. This way, when users put their feet on the stretchers, they would slowly erode away the layers of paint to create an antiqued look. We sealed the base with wax to add a hint of gloss.

The table was finally ready to be assembled. The only thing left to do was sign. First it was shown at an open house at Tudor Woodworks, and then off to the Santamino family where it rests developing its character as a family heirloom.