My Designs,  Woodworking

The “Hawk” Side Table

At the end of last year I had made a sketch of a wee side table that was originally envisaged to be made from solid wood. Having never used veneer, I thought that the simple design of my wee table would easily lend itself to being made from veneer – particularly to help create the stark contrast between a dark core and pale sides. It may be a simple shape, but there proved to be lots of engineering challenges caused not only by the X-shape of the table, but also because of my desire to have book-matched veneer flowing continuously from top to bottom on each side.

The end result, however, is that I am very pleased to introduce to you my “Hawk” side table.

It incorporates two different veneers: zebrano, the zebra-like pale striped veneer used for the sides and the edges; and ebony, the lovely deeper rich brown tones used in the core and on the top of the table. The zebrano is book-matched using four strips of veneer to make each side panel, with the top and bottom halves matching. The ebony was also carefully cut to give an even density of horizontal grain and coloured stripes throughout the dark core and top surface.

The table is symmetrical from front to back with the rear looking exactly the same as the front. The veneer was cut by hand, and I love the little diamond detail where the two sides of the X meet (even though I experienced a little frustration when the tips of the diamonds kept breaking during cutting).

The table dimensions are 740 mm x 350 mm x 350 mm.

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