Rorschach Coffee Table In Maple And Mahogany

This was the first piece I had made for myself in many years. My wife wanted the ability to comfortably sit under it Japanese style and a drawer that opens to both sides. My design requirement was that I could only use materials that were already on hand. A beautiful matched set of Maple boards had shown up in a basic lumber order one day, so they had been set aside for a special project. A small, thick chunk of Mahogany was quartered into the legs and small pieces of valuable Wenge were added as contrasting accents. When two boards come off the log sequentially, a near mirror image can be achieved. But with the loss of wood in the milling process, the exact mirror is lost. So instead chasing an impossibility, I separate the two pieces with a dark line to break up the match. The Mahogany legs are joined to the top via a traditional wedged-mortise-and-tenon joint with Wenge brackets for additional stability. The drawer opens on both the front and back for easy access to both sides. 2011 - 53"w x 23"d x 16¾"h curly-burly-wormy Soft-Maple, African Mahogany, Wenge, Cherry