Jet Engine Coffee Table
This coffee table has been one of the more unique pieces I had the pleasure of designing and building. The piece of machinery in the center of the table is a compression chamber from a jet engine out of a Bowing 727. The client that commissioned this project wanted a unique way to display the engine. After a few design iterations, we came up with a coffee table where a glass river flows out of the jet engine.
The base is made from walnut that is dyed to match some of the other millwork in the house. I reinforced the base with a hidden steel frame to help support the engine's weight. I used one of my favorite design elements to make it look like a bridge; even though the water is flowing over the top of the bridge instead of underneath it, I think the element helps tie the theme together.
The top is made from a live edge cottonwood slab, which had some beautiful burls in it. The cottonwood tree was felled here in Colorado and provided by a local arborist, who helped slab the tree and dry the wood. The glass was waterjet cut to follow the grain in the wood and wrap around the shape of the burl. I then carefully inlaid it into the top of the slab.
To get it in position at the client's place, I built a custom crate to strap the engine in and then used a mobile engine hoist/crane to place it into the back of the truck. The crate was notched specifically to sit on a dolly so it could be rolled around. I took the crane apart and loaded it into the truck with the table. Once on-site, we reassembled the crane to get it out of the truck and wheeled the engine inside over a makeshift ramp to get over any steps and thresholds. I disassembled the crane, brought it inside, and reassembled it to lift the engine in place onto the base. Then, I added the cottonwood slabs and slid the glass into place. I then reversed the process and took apart the crane to get back outside and into the back of the truck. I felt pretty proud that I pulled off a nicely choreographed bit of engineering to get it into its final resting place.