@@Sasser2015 Thats a good point anyways amazing u can play the toilet!! I always wanted to do so but they are quite expensive so i decided to stay on the urinal...
The end result actually took my breath away. The walnut is sooooo beautiful! It would have been breathtaking without any bronze inserts, but with them - wow. It’s so unique and the gold inserts contrast so well with the dark walnut. I honestly would love to see this channel branch out into more furniture making in addition to guitar builds. Combining metal and wood is something that other RU-vidrs just aren’t doing and really sets you apart.
I was attracted to your channel by the guitar builds, but really dig this table build! I also appreciate that you show your failure and success and explain how you overcome your failure to create success! Cheers from a farm hand in Kansas.
So refreshing to hear a voiceover that is focused on the work and not algorithm-scraping drivel about the comment section, engagement-pushing rhetorical questions, inane stories etc etc
The “molten aluminum” is probably “zamak”, which is an inexpensive zinc alloy, kind of like pewter in how easily it can be melted/cast/forged, but it’s lead-free and better for brushing or light machining. Every fixture in your kitchen and/or bathroom is likely made of zamak.
Gibson guitar bridges are also Zamak I think, that's why they collapse over time from the string pressure if you deck down the tailpiece (unless you then top-wrap the strings.)
This is incredibly exciting to see you branching out. Amazing work, using a router as a mill was genius and definitely appreciate the warnings attached
i swear people love to try and preserve the non-geometric features in the wood for these kinds of tables, and it always looks weird, i love your square approach to this project, it looks so smooth in the final shots
I genuinely don't see how this table can only be priced at $8500. All your art seems like its way underpriced for how much work goes into it. This must have taken over a month, and that walnut cannot have been cheap!
This video really gives meaning to the name Burls Art. Its really cool to see you make cool things other than guitars. Now I'm hoping that blacktail studio makes a guitar someday lol
Genius for the metal inserts. I have the seen the metal casting in the table method and always thought it left a lot to be desire. Individually casting the voids in metal ahead of time was a fantastic solution to get that organic look without destroying the table
Sorry if this is the second time seeing this. My comment disappeared. But I was suggesting that I really think you should hire a professional product photographer to document your work when you are done. I'm guessing you aren't near St. Louis because I'd love to shoot your stuff. But you really should hire someone with experience in product photography with a real studio and pro lighting. The pictures of this table on your website just do not show off the copper. It looks like a dull gray in all but one shot. Same with the video reveal. And you could use the photos as part of your reveal to up the production quality. It would be an added expense, but you work so long and so hard on this stuff, it really should be captured in the best light possible.
Your videos are always worth a watch, because the end result is eye catching and cool, but also seeing the sort of iterative process of you figuring things out as you go is really engaging and interesting. The table came out beautiful and it was interesting seeing how you got there, thanks
Good Day 🌅 , great looking 👀 table , especially the bronze inserts that was a great sense of achievement, and well worth the effort,, Very old English dude living in France
Absolutely stunning, the work put in is well worth the result, if I might make a suggestion for next time, make your casting and then cut the wood to fit, this way you can adjust your depth in the wood, rather that trying to remove the bronze to fit, you'll still have a hard job finishing it, but the actual fitting work would be easier, this is just a thought and I hope it helps in some way. Keep up the great work my friend. 🇬🇧
Man, I've been thinking about how to do this in my head for a long time, mostly trying to figure out how to cool the metal fast enough after the pour so it doesn't completely scorch the wood. Chill the wood, line with wax to provide a short lived barrier, etc. Creaking a silicone mold is brilliant. Maybe only cast the top 1/3 of the void? You can do an open mold that way, and just fill the open part of the void with epoxy with a copper cap. For flattening, you need to find a friend who has a CNC table....... The piece looks awesome, and even though it was a lot of work, you should be super proud of how it came out. Maybe some N3 Nano to protect the copper and keep it from oxidizing?
If you do want to try again, two things. They make copper powder that you can put in epoxy. It has the full color of copper without being so soft it dents. Do some tests, see if you like it. And two, if you do go full bronze again, the trick is to use auto body sand paper, not woodworking sand paper. I do copper art myself and the metal is wicked, tricksy and false. Otherwise, damn that figured walnut is insanely beautiful. Fantastic job.
Walnut is my favourite type of wood and it looks absolutely gorgeous. I made a custom made kitchen bench in walnut, the counter top is in walnut and I have hardwood floors in walnut. It brings warmth and depth to the room.
You said the sander sled thing hurt your hands because there was nothing to dampen the vibration. You could use bicycle grips instead of just bare wood. They have some that are very soft and would work.
You should have kept the bronze shavings from the milling & cast them in resin in another table, they would reflect light from within the resin really well.
Fantastic work! I'm guessing you're a fan of Blacktail Studios' RU-vid channel as I see you've adopted some of the tricks he uses for his table builds.
This is really beautiful! Is there a reason that you didn’t try to scribe the edge of the inserts with your least favorite marking knife in order to transfer the table level to the edge of the inserts? You still would still need to finish leveling the inserts once they were in the table, but that might let you get closer to the final dimension without having the inserts mounted.
Pretty cool to see a non-guitar project. I think it'll be cool to see you work on a variety of things, not just guitars. After all this channel is Burls Art, not Burls Guitars
Beautiful work! Liked seeing your creative workarounds for the obstacles you encountered too. Might be worth getting your hands on (heheh in) some vibration absorbing gloves just in case ye ever need them:)
Next time you could get some copper machined first in thin pieces and then use them as templets for your router to create the 'rivers'. Maybe recess them ever so slightly and then sand the table down to the height of the metal?
A VERY valid point! The buyer would be well-served to keep the table indoors, in an air-conditioned house, to keep the temperature stable and the relative humidity level low.
Very nice outcome, although I do think a lot of the trouble was trying to cast a piece that fit perfectly with the void and then machine/sand it down flat. A possibly easier option would to cast your flat piece of copper in whatever shape you wanted, machine it flat outside of the table, then cut the table top to fit the size of the copper, don't even worry about the depth either just backfill with epoxy to get the proper depth.
Honest question from someone who knows nothing about casting: Since the top is going to be flat, why can’t you just pour it into an open sand mold? Would that disturb the sand or something?
Where’s the demo? You need to pull up a chair and eat a steak or something to show how the table works. But a neck down shot of someone eating may not be particularly interesting so never mind.
Bro....🤯🤩 WELL DONE!!!! End result is freakin gorgeous! Woodworking is 1 skill I've always had an appreciation and desire to learn. Never really have had the means or opportunity to learn, besides going to RU-vid University. Still lacking in the means dept lol.
Not a metal worker but having seen others I think you could have marked the edge of bronze proud of the table with blue dykem and then ground it down away from the table
Why does the temperature measurement have to be that specific kind of thermocouple? I thought you could get a type K thermocouple that will measure to 1372 celsius (2450 F) and a thermometer or multimeter capable of the same for like 300-400 USD? Or an IR thermometer that will do 1200-1250 C (2160 F) for about the same or less?
I don't understand why you needed a top to your molds. You're casting flat objects. Wouldn't it have been much easier to just do the bottom and pour the metal directly into the shape?
Could be to do with how molten metals can shrink as they cool and it ends up with bad sunken shapes if not fully enclosed? Disclaimer: Not a metalworker so i’m curious to hear the reasoning too.
You don't need a $2k thermocouple to dip it for a moment into molten copper, type K or N rated for continuous use at 2200F are about $100 from reputable manufacturers like Omega, random brand ceramic furnace S types are about $300
