The glass coffee table
by Ralph Klimek sometime in 1989

This little project was conceived sometime before the creation on my china cabinet monster that is described elsewhere on this site. It is made from oregan square beams which have been morticed at the corner joints, but not mitered. It wasnt mitered because I wanted an inherently strong joint to join three mutually perpendicular pieces. A piece of tempered glass sitting in a rebate makes the table top.  The frame is immensely strong, far more than it needs to be, this construction was inspired by the ready availability of the contruction material.  It was biult to measure to accommodate the glass top which come from an old mainframe line printer. Good sheets of tempered glass are not available to order, and this glass was a real catch.

It has been finished with British Paints Full Gloss enamel by airless spray. The joints and and the rebate was cut using a Triton Workcentre and finished with a belt sander.




after twenty years the joints have heaved and the join lines are now visible. When constructed the joins were not visible. The outer edges have been finished with a half inch rounding over bit.




 








Under view of one corner joint.  A little bit of the china cabinet is visible here.  The china cabinet construction style and method was inspired by the success of this little project.