Model or Mockup?

Fish or cut bait, get ‘er done, put up or shut up, or my father’s favorite: move it or milk it. (Ya, that last one is a little sketchy.) Those of you following this blog have seen my table build grind to a halt as I dithered over the base.  

Well, today the dithering got serious.  

A scale model made to help determine design elements of the coffee table.

I’ve been considering making a full-size mockup of the base. It is a common practice when designing a unique project as it provides a ton of information and allows you to test joinery, determine size and scale in the real world, tests your cut list and a bunch of other beneficial things. That process can deliver invaluable information. You also end up with a full-size mockup, usually made from various pieces of scrap nailed and screwed together. (Then, according to my wife Mary, you have to do something with it.) 

Last night after I had already decided that I needed to make a mockup, the idea of a scale model came to me. I've done very little with scale models and I got a little excited at the idea. It would be fun and useful. Full speed ahead. 

Should the trestle have five risers under the top? Three, or seven?

I built the model at a quarter scale. I simply took the dimensions from my actual pieces and my drawings and divided them by 4. It worked like a charm. 

I did not replicate the joinery in the model, I just wanted to look at various options: where to situate the main riser, how to support the stringer under the tabletop, if I needed to add a support in the center of the top would it look terrible? Three risers, five, seven? 

Would an additional support (riser) distract from the appearance of the coffee table?

I confess that the model looked a bit more amateurish in real life than it did in my mind, but even so, it answered all my questions. And more than that, I will be going back to it and testing out some decorative ideas. Foot pads, how to terminate the ends of the base elements and the spacing of the risers. 

Even though I did not test different types of joinery, making the model did settle my mind as to what techniques I will be using. It also helped me noodle through my order of assembly. All in all, I found it to be a remarkably helpful exercise and one that I will likely attempt again. 

With many details determined and my mind more at ease, tomorrow will bring about some actual building. One step at a time.