Spec Table

Jason Beam

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1,364
Location
Sacramento, CA
For the next project, I decided to try something i've never done before: Attempt to make a piece purely for the artistic angle. I helped start a local furniture making guild a few years ago and we're doing our first Gallery show in the spring. I didn't have anything to put in there so i decided to make something. This first episode introduces the project and gets the woodworking started by resawing a gorgeous slab of walnut. Check it out!



 
I like the idea of this, seems like everything i work on has specific purposes. It would be fun to build something like this.

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Excuse my ignorance, but what sort of table is a spec table? As you don't post any previous sketch or drawing I can't figure out what are you making.:dunno:
 
Excuse my ignorance, but what sort of table is a spec table? As you don't post any previous sketch or drawing I can't figure out what are you making.:dunno:

Spec means "for no reason" or "for hopeful sale" but i have no actual call for this table. It's actually just a Hall Table built on spec. It's a phrase often used for things you build to have available for sale without an actual buyer asking for it.

There are no sketches or drawings - this one's coming fully out of the inner reaches of my brain (a scary place, that!)
 
The full term is "speculative building" and is commonly used in real estate, but is also somewhat widely used in a similar context in the arts and crafts.

Its a bit confusing because the other term of "built to spec" means built to a specification or built as per a specific design and the difference is mostly just in the word order.

Wikipedia has a reasonably helpful explanation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spec
 
Spec means "for no reason" or "for hopeful sale" but i have no actual call for this table. It's actually just a Hall Table built on spec. It's a phrase often used for things you build to have available for sale without an actual buyer asking for it.

There are no sketches or drawings - this one's coming fully out of the inner reaches of my brain (a scary place, that!)

I get it thanks, so it is similar to " from the top of my head" or "from an impulse" Today I've learnt something. :)
 
This is a pretty big episode. We look at the walnut top and get some of the defects filled with tinted epoxy. Then I set about working up a base for this table. Decided on some gnarly wood which makes it a bit of a challenge, but in the end I was able to make a part work just fine. Thanks for watching!

 
Now that the joinery facets are in place, now we start working out the shapes of each limb. This was really a trial-and-error process but it took less time than I expected it to. Maybe 2 hours total for all the limbs. After they're all rough shaped and we know the orientation of them, I start working out how to join them to the trunk as strongly as possible. First steps are to transfer the holes in the trunk to the limbs and then cut the steel pins that'll be the main strength of the joint. Thanks for watching!





 
In today's episode, I have a small epiphany about how to ensure the limbs are fastened securely. Then I set about executing that epiphany and get the limbs glued onto the "trunk" - Thanks for watching!

 
Gotta be careful what you say on the net. Now your inbox is gonna be full e-mails trying to sell you homeopathic remedies for increasing the size of your epiphany:D

:lurk::lurk:
 
With the limbs securely fastened, it's time to get the thing into a stable base shape. That means finding a way to make the top and bottom coplanar. This trick worked pretty well, if a little bit slow. Next time I think I'll use a dado head to speed the process a little. Anyway, after the top and bottom are parallel, it's time to get after the sculpting - finally. I managed to get a good start at roughly shaping the limbs with a cool Kutzall wheel in the angle grinder. More of that to come! Thanks for watching!

 
This week, we see the bulk of the shaping get finished. There are a few slips that need to be corrected but overall the shape is complete and things are looking close to what I had in mind. Thanks for watching!

 
Jason Beam : I want to say Thank You for posting these videos about making you "spec table. I have really enjoyed how you have left the videos unedited. And how you explain what you are thinking about . Cant wait for part 7 to come out........... Again thank you for taking the time and trouble for doing this......................Gary
 
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