Texas Table
This table is made from ambrosia maple, mesquite and cattle horns. Dimensions are 24" x 41" x 21" (height x width x diameter) between horn tips.
My son-in-law has one of the S.E.A.T.s. While I was visiting I realized he needed a small table to go with it as a work top/desk. He wanted it to be the same height as the ends of the arms on the chair. Since they live in Texas, I thought I needed to make something that said they were real Texans. While I was visiting I found a couple pieces of natural edged mesquite slabs (see the mesquite side table) to use for small table tops solving that requirement, but I'm known for something unusual. Hm... what could be more Texan than furniture made with cattle horns? Cool idea.
It turns out there's not a lot of sources for cattle horns in the U.S and so the horns originate from India. The apron corner blocks have turned tenon ends about 2-1/2" to 3" long which extend into the horns to give them support. The tenons are recessed into the apron block by about 1/4". This makes it so the end of the horn is not seen. The horns are attached to the tenon by wrapping the tenon with an epoxy putty. If you see some shiny spots on the horns, you may be seeing blisters in the horn which is evidently a common blemish in this type of material. The length of the legs was determined by setting the horns onto the corner blocks and bringing the tips of the horns together, then measuring the difference in length. This amount was carefully sawn off the horns using the bandsaw. In the end the horn tips were exactly on.
The mesquite is irregularly shaped running from 11" to 15" wide on the opposite ends. To accommodate this difference, the apron is bowed (using bent laminations) and the distance between the legs varies. Because the table had a height requirement and I wasn't certain how the legs would work, I had planned on having a floating top which I could use to adjust the height. There are two crosspieces with tenons custom fit to the bowed angle between the back and front aprons. The crosspieces support 4 copper tubes that raise the top above the apron and leg ends.
My son-in-law has one of the S.E.A.T.s. While I was visiting I realized he needed a small table to go with it as a work top/desk. He wanted it to be the same height as the ends of the arms on the chair. Since they live in Texas, I thought I needed to make something that said they were real Texans. While I was visiting I found a couple pieces of natural edged mesquite slabs (see the mesquite side table) to use for small table tops solving that requirement, but I'm known for something unusual. Hm... what could be more Texan than furniture made with cattle horns? Cool idea.
It turns out there's not a lot of sources for cattle horns in the U.S and so the horns originate from India. The apron corner blocks have turned tenon ends about 2-1/2" to 3" long which extend into the horns to give them support. The tenons are recessed into the apron block by about 1/4". This makes it so the end of the horn is not seen. The horns are attached to the tenon by wrapping the tenon with an epoxy putty. If you see some shiny spots on the horns, you may be seeing blisters in the horn which is evidently a common blemish in this type of material. The length of the legs was determined by setting the horns onto the corner blocks and bringing the tips of the horns together, then measuring the difference in length. This amount was carefully sawn off the horns using the bandsaw. In the end the horn tips were exactly on.
The mesquite is irregularly shaped running from 11" to 15" wide on the opposite ends. To accommodate this difference, the apron is bowed (using bent laminations) and the distance between the legs varies. Because the table had a height requirement and I wasn't certain how the legs would work, I had planned on having a floating top which I could use to adjust the height. There are two crosspieces with tenons custom fit to the bowed angle between the back and front aprons. The crosspieces support 4 copper tubes that raise the top above the apron and leg ends.