Mahogany Nightstands

[beginner]

Dave,
Can I ask you which renderer are you using?
I like the polished look so much plus the glossy, white reflections

[hellnbak]

Nice simple clean lines, and mahogany is one of my favorite woods

[Dave R]

Kurt, thank you.

Gregory, this was done in Kerkythea. I'm certainly no expert with it and barely manage to get anything close to worthwhile.

My method for this was to apply one of the plastic materials downloaded from the KT site to the mahogany material. Then I remove the orangish color of the plastice and replace it with the mahogany texture image. There's probably a better way to do that but this works for me. There are three lights. One reflecting off the ceiling to fill in the shadows and provide the highlights and two lights on the table.

[loco]

Wow very effective, great material

[Dave R]

I've been playing some more.

[mitcorb]

Great work, Dave.
Heh Heh, those dowelled legs look like a kinder, gentler avatar for TomDC

[Roger]

@dave r said:

Just a little something I've been playing with. I forgot a couple of legs for the second stand.

Thank God that virtual mahogany is cheaper than real mahogany.

[boofredlay]

Great work Dave.
My first thought was, "why did he stain and polish the pieces before assembling them?"

[Dave R]

Thanks, Eric.

Actually finishing before assembly is a good idea. You don't have to worry about getting into the corners or having glue squeeze out preventing stain from soaking into the wood. You just don't want to put varnish on the surfaces where you expect glue to stick.

Roger, you are right. Those would be rather expensive little tables.

[boofredlay]

@dave r said:

or having glue squeeze out preventing stain from soaking into the wood.

A problem that has plagued me in the past. I would think the stain would inhibit the ability of the glue to hold as well.

[Dave R]

It depends upon the type of stain. if it is oil based, it can prevent the glue from sticking at least until the stain has really dried well. A trick I use to prevent glue squeeze out from causing problems is to dry clamp the joints. Then I rub on paraffin (the stuff that comes in bars and is typically sold for canning) along the joint line. Then, when I glue up, I let the squeeze out sit and harden. A quick swipe with a scraper removes all the glue and most of the paraffin. the remaining gets wiped off with mineral spirits.

[boofredlay]

That is a neat trick. I would just wipe with a damp cloth any squeeze out but even then I would get some glue remaining in the grain.

[Dave R]

Wiping with a damp cloth is the common way to do it but it dilutes the glue allowing it to soak into the wood more easily.

[TIG]

Aren't you meant to wait until the glue starts to set and is rubbery... and then gently scrape it off - so there's no water, no dilution and no staining.
Anyway perfect joints are so good they hardly need any glue.

[Dave R]

By the time PVA glues get to that point, water won't do much for them. It's better not to disturb the glue and don't use so much that you get it running out of the joint away.

Yes, if the right joints are used, you could get away without glue.