What do you think of this? A coffee table made of a nice wooden top plus a hatchet on each corner to act as legs. The heads of the hatchets are chromed, but are they modified with some sort of James Bond laser arc welder? Or perhaps the table is so dead simple almost anyone could make one.
Could my local cabinet maker handle this job?
You would need to notch the hatchet heads with a water jet or bandsaw. Probably cost a few hundred dollars to have a machine shop do all four. Then, you need to drill a couple of holes in the bottom of the hatchet blade - that could be done in a home machine shop. You could then either polish the heads, or take them and have them chromed.
Note the description on the page: “Resin composite axe heads”.
Looks remarkably simple to build. You need a top made, the slots to fit the heads of the hatchet, and then some way to form an attachment. I’d just drill holes in the heads to attach brackets that can be screwed into the table top from underneath. They could be welded on too. Doesn’t sound too tough. Not sure if the entire hatchet head has been hardened, so a you’d need to drill with a carbide tip just in case. I’ll bet a cabinet maker could handle it. I’m tempted myself, we need a new coffee table.
Well sure, if you go for the wimpy European store-bought version.
I can’t tell from the picture if the axe heads are notched or the table top is notched, or both. If both are notched, then the thing could easily hold itself together without any screws or nails. I’d probably drill a hole through the bottom of the axe head and screw the legs into place though just so they can’t wiggle off if the table moves around.
Ye ol local cabinet maker should be able to make one fairly easily, though he might have to take the axe heads to a metal shop if he doesn’t have the right equipment to make the notch in them. As beowulff said, notching the axe heads isn’t that difficult.
I don’t know why everybody wants to notch the heads. Just drill 2 small holes through the side of each axe head, then bolt small right angle brackets on each side through the holes. They can be screwed directly into the table top, or to reinforcing framework underneath.
If you drill two holes through the heads, I would suppose a simple wooden or metal dowel would support the tabletop. (But continuing the thought indicates you could kick out a table leg by accident. Never mind.)
Slots? Notching? Dowels?
Dude, get a grip, aim at the corner of the table and swing those hatchets like a man.
Honestly, next you’ll be asking how to mount a severed head on an iron-effect spike using concealed fixtures.
I Lol’d. Great post.
I made a coffee table a few years back out of a shipping pallet that caught my eye and a sheet of beveled glass plus some legs I had cut.
It was harder than you’d think. Especially if you want the piece to be sturdy enough to sit on and to last for a long time.
I couldn’t make that coffee table.
I’d weld a rectangular steel frame to the hatchet heads and put a skirt on the top that would hide the frame.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I want to notch the heads and not the table because notching the table will weaken the wood. Wood isn’t as strong across the grain. The small triangular bits along the long table edge will be susceptible to breaking off.
That’s one of the reasons why you a reinforcing structure underneath the table anyway. I’d be more worried about warp at the corners. Notches in the head would be great if the tabletop was made of steel, and the hatchet heads made out wood, but being the otherway around I’d do the minimum amount of work to the metal part. Even with notches you still have to make a positive connection between the hatchets and the top.
I doubt it – it’s probably a plywood top with a veneer, so plenty strong.
The handles do look a bit thin for supporting a table of that size – not sure how shaky the table would be. You’d really have to spend some thought on the fastening of the hatchet heads to the table (I like the idea of the metal frame.)
Figuring out the exact dimensions might be tricky – and the wrong dimensions might look clunky.
But as far as actual wood working goes, it’s a very simple design. So any competent cabinet maker or even amateur could come up with something pretty close. (The ethics of taking someone else’s design without compensation is something I assume the OP has already dealt with.)
That a pretty boring table top for such unique legs. Shouldn’t it be a more natural looking slab of cedar or maple cut on the bias from a massive trunk?
That would really look good! I wouldn’t chrome the axe heads myself, but that’s a matter of personal taste. The picture in the OP shows a creative concept, and it could be developed in a lot of different directions. I like the metal frame idea too. It could be welded or bolted to the heads. With any method used, the handles can be adjusted to deal with minor alignment issues.
If you cut a notch in the axe heads for a tabletop of a certain thickness … well you would have some fancy cyphering to get the but just right. Screw it up and the four handles would not be at the same angle.
I would have no idea how to do that.
So, on the second picture (after you click on enlarge picture) you can see that the ax heads are notched and the wood is not.
Plus, it says that it has a veneer on it which, to me, implies that this is plywood with a veneer on it. Nothing wrong with that but plywood and natural wood are different. I also think that for a long-term application that the plywood will warp or bend. I think the table is the “piece” and nothing is to be placed on it.
Any ways, this is entirely possible for someone to make. Even if you used real steel ax heads. One could easily use a right angle grinder with cutting discs to cut the ax heads. Yes, that will take awhile but cheaper than a water jet for a small project.
I also notice what looks like “pins” on the side of the ax heads to probably stabilize.
If I were you, and really wanted this table, I would take this picture, your four axes, and take it all to a carpenter/furniture maker and ask them to make it. Probably won’t look 100% the same but the overall impression will.
No agreed you want to notch the heads. Much better for the wood to be a continuous surface with horizontal (and therefore less visible) joint planes. Also, it would be relatively easy to get a perfectly horizontal cut in the heads which the table top would match perfectly, creating a near invisible join. Notching the tabletop (four times) in a complex compound curve that must perfectly match the heads - else end up with a crappy and highly visible gap - would be damn hard.
And your point can (and IMHO should) be turned on its head. Relatively soft and weak things (like tabletops) should be left in large strong shapes if at all possible. Tough things (like axeheads) can be notched etc into “weak” shapes with small protrusions without risk of splitting or breaking off.