Designing Furniture with a Fibonacci Gauge

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Created on Wednesday, 28 November 2012 21:27

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 April 2013 07:38

Written by Colin

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Every woodworker spends a protion of their time designing things to build or modifying existing plans to suit their own purposes and needs. Many woodworkers are also designers who start with a blank piece of paper and design their works from a concept or idea in their head, and plan the whole project out on paper.
One of the challenges of designing projects from scratch is ... how do you ensure they "look good", now I know that what looks good for one person may not look good for another, but we are talking about the "balance" of a project, not about whether you actually like the idea or not. For example you may not like the design of a certain chair, while other do, but the design of that chair may or may not be "in balance", which could be contributing to why some may not like it.

Back in early Greek times, when the concept of mathematics was being developed, a very keen mathematitian discovered a set of numbers that can be used to help desginers and architects design projects that are "in balance"". This set of numbers was morphed into an artchitectual device called a Fibonacci Gauge. The device is a simple concept that is basically like a three legged devider, but with a bit of a twist. When you set the 2 outside legs, the inner leg moves as well to a designated spot, and it is the middle leg that is used as well, in helping to design furniture, buildings and almost any type of visual artistic work.

In our case we need to use the Fibonaccin Gauge to help design a pleasing look to a small side table we had seen in a publication several years ago. We wanted to make a table of the similar design, but could not find the plans so had to go about making our own in a manner that  ...

Making a One Piece Box on the Router Table

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Created on Thursday, 29 March 2012 21:05

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 April 2013 07:38

Written by Colin

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Making boxes with the router is argueably one of the most fun things you can do with a router table. Not only that, you get to turn out objects that almost everybody loves and can use ... and it makes you look great. The other thing with boxes on the router table is by taking a design like this and modifying the sizes a little bit, you can make a whole range of different sizes, with or without hinged tops and all sorts of different and unique add-ons. Boxes are one of the most popular items for many people because they look great and are functional. They can be varied in so many different ways, different woods, contrasting woods, stains and dyes, final finishes, glossy, satin, matte, or by making them from laminated veneer woods and highlighting with contrasting wood, the variables are endless.

In this article we are making what we call the One Piece Box because it can be made from on piece of wood. The finished box is 4 inches square and if you  can make it either with a routed lift off top as shown in the video, or you can leave the top on and cut it off on your table saw, then use hinges to open the lid. To make the 4 inch by 4 inch box, you need to start off with a board that is at least 26 inches long and 4 inches wide, by three-eighths of and inch thick.

In terms of tools, you will need a router and router table with a fence and you will also need a rabbeting bit that can be set for 3/8" (this is normally done by selecting the correct bearing on top) and you will need a spiral bit, you can use a 1/4" but will find that a 3/8" spiral bit is slightly more forgiving when it comes to cutting the top off the box. The 1/4" will work fine, just make sure you are absolutely correct with your cuts.

SEE MORE VIDEOS ON FINISHING THE ONE PIECE BOX - CLICK "READ MORE"

Incredible Carved Winged Lion End Table

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Created on Wednesday, 02 February 2011 10:37

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 April 2013 07:38

Written by Administrator

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Every once in a while you come across a woodworking project that makes you say WOW! This end-table created by Dennis Zongker is just one of those pieces.

It took Dennis around 1100 hours to complete this piece and you can see the craftsmanship and time really shows. You can find out more about Dennis Zongker at his site: www.zongkers.com 

The Fletcher Capstan (Kaleidoscope Style) Table

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Created on Tuesday, 07 December 2010 03:57

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 April 2013 07:38

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This is a truly incredible table design that comes in both manual and powered versions.

The Fletcher Capstan Table (Created by DB Fletcher) can double its seating capacity with just a quick turn, going from a six seats to twelve seats. The best part of this design is there is no leafs to add, everything is self-contained.

Sitting Bench Woodworking Plan Video

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Created on Monday, 20 September 2010 00:36

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 April 2013 07:38

Written by Colin

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" One of the most popular woodworking projects, for hundreds of years is the simple “Sitting Bench”. The bench is easy to make, can be used inside and outside for person or commercial uses and when finished makes an attractive and useful piece of furniture. In homes, in recent years, the sitting bench is seeing revival because it is such a useful item and lends itself to the kitchen, the living room, the bedroom, the entry and almost any other part of the house you can imagine.

The sitting bench we have constructed here is made from something called Cedar of Lebanon or “Cedrus Libani”. This species is native to the Mediterranean but is also introduced in some more temperate areas of North America where it is grown as an ornamental tree because of it's faster growing characteristics.



The main feature of our sitting bench is to have been able to “book-match” the top or seat of the bench just at the point where the sapwood and the heartwood meet, creating a beautiful contrast in wood tones. We were also fortunate to obtain some 2” thick wood from the same tree that allowed us to make the legs for the bench without having to laminate thinner woods together.