i reckon it looks amazing

May 13, 2023 8:27 AM

Pask Makes A Mid-Century Table: a chill and genial Aussie woodworker narrates his way start to finish through a very pretty one-off dining table project that I absolutely did not start watching just because of the tiling table top pattern. Includes a brief cameo by a placid, sleepy surprise python, because Australia.
posted by cortex (24 comments total)

Tiling table top pattern? Okay, I'll just take a quick look-- 33:49 later... Wow.
I also like how completely unbothered he is, "I tried to remove the wood without disturbing the python too much..."
posted by xedrik at 8:52 AM on May 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

Neil Paskin is an absolute gem. The effortless precision with which he seems to do things is remarkable.
posted by pipeski at 9:11 AM on May 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

That was fascinating - fantastically skilled guy!
posted by leslies at 9:48 AM on May 13, 2023

Aww, python! ^_^

Small pythons are harmless as long as you don't annoy them.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 9:56 AM on May 13, 2023

Absolutely gorgeous in every way. Thanks for posting.
posted by eirias at 10:24 AM on May 13, 2023

Lovely! Thanks for posting
posted by mumimor at 11:01 AM on May 13, 2023

I usually avoid any clickbait-titled video. Glad this one was recommended by someone trustworthy, because it was terrific. I have great admiration for woodworking like this, though I am myself incapable.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 11:20 AM on May 13, 2023

Very cool. It's nice to see someone walk through the process, making it clear that woodworking is mostly about troubleshooting a thousand little problems.

….but holy hell, the quantity of YT ads made it impossible not to jump ahead to the end.
posted by brachiopod at 1:08 PM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: harmless as long as you don't annoy them.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:51 PM on May 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

How to Make a Stunning Wood Tile Pattern Top:

Start with an insane passion, a seemingly innate sense of geometric mastery, decades of experience and God knows how many mistakes to inform your confidence and a $250.000 workshop that never ceases to accommodate the continuous influx of high-end tools sent free to your door.

It's a spectacularly beautiful table and, as they say, a win-win content marketing strategy.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:32 PM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

I was _sort_ of disappointed that he didn't build up the tiling like his kumiko kayak, but I don't blame him, either.
posted by Kyol at 6:17 PM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wow. That table is gorgeous. Super cool to see the steps involved.
posted by fruitslinger at 6:44 PM on May 13, 2023

Yeah that kayak is out of this world
posted by Uncle at 8:55 PM on May 13, 2023

the quantity of YT ads made it impossible not to jump ahead to the end

Let me introduce you to FreeTube.
posted by flabdablet at 10:39 PM on May 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

That was fascinating - I was especially surprised how bothered I was by the grain directions not matching when he connected the legs to the rail, after he set it up as a potential problem. The first time he said it, I pictured it and thought, “eh, that’s just being a perfectionist.” Then when he actually joined the pieces I could see exactly why it was problematic - I felt smarter and shared his tiny concern for that pretty little table’s stability.

I kept hoping for a return appearance of the python, so that was disappointing. But there was a little bug that kept hanging out on the tabletop while he was beveling it, so that was cute.

the quantity of YT ads made it impossible not to jump ahead to the end

FWIW, I managed to have the patience to watch the whole video in the embedded site window, and there weren’t any ads. Cool!
posted by Mchelly at 4:22 AM on May 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

the quantity of YT ads made it impossible not to jump ahead to the end

I didn't watch it all the way thru but ublock/chrome/win11 and no ads.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:23 AM on May 14, 2023

That was fantastic, although I really do not need, at this point in my life, quite such an overwhelming thirst for all those beautiful, beautiful power tools.

I have been teaching a wee 20something friend of mine about woodworking, and we are making an end table for her out of bits of a good-condition pallet that we ripped apart, some scrap plywood from our roof replacement, and a pack of paint stirrers. It's finally in actual-table-shape and, I think, going to look really damned cool when it's done, in an obviously-bricolaged sort of way. But good god everything would be easier with a table saw. Or even a bandsaw.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:48 AM on May 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

A lovely table and he makes it look so effortless when, in fact, making all those angled joins line up so perfectly is the result of a lifetime of practice.
posted by dg at 10:53 PM on May 14, 2023

It's less a lifetime of practice, and more an understanding of the steps required to achieve precise angles, and various sources of error. You can pick it up fairly quickly. Table saw sleds and jigs really help. I'm planning to build a ring segment jig, which allows you to accurately cut n-sided rings that glue together really tightly (you stack the rings then turn them on a lathe to make segmented bowls and vases).
posted by pipeski at 3:15 AM on May 15, 2023

Yeah I watched a bunch more of his videos and it's clear that he spends at least as much time making tools and sleds and fences as actual projects, and that's why he can do precise joinery with little apparent effort.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:36 AM on May 15, 2023

I regularly watch his videos, and he's always so calm and charming that I don't even care what he's doing.

I will make this tabletop, though. With worse wood and worse skill, and probably different legs, and certainly not this year, but... the patterned tabletop with plywood base feels achievable and looks amazing!
posted by Acari at 10:43 AM on May 15, 2023

And yeah, there does seem to be a general progression for DIY channels from "hey here's some cool projects you can make with a chop saw, a jig saw and a drill, be sure to like and subscribe, it really helps the algorithm" to "here is my 2,000 square foot wood shop with $30,000 worth of tools that can make fine furniture, be sure to like and subscribe, and click that bell!"

I mean I get it, it's hard to keep coming up with simple projects for simple tools, and once the channel gets big enough the manufacturers figure it's cheap advertising, and there's nothing wrong with aspirational DIY like frank howarth. But I do keep my eyes open for the channels that have tools more like my own, because I like getting inspirations that I can actually follow up on without a jointer and a planer and a spindle sander and a CNC and a laser cutter and $1500 worth of baltic birch.
posted by Kyol at 11:27 AM on May 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would adore some recs if you've got them! If nothing else I find this an incredibly soothing genre.
posted by restless_nomad at 11:31 AM on May 15, 2023

the patterned tabletop with plywood base feels achievable and looks amazing!

Yeah, and that idea itself feels very removable from the bulkier total piece; I'm not making a table in the foreseeable future but I could probably pull off a small decorative wood panel just for its own sake in this style with my limited tools. For one thing, I don't need to cut wood tiles with a table saw or whatnot: I own a laser cutter! Safe and precise if probably not quite as fast. And it means I could ditch the triangles for some otherwise inconvenient-to-cut aperidodic monotiles. And it'd be a good excuse to finally mess with a bit of epoxy after watching a million videos where I'm like "huh, that could be fun".

So, hmm. Hmm.
posted by cortex at 11:36 AM on May 15, 2023 [1 favorite]