Terry has suggested using artificial ivory for the white triangle bits. Timber would be very hard to use for that purpose, and it will never be white enough.
Searched the Web, found stuff on masecraftsupply.com. Ordered, and it has already arrived to our USA office today. Will be in Sydney in 10 days!

A friend came, looked at the corners assembly, and quickly pointed out that the pattern lines are broken making it look unnatural. After some hesitation, I concurred. Changed the design. Here is the new way (Same in all 4 corners):

Spent a day in the workshop experimenting with the ornament. Here is the day's result:

The corners are the hardest bit, so I spent most time on working out the corners.







I made a special jig for cutting the bits:

Made an experiment with cutting out a small fragment of the ornament. Terry helped by devising a rather sophisticated jig for his new dropsaw, The result is outstanding!

Richard the veneer-man has manufactured a few 'rainbow sandwiches'  made out of dozens of layers of different colors of veneer.

One of them came up pretty good:

This piece will be used for making the main feature of the ornament:

The other piece didn't come out terribly well. Richard will need to re-do it:

Spent time on digitizing the ornamental pattern of the inlay. Here:

The corners are not so easy to 'un-tangle'. So far looks ok to me.

Spent some time working on the ornament. Will be experimenting with laser cutting next week (http://www.smslaser.com.au, great professionals!)
According to SMS people, the laser beam is just 0.05mm, so I don't need to make any allowances for the thickness of the cut line.

Paul has sent me a rendered image. So cool!

Now with approximate inlay:

The latest from Paul. Getting there.

Discussed with Terry. He made a few practical suggestions about how to make the table structurally strong.

Sent an email to Brod from Garde Timber (www.gardetimber.com.au) inquiring about QLD Maple slabs.

or even like that:

Really getting to like it:

Please note that the space between the supporting rails is now filled:

Now I have a feeling that the legs could benefit from an extra horizontal line, a divider. Or two.

Will need to see whether the new element should be an insert or really a groove, exposing the inner 'dark matter'.

Back to Paul...

The latest update from Paul:

Better. But still needs more work. I want to try something like:

This is what I've received from Paul this morning:

Looks much better. I can now see a few spots where it is 'peasant'-looking. Will need to change. To something like that:

Asked Paul to change the model.

Played with the model a bit more. Became rather clear that a flat shape of the top part does not work.
Should be something less straightforward. Like this:

Asked Paul to change the model. Let's wait and see.

Paul is a professional 3D designer. He lives and works in Moscow for the company which developed the most advanced industrial 3D modelling software - T-Flex (www.tflex.com).
It takes Paul very little time to create a sophisticated parameterized model which can be later re-sized and re-shaped to my liking.

This is Paul:

After spending an hour playing with the model:

I know it is not very impressive yet. And it is not meant to be (yet). This is just the beginning.

A visit to Specialty Wood Veneer Panels shop

Visited the shop. See more on this page.

The more I look at the drawings, the more I'm inclined to make the middle section thick, really thick.
Like that:

And add a bit of curve to the front face of the middle section:

Colors.
I'm considering using two dominant colors - dark brown and warm light color. The inlay will be a combination of very dark brown and the whitest possible timber I can find.
See samples and sketches in the "thinking about colors" page.

The new dining table project.
A large (8 seater? 10 seater?) dining table, combining a mixture of traditional and contemporary elements.
Timber, glass, timber inlay.

The main creative trigger for the new design was this photo of a panel, taken by Lara somewhere in Istanbul:

When I saw it I immediately thought of using it as a table top inlay. A snapshot of my initial thoughts can be viewed in the "Preliminary Conceptual Sketches" page. Feel free to post any comments, questions and suggestions.