Stacking the odds

In true Nakashima style, I wanted the live edge top for my hall table to dictate the size and shape of the carcass that supports is. Since the front of the table top follows a gentle curved shape, I want to match the same curve to the front apron of the table.

In my curved front writing desk project from a few years back, I used a bent lamination technique to create the curved drawer fronts. The technique works great if you don't need to cut any big joinery into the components. But to created the crescent front for this hall table, I need to build an apron that can be tenoned into the legs. Unfortunately, the big weakness of bent lamination is that if you shape or cut the piece and sever too many glue joints, you can weaken the bond.

So for this project, I decided to use a stacked lamination technique where I built up the apron structure out of four pieces of stacked maple which I will ultimately veneer with cherry to match the rest of the carcass. I originally thought I was using soft maple, but it turns out I was working with rock maple, so there was a little more elbow grease involved than I had expected. But I'm sure going to have one strong front apron!




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