Parquet table 2

Choosing the layout

Finished result

This was my first attempt at a parquet table. Or rather the first successful attempt after a zillion different failed arragements.

Cutting the parquet isn't for sissies. The cuts have to be hugely precise. The slightest deviation from exact measurement results in a huge wander when multiplied by the number of pieces. Even so, there were few discards. But yes, you need a fairly good quality mitre saw to cut consistent sizes with square edges.

One tiny surprise was that years of annual cleaning and sanding when the parquet was huddled together as a floor had resulted in the centre pieces being thinner than the edges pieces where the machines could not reach. Having a job lot of parquet pieces, I did not check for thickness, having made the lazy assumption that the pieces would all be the same. When reassembled in new combinations, this irregularity resulted in a charmingly bumpy surface, which I liked a lot, but had to sand down as it annoyed everyone else. The final surface utterly planar and smooth as glass. Well, almost.

The variation in colour of the mahogany is so delicious that the surface is almost too attractive to put anything on. As this table top is now my desk, barely none of the surface is in view. Or even suspected.