This table was designed and built before I had a CNC that would have made it simple to cut out the parts.  I relied on my router table and a little engineering to make a jig to hold the wood and pass through the stationary router bit in varying ellipses.Made it from cherry.  The base boards intersect with the wide boards dovetailing into the narrow piece. A slight round over on the outside edges of the base mimics the elliptical edge of the top above. This table is also unfinished. Mostly it was a table to verify that my ellipse cutting jig would work.  It was used immediately after assembly next to a recliner where my x-wife used to sit. I've sold the recliner and she didn't take the table when she left. 

4D

Edited April 26, 20224 yr by 4DThinker

nice.  i'm better with rectangles.

Beautiful! Love the elliptical shape continued into the legs.

 

Getting the elliptical shape can be challenging. I've made some Butler Tables that had folding elliptical tops. Once the pattern was done, the others were a little easier.

 

My first experience was with a solid walnut, Martha Washington tilt top candle table. My wife hated it and it was gifted to some friends.

Edited April 26, 20224 yr by lew

I've grown more and more fond of using ellipses or at least sections of an ellipse in project shapes.  The bottom arc of the table above isn't an arc but rather 1/2 of an ellipse.  My TinyTable 1 shown in another thread has a square-ish top with shallow elliptical arcs between the corners.  I'll add that the long ellipses in the table legs were longer than my router table. To cut the bottom ellipses most of the board was also off the table. 

4D

Edited April 26, 20224 yr by 4DThinker

2 hours ago, DAB said:

Nice.  I'm better with rectangles.

Everyone is better with rectangles including myself. Given that most woodworking tools default to square/90 degree cuts or measurements it isn't that surprising. Where innovative original designs come from though is the rest of the polygon shapes that are more difficult to cut (unless you have a CNC) and more difficult to draw/render/imagine/figure out.   Most of the furniture I've made for myself is rectangular with all corners 90 degrees.   When I've put on a show for the gallery at the university I teach at it is the 3 legged or 5 legged or elliptical designs that get the most comments from visitors. Among the more rectangular designs I've show it is the ones with legs or table tops that have an interesting shape and/or profile that get the comments. 

4D   

long ago, i read a funny piece by Andy Rooney, former CBS curmudgeon, about how he wanted to build a backyard shed. but not with 90 degree corners and 4 sides. no.... he was going to make it a 5 sided deal.  72 degrees comes up a lot.

 

in the end, he realized why most buildings are rectangular.

 

https://kottke.org/15/12/the-tiny-shed-where-andy-rooney-wrote

 

https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/The-consummate-curmudgeon-at-his-summer-house-2237375.php

 

from the second piece:  " ''Never build a five-sided structure,'' he warns, pointing out gaps in the difficult, miter-cut angles. Five triangular skylights that flood the cozy retreat with leaf-dappled sunshine cancel any flaws."

 

 

Thanks for the links DAB.  I also grew up watching Andy.  Had to as my middle name is Andrew and for my first 7 or 8 years I was always called Andy. CBS was one of the 3 channels we could receive over the air back then. 

 

Give me a day or two and I'll post images of my favorite 5 legged table. 72 degrees isn't hard to come by when you've got a digital angle finder to check the angle of your table saw blade.

4D  

Beautiful! I know where you are with unfinished; I've got pieces older than my socks in use, unfinished.

 

A large oval Melmac platter (Boontonware, of Boonton New Jersey fame) from the 1960s, used extensively from earliest days to now, is used to trace curves on various projects, most lately the Easter Egg shelves - which through mistakes became one shelf.

 

Curves and ovals are great. The basement of the best craftspeople will be filled with LARGE jigs made for one project, optimistically saved. Visiting AZ last June, I responded to a woodshop sale. The guy had custom laminated sanding blocks of various proscribed gentle curves, for finishing his custom ellipse-laden furniture. Beautiful craftsmanship. For someone who wanted to sell "everything", he sure was proud of every last bit; I left with nothing.

 

I've been described as moving from corners to contours. We'll see, but the sketch pad next to me has drawings of a shelf with multiple ellipses ...

Here is my favorite (so far) 5 legged table. Very stable. Also cherry but with an oil (likely Danish Oil) finish that could be refreshed.  I cut the identical legs with a template and a pattern bit. Legs are 3 parts.  A top piece that screws through a loose hole to hold it to the top. A vertical leg, and a short stretcher.  The tops and stretchers each dovetail into a 5-side hub.  This table has been shown more than it has been used. 

Thats a beautiful table and a beautiful job of making it. When I look at it, I can see the craftsmanship it took to build it. Todays stores have furniture that is so plastic and computer designed/cut that and all you have to do is assemble it.(if all the parts are there)

 

 

One more for the table series. I frequently spend a hour or two just iterating on table designs in my sketchbook. When a sketch stands out and even looks better a day later I often take some time to turn it into a digital drawing to see if that helps or hurts the appeal of the design. When I've got one that still survives my appeal meter I usually make it.  This little 3 legged table is CNC cut MDF legs with a walnut top. The paint is just primer but I liked how it looked with the walnut so I stopped there. The legs dovetail into a triangular center post. It's been several years since I made it, but I think the legs are just held to the top with screws through the top covered with walnut plugs. Cleaning the top for photos there were three 3/8" or so circles near the center.  

The leg shape I think I was intending to remake from walnut, but I liked the prototype MFD so much I stopped there.  4D

Thanks 4D for sharing all your creativity and ingenuity showing a simple table can be transformed beyond function to art. Enjoying this thread.

17 hours ago, 4DThinker said:

Thanks for the links DAB.  I also grew up watching Andy.  Had to as my middle name is Andrew and for my first 7 or 8 years I was always called Andy. CBS was one of the 3 channels we could receive over the air back then. 

 

We only got two channels and one more was very snowy to get the Cisco Kid on Saturday sometime.

On 4/27/2022 at 9:21 AM, Grandpadave52 said:

Thanks 4D for sharing all your creativity and ingenuity showing a simple table can be transformed beyond function to art. Enjoying this thread.

I've got a house full of small tables I've designed and built over the years.  New professor told me she was having her class make small tables.  I mentioned I had a dozen or so I could bring in so they could get some ideas.  Her reply was "I want them to think outside the box, but thanks for the offer.". She had no idea how far outside the box many of my designs are.  My experience with college students is that they default to mid century modern.  You know, like the furniture in their parents and grandparents houses.  

4D

On 4/26/2022 at 5:18 PM, Woodman said:

Melmac

At least Alf would appreciate that.

I really like the 5 & 3 legged tables you've shown.  Very creative

32 minutes ago, Cal said:

I really like the 5 & 3 legged tables you've shown.  Very creative

Thanks Cal. For the last several years teaching I had my furniture design students use the first 2 weeks of class to design and build a stool.  Rules were the stool could have 1,2,3,5,... legs but not 4. The results ranged from milking stools with 1 center leg, rocking stools that only touch the floor at two points, to spider stools with 6 legs. 4 legs is just too easy.

Edited April 30, 20224 yr by 4DThinker

On 4/27/2022 at 10:57 AM, Gerald said:

We only got two channels and one more was very snowy to get the Cisco Kid on Saturday sometime.

I remember those days!!!

Yep.  Those were the days.

4D