Brian Davis, WA

Voyage IV coffee table
1300 x 680 x 450mm
WA paperbark (Melaleuca preissiana), banksia cone, jarrah burl, abalone shell and epoxy resin.

The concept of Voyage was to design a table that could impart an emotion of serenity and awe, yet a feeling of sympathy for the endangered humpback whale.
Serenity in the image of these whales floating in this rippling, wine dark sea. The serenity of the analogy of a mother’s bond with her child and the child with its mother.
Awe of the sheer size, the grace and the gentleness of these beautiful marine mammals.
Sadness in the humpback’s struggle to survive given their limited numbers, their slow rate of breeding and now, the resumption of commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research. The tabletop, rails and legs are curvilinear in keeping with the flowing organic curves of the whales aqua dynamic body.
Pale jarrah burl was selected as inlay for the belly of the whales to define the upper body and flukes, inlayed with banksia cone.
Abalone shell inlays are used to enhance the whale’s eyes and bubbles, in keeping with the aquatic theme.

Joinery and adhesives
The top is joined with biscuits and crosslinked Garrett Wade 202GF PVA. Rails and legs are held together with three dowles per rail, six into each leg and epoxy (Conglue GA) glued. Inlays are filled with Conglue SC.

Finish
Rails, legs and tabletop are sprayed with Mirotone PU 5545, a two pack polyurethane sealer, to repair and fill any minor imperfections with as many coasts and sand backs as required. The table was then finished with four to six coats of Beckers DM 25% gloss, acid cured lacquer.

Method of inlay
Templates are handcrafted from MDF. These are clamped in position and rebates are routed using large attached base plates. The bits use range from 12.7 to 3mm.
Once all the rebates are cleaned up they are painted black then randomly painted with very bright iridescent and sparkle acrylic paint.
The inlays are cut using a fine-toothed bandsaw, placed in the rebate then tacked in place with Superglue. They are filled with clear epoxy, let set for two days, then sanded flush with the top, recoated with epoxy to fill any faults, left for two days and again re-sanded.
The top is then cut to shape, the edges routed, the table is carefully sanded to a smooth finish and finally sprayed with a sealer and lacquer to a final finish.

Photos: Double G Photography