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This is a page showing the progress of pieces I am currently making for sale or for customers
A European Sycamore Dining Table
My inspiration for this comes from the table below.
Date: c. 1820–1840
Origin: Likely Northern or Western England (e.g., Yorkshire, Cheshire, Herefordshire)
Style: Regency with Jacobean Revival influence
Material: Solid English oak
Description:
Description:
This is a substantial early 19th-century English oak dining table of provincial origin, featuring a distinctive double pedestal base. The table top is formed from six wide oak boards, approximately 4 cm thick, joined with minimal ornamentation in a traditional farmhouse style. Its simple rectangular shape, free from decorative edging, underscores its utilitarian origins while showcasing the natural beauty of aged oak.
The defining feature of the table is its oversized turned pedestal supports, each composed of three lathe-turned elements, centred around an exaggerated bulbous urn-form of notable diameter. These bulbous sections, turned from solid oak, exhibit a restrained double ring detail at the midline, reminiscent of late Jacobean “cup and cover” motifs, yet interpreted in a bold, rural Regency style. This type of turning is significantly larger than typical urban examples, indicating either a regional tradition of exaggerated forms or a bespoke commission.
The pedestal bases rest on wide, arched feet with shaped ends, joined by a stretcher for structural integrity. The table is constructed using traditional joinery techniques, with no visible mechanical fasteners.
I would really like to copy this, but in a light coloured wood for a modern look. However, two things prevented this. One is that as you can see in the bulb there are some cracks. This is because a solid piece of wood like this will always crack. The second is that my lathe is simply not big enough to turn a 30+ cm diameter piece of oak.
The result is that I designed a table based loosely on this, and here you can see the pieces being created, and hopefully at the end the completed table.
Starting with the trestle. The feet are each made of three main sections. I cut these roughly on the band saw then clamped them together 2 big pieces and the four smaller ones, to smooth the curves and make them as nearly identical as I could. This I found not to be easy - cutting 12.5 cm boards vertically on the band saw was something I had not done before - it could have gone better :)
Next I cut the mortices and tenons for the stretcher, and here you see the dry fit.
Now moving to the columns.
Here is the slab of wood used for the columns
I had to laminate these together to make a block large enough
Then to the lathe to turn them.
This is one of the four smaller parts of the columns being turned.
Here we have all four
...and this is all that was left of that board I started with!
Ok, not quite all, the edges of the boards were used to turn spindles, 28mm which will join the three column pieces together.
Here is a dry assembly before I start to glue and finish. It gives and idea of the final look.
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