I know this post has been too long in the making. The last time I posted up I was finishing up the final touches on my Kane Tsugi bow front table. Well that has been finished and...well, it's been refinished again.

Unfortunately after it made its debut as an outstanding Christmas gift for my client, it seems I fell victim to the enemy of every wood worker...material movement. When working over the details I really wanted to produce the top as a solid top out of two or three wide pieces. I was concerned about solidly enclosing the top into the frame that is built when using the kane tsugi but thought I had planned through it enough that any movement would be minimal. Unfortunately I still fell victim to mother natures whim.

But before we get to the injuries lets take a look at the finished product. It definitely turned out better than my expectations and was well worth the effort at cold pressing the drawer fronts. The book matching of the drawer fronts also added a spectacular touch.

I had debated long and hard about splitting the top drawer into two, but I think it gave the piece a bit of life. The drawers also presented a bit of a challenge in cutting the compound half blind dove tails. Cutting through the Wenge banding was fairly nerve racking as it proved to be extremely fragile and extremely tempermental requiring a very sharp set of chisels and taking very light cuts. Not having cut dove tails in a number of years it was refreshing to get back at it and interestingly very relaxing.

Cutting through and half blind tails in the Hard Maple was a good test of skill. It allowed for a very true and even cut, but was not forgiving at all. In the end it was definitely worth the effort as the contrast between the buttery maple against the chocolates of the Wenge are absolutely stunning.

The small banding around the legs also added some character and helped the piece feel lighter. As I had mentioned earlier, I was not so happily reminded that although the piece is no longer growing and producing leaves, it is absolutely still very much a living thing.

I thought I had given the top plenty of room to expand and contract with the seasons, but as they say...the best laid plans...The expansion was not too devastating and in all honesty the client was more than willing to allow it to swell in the winter and close up in the summer, I however was not. So back to the shop it came and a new top was produced. This go around I used 1 wide piece which I then sliced into a book matched 3/16" veneer that I attached to a piece of Baltic Birch ply. After it was all said and done the veneer finished down to an approximate thickness of 1/8" which should keep things nice and stable.

So with that all said and done we're off to the next project.