Popular Woodworking 2009-02 № 174, страница 43

The Barnsley

Hay Rake Table

Inspired by the agricultural tools of rural England, this massive oak table is awash in hand-worked details.

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JL. J^sa young fellow growing up in the countryside ofWales, 1 clambered over many a farm wagon, climbed into many a loft in barns that were jointed and pegged, and tripped over many a hay rake on my adventures.

I have always appreciated the simple, utilitarian, yet pleasing design of the vernacular woodworking of the countryside. My inspiration for furniture forms has always been the work of the wheelwright and coach maker. And the inspiration for how to build things came in part from Sidney Barnsley and Ernest Gimson.

Barnsley and Gimson were men of the Cotswolds school of craft architects. They were part of a group of London architects who moved to the countryside in the 19 th century and set up what is known today as the English Arts & Crafts movement (along with William Morris at Kelmscott Manor).

These free thinkers broke away from convention and began to design not only the buildings, but the furnishings as well. And they turned to the rural countryside for their inspiration.

The hay rake table built for Rodmarton Manor was an example of how Gimson and Barnsley adopted details from farm wagons, carts and farming implements that were still in use in the Cotswolds.

The wagons of the farming community had many details a layman would not be aware of — the dish of the wheel, the complex undercarriage, the chamfering of braces for

BY DON WEBER

both decorative and structural intent. Adzed surfaces and chamfered edges added visual appeal and reduced weight in a farm wagon. The hay rake shape of the stretcher was an element found in farm equipment.

This table is made from Valley Oak (Quer-cus lobata), a gift from a friend who worked for a vineyard in Northern California. 1 milled the 8/4 planks eight years ago and carried them to their present location in Paint Lick, Ky., with the intent of building this very table. At last!

Fine Joinery in the Top

The top of the table was made from two flitch-cut planks of oak that were 24" wide and 2" thick. There was some sap wood to remove, so the overall width of the tabletop finished at 40" with a finished thickness of 1%".

The original design called for butterfly splines to join the planks at their edges, but 1 decided to dowel the edges together with '/2 "-diameter osage orange dowels. No biscuit joiner here! After assembly, 1 used a scrub plane to level the glued-up planks to a reasonably flat surface.

The breadboard ends on the top not only cover the end grain but also keep the top from warping. First 1 cut the tenons on each end. The tenons are 2" long and %" thick. 1 cut them with a backsaw and rebate plane (which is calleda rabbet plane on thisside of the Atlantic). I then sawed out the spaces between the tenons (leaving a short stub between each tenon) and cleaned things up with a chisel.

For the 3¹ A"-wide end boards, 1 cut a groove with a plow plane to receive the stub, and 1 cut the deep mortises with a drill and chisel to receive the tenons. A router and mortising machine would, of course, also do the job.

60 ■ Popular Woodworking February 2009