Formal Dining Table

This is perhaps David’s greatest commissioned piece, which is slightly embarrassing because he built this formal dining table way back in 1992! Made from Tasmanian Blackwood – that quintessential timber of finest Australian furniture – this table is 2.4m fully closed, and extends on steel runners out to 6m, and includes six leaves (600mm each). It comfortably seats between 10 and 24 people, depending on the number of leaves.

A table of this size requires good support underneath. This is why a double split pedestal design was employed, which allows four points of support over the full length of the table. Extreme care was taken to ensure a perfect fit between the table and leaves, regardless of whether one or two leaves are inserted, or all six.

The pedestals are comprised of octagons turned on the lathe, and then split in half. The legs follow a traditional claw and ball design – an interesting point is that the first leg took David seven hours to carve from start to finish, while the eighth and last leg took a mere one hour.

On a personal note: my Grandparents commissioned and purchased this table from me in 1992. My Grandpa died in 2005, while my Granny is still living in her own home (she is in her nineties), with this table in her dining room. At the time of delivery, Grandpa was so happy with the outcome that he paid an additional 25% for the project, which certainly helped at such an early stage of my woodworking career! I was eighteen at the time.