We have a nice slab maple coffee table, but after a few moves, it became a bit unsteady. Was going to just screw a couple of timber blocks underneath to stabilise it, but had a better idea about forging two brackets with a leaf motif to steady up the sides.

Two bits of 12mm square bar and a bit of time at the forge and I was quite happy with the result. It has made the table rock solid and the leaves look quite at home against the maple.

Here's how they go ... one at each end of the table:

Very nice, Darryl.  

They look great!

Lovely. 

Good job you just add more  value and class to the old table

Very nice Darryl. Just tell me you put the burnished leaves up under the table top so nobody not laying on the floor can see them.

Frosty The Lucky.

Those look great! Beautiful freeform work.

Very nice Darryl. Just tell me you put the burnished leaves up under the table top so nobody not laying on the floor can see them.

Frosty The Lucky.

HaHa. The dog would like that. It's her favourite table to lie under.

The leaves are quite visible from a seated position beside the table. After attaching them I had thoughts of making a smaller decorative pair for the exterior ends. (Near where the glue bottle is in the picture).

 

HaHa. The dog would like that. It's her favourite table to lie under.

The leaves are quite visible from a seated position beside the table. After attaching them I had thoughts of making a smaller decorative pair for the exterior ends. (Near where the glue bottle is in the picture).

 

Nice. I like doing things for the dogs they deserve it. I'm not sure what to do for the cats who like watching TV, we'd get them their own but they just don't get using a remote and get tired of the same show. The rescued feral, Quiviut loves trying to catch fish on Deb's Kindle game "Koi Pond" he learned to change games and turn pages. We know what to get him but . . .

You will post a pic of the table in position with a beeah on it. Yes?

Frosty The Lucky.

OK, Frosty, as requested. Table support in position, dog in position and beeah on the table:

 

No fire in the stove?

Beautiful piece. Your dog's one eye'd look makes me think s/he isn't going to smile for the camera.

Frosty The Lucky.

Well, it might be just the tail end of winter and first week of spring but it's not cold enough to light the stove. The wood holder will be packed away now, the steel roses will go back on top of the stove and the ash cleaned out until we fire up again about June next year. (Unless we are lucky enough to get a decent Wet, in which case, despite the heat, we may light the stove to dry the place out a bit).

I lit our wood burner for the first time last Saturday and lit the oil fired Rayburn cook-and- heat early hours this morning. And I have still got to find a few dry days to make the hay…late crop to encourage the orchids.

Interesting combination of materials on your table, lovely bit of wood…any particular reason why you did not go for maple leaf forms? 

Alan

I lit our wood burner for the first time last Saturday and lit the oil fired Rayburn cook-and- heat early hours this morning. And I have still got to find a few dry days to make the hay…late crop to encourage the orchids.

Interesting combination of materials on your table, lovely bit of wood…any particular reason why you did not go for maple leaf forms? 

Alan

Yes, a very good reason Alan. This is North Queensland Maple and it's totally different from the Canadian tree. They grow locally here in the rainforests and the timber is highly prized cabinet quality. (And I think its leaves would be easier to forge than the pointy ones of the Canadian species!)

Ah good. I a glad it was not in political protest at something the Canadians did which annoyed you!

Interesting wood though, your photos show the "fiddle back" banding of the European maple I am familiar with. Sort of natural hologram security effect!

I luckily bought a few trees worth of 1" random width maple boards which we planed up and laid throughout the ground floor in our previous house. The wood cost less than a medium quality carpet. Putting it down cost a bit more, but it was brilliant insulation and looked stunning.

Alan

Ah good. I a glad it was not in political protest at something the Canadians did which annoyed you!

 

Alan

Heavens no! I don't think I have ever met a Canadian I didn't like. 

My wife and I visited BC. and Alberta a couple of years ago and drove a campervan around for a couple of weeks. Great scenery (when I got used to driving on the wrong side of the road) and interesting places. We visited Kootenay Forge and the blacksmith working there was so helpful. He understood my interest in what he was forging and invited me into the shop and showed me round all the gear - power hammer, tumbler etc. 

Overall we found Canadians to be the most pleasant and welcoming people. Bit like Australians really.

No fire in the stove?

Beautiful piece. Your dog's one eye'd look makes me think s/he isn't going to smile for the camera.

Frosty The Lucky.

Got a fire in the stove this time Frosty. Had a bit of a cold snap ... well, not cold by comparison to where you are. 'Cool' is perhaps a better word.

As you can see I decided to forge another pair of leaf support brackets for the outside of the legs as well. Now that table really is rock solid. I applied the Trewax to those leaves so we'll see how they keep the shine.

I like how the wood and steel go well together. Perhaps we should have a thread about projects that combine the two. I have made a couple of nice camphor chests which would benefit from some rustic forged hinges and handles. A future project. 

The dog isn't in the pic because she got up and left when she spotted the camera. I think the flash makes them nervous - too much like storm lightning perhaps.

 

Very nice 

I like the way that you used the blemish in the slab as a feature 

Beautiful table, nice background. I've always liked well composed mixed media, wood and iron go together so well a person has to be really ham handed for them to not look like they belong.

Are you getting orders for tables like that one? It's a high end piece of work.

Frosty The Lucky.

Beautiful table, nice background. I've always liked well composed mixed media, wood and iron go together so well a person has to be really ham handed for them to not look like they belong.

Are you getting orders for tables like that one? It's a high end piece of work.

Frosty The Lucky.

No, I haven't taken orders for those tables - I would like to do more but seem to spend all my time at the forge lately. My woodworking gear will be rusting up if I don't get back to it soon. I would like to do more mixed media work though. The piece in the background of the photo with the dog is a black walnut cabinet; my wife made the leadlight glass panels. We have successfully combined her glasswork with metal work too.

Apart from putting forged hat pegs onto timber mounting plates (and these table brackets), I haven't done much combining steel and timber. I have some very nicely figured seasoned maple just waiting for some brilliant flashes of creativity, which so far have not been forthcoming.

Very nice 

I like the way that you used the blemish in the slab as a feature 

Yeah, I'm lucky to live in a place where cabinet timbers like this are readily available.

Mate, are you 100% into metal fabrication or do you take advantage of that beautiful jarrah and karri you have over there? 

have an awesome marri coffee table at home

wife seems to like the commercial stuff that can be brought at hardly normal and the like which I don't care for

looking to take advantage of jarrah for charcoal ;-)

but around these parts (Wine region)  people all seem to be into anything made of old wine barrels

witch is a shame because there is so much better timber around to put in your house