Opal and Ebony Inlaid Dining Table

Listing #4439 Listed on: 08/03/2014 Company Name: CT Fine Furniture
Name: Craig Thibodeau Member
Website:   www.ctfinefurniture.com

I haven't posted anything in a while due to a pretty busy schedule but I thought this piece would be a good one to add. Finished a couple months ago for a good client, the table is cherry and alder with inlays of synthetic opal, ebony and holly. Roughly 72" long by 36" wide, the top is a two piece bookmatch of some beautiful straight grained cherry. The base came from a couple boards of clear wide alder, hard to find these days.

5 Photos
Social Media:
Viewer Comments:
Posted By:David R Sochar
Craig - Very nice. You have a subtlety in your designs that we can all learn from. Attractive, endearing, but never in your face. Thanks for posting.
Posted By:Craig Thibodeau
Thanks for the nice comments David.
Posted By:Brent Morehouse
What a beautiful piece, elegant! The inlays compliment your wood craftsmanship.
Posted By:Enrique Saucedo
Very nice piece of art.
The character of the piece is displayed in its simplicity.
Posted By:Craig Thibodeau
Thanks for the comments guys, I'm glad that piece comes across as intended.
Posted By:Larry
Class Act!
Posted By:Glenn H
Beautiful table. Great lines and inlay. Question for you Craig. I'm working with a client in the design stage for an oval extension dining table out of solid cherry. 72" long by 48" wide (thus, each half is 36" long x 48" wide). Since it is an extension table the wood grain is running across the width and not the length. The client would like similar inlayed banding on the top a couple inches in around the perimeter of each half (either holly, maple, ebony, walnut, etc.). Similar to how you did the holly on this table. I'm worried about the seasonal expansion and contraction of the top in relation to the banding (especially the banding that runs perpendicular to the cherry grain) and potential for the banding to buckle or crack as the cherry expands and contracts in a different direction. What were your thoughts on this for the holly at the ends of your table top? That would stretch almost 36" going across the cherry grain? Different species and different grain direction. I'm new to inlay so am worried about doing this type of inlay on solid material, etc. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
Posted By:Craig Thibodeau
Glenn, you could make the cross grain inlay from shorter pieces butted together so they can move individually or break up the inlay into shorter strips with a gap between the pieces. There was an article in Fine Woodworking magazine a few years ago by Michael Fortune that covered some of these issues with inlay. It had some interesting ideas and you can probably download it from their website.

I don't see why the wood grain would need to run in one direction versus the other because it is an extension table. I have seen solid tables going both directions and they seem to work fine.

Good Luck,
Craig
Posted By:Glenn H
Thanks Craig for the response. Very helpful. I'll check out that Michael Fortune article as well.

Add Your Comment:

*Enter the correct numbers into the field below:

Date of your Birth:

WalzCraft Original Saw