Modern style table from scrap plywood

I had a lot of leftover plywood and veneer and always thought ply has its own interesting symmetrical grain.
So with a lot of glue and clamping I finally got the result I wanted.
The general shape was cut out with the band saw.
I finished up with a disc sander.

Niall Mc Keown.

http://www.designagainstthegrain.com

Step 1 Gluing the blocks

Comments

[widget2007]

that is absolutely gorgeous, very creative idea, very skillful application!

[caitlinsdad]

That is a nice piece of furniture. Any insight into how you connected the legs to the table underside and how you mounted it to the wall? I would love to try dyeing or staining a few pieces before lamination and make my own zebrawood. Maybe do something with all that sawdust too.

[niall mc]

You have some great Ideas.
I have seen a product that is a multi colored plywood sorry I cant remember were:/

I had a piece of 4"x 3/4 plywood screwed to the top of the legs and apron.
I then used that plywood to attach the legs to the underside of the table.
I used a plywood cleat and screwed the table to the wall.

[TimS124]

I've seen small pieces of colored plywood at various woodworking stores and was surprised to find it available in larger sizes just now while trying to verify the product's name. I found two versions, both from the same company, while searching for an answer just now:

http://www.rutply.com/products/dymondwood.html

http://www.rutply.com/products/colorwood.html

Dymondwood is available up to 2" thick and Colorwood is available up to 3" thick. That would simplify making something like this from those woods (though shipping costs vs. the free scraps you used is a hard battle to win). :-)

I have no association with the producers of those products…but now that I know I can get bigger sizes (and thicker pieces) I may become one of their customers.

[caitlinsdad]

My favorite woodworking tool is the Kreg pocket hole jig. It is great for making a set of pocket screw holes to attach a piece to studs in the wall. No need for an ugly cleat. You can also plug up the holes if they show on a visible side.

[blkhawk]

Love the effect of all those pieces together to form the legs at the end. Great work!

[PACW]

Layers! Such lovely lovely layers.
It's like the wooden cousin of perfect croissant dough!

[pfred2]

I think I have the same Makita sander. I found I didn't care for mine with PSA discs on it. Too much of a pain to peel them off. Now I use the same center hole discs I use on my angle grinders with it. That makes it more like them, but a lot tamer.

Just now I've come up with an idea to make a new sander pad for it out of jug LDPE. I'll have to see how that works.

[niall mc]

I Had the same problem with the sanding discs.
I ended up using lacquer thinner to peel the paper off.
Let me know how the LDPE works out.

[pfred2]

I was thinking I could even make a few discs so I could change grits and be able to reuse the PSA sanding discs a couple times. I got my sander used at a flea market so I didn't get the instruction book with it etc. But I really don't think it was made to run PSA discs. They just stick to that black plastic backer disc on my sander too good.

I've a lull in my present project while some glue sets up so I'm going to try it out right now.

It works for me. I attached a couple pictures that illustrate the process I used to make the disc. I did the final truing running it against my disc sander. Check the white skid mark I left in the picture. That came right off with some steel wool.

Anyhow it depends on if the screw sticking through the middle is a show stopper for you whether this will work for you or not. That doesn't bother me. I still haven't sanded so much I heated up the disc a lot, then tried to peel it, but I sanded some, then peeled and it seemed OK.

It is still early but so far I'd have to call this a success.

[jessyratfink]

This is beautiful. :) I'd love to find out more about the little details.

[niall mc]

Hi Jessy
I planned the rough shape with a pattern and did the rest by feel.
The feet were an after thought.

[Penolopy Bulnick]

That is quite beautiful! How long did it take to make?

[niall mc]

Hi Penolopy.
Thank you.
This took about three day, of actual build time.
There was a lot of time spent on waiting for glue to dry:/

[niall mc]

This is the link a viewer sent me..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwfCjYv7gVQ
Where I got my Idea perhaps.....

[bertus52x11]

Very nice, but how did you clamp the blocks together while glueing? (without them sliding apart).

[kenbob]

Wow! Love the table, love the concept, love the execution.

[RaisedByRobots]

exquisite!

[l8nite]

that really is a gorgeous looking piece of wood

[pfred2]

It looks like many pieces to me.