chrisphr Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Thought it might be fun to do a project journal for for my first hardwood project. I pulled the plans from Fine Woodworking, see the picture below. While initially I was going to build out of QSWO, instead I will use walnut due to availability, and I also dig the look of walnut. Picked up the lumber yesterday and looking forward to cutting it down to rough lengths. For the top, I was really happy to get piece of walnut about 17" wide, and about 12' long with close to no flaws. The coffee table finished is about 24" wide, I would love your feedback about how to plan my cuts in the rough stock to get an attractive balanced looking top. Here are my tool/skill limitations: I own a 6" jointer and a 13.5" planer. I don't own or have the skills yet for hand planing and probably want to save that skill building excersize for another project. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Four 6" boards = 24". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Eric is right. If you aren't up to flattening by hand, ripping the board to fit your jointer is a good idea. You can glue the pieces back in the same order to keep the appearance of one wide board. You could also glue up your top from wider pieces and use a router sled to mill it flat. I've done that before on a 24" wide table top. It did require a good deal of planing / scraping / sanding to make it smooth, but at least the faces were flat and parallel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 You could also get away with 3 8" boards which looks like what the plan has? You'd have to use your planer to flatten both sides and then joint the edge but, it will work. You could also get away with 2 12s this way as well. Good luck! That is a great looking piece of walnut! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted February 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Thanks!Four 6" boards = 24". Reminds me of the line from Zoolander "the files are IN the computer...? It's so simple". Just before he smashes the computer open to retrieve said files. Do you think I can get away without flipping alternating boards in the glue up to preserve the grain continuity? I've seen that done a number of times in edge glues. I recall the reason was so the tendency to cup was off set by the adjoining boards and also just in case your jointer was a tad out of square (of course the latter reason can be solved). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 This is a mission style table you're building? Mission pieces typically have substantial elements...point being the base will be hefty enough to hold the top down without distorting the base if the top wants to bow. I find the "flip every other board" method to be overrated, although it's probably correct in theory. Grain matching will always trump board flipping in my projects. But all other things being equal, I'd probably do it. I find that the best grain match often happens accidentally WHEN flipping the boards...especially on the end grain...everything kind of flows like waves instead of there being a bunch of sequential smiley faces or frowns. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted February 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 Cut to rough lengths for 2 weeks of acclimation in the dining room. I can tell the wifey-pooh is really digging this. The tie downs are there for child proofing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Step 1 the legs. Cut to rough size an joint and plane down to 3/4. Glue up Scrape glue before heading to the jointer again Mill to final thickness Cut to final length. Voila, table legs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Nice amount of work! Some major squeeze out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Nice amount of work! Some major squeeze out there Ha, yup. I am following the companion video to the plans, FWW Gregory Paolini. He must have said "glue is cheap, don't be stingy" like four times for the leg glue up. I was probably more generous than he imagined.... :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I squeegee up a lot of the glue before it dries. But if you ever have a glue starved joint pop apart at the worst time possible it is better to waste a little glue than to remake a part. Looking good so far. I like Arts and Crafts style furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Just one other thought.. You might think about putting some parchment paper under your glue ups, makes the clean up much easier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Couple random thoughts. Walnut rocks and it looks like you are off to a good start. I like QSWO as much as the next guy, but for some reason it bothers me when people get stuck thinking all arts and crafts stuff needs to be QSWO. It will look awesome in walnut. Looks like you are using TB3 glue. Early on I used it on everything then realized it was overkill for most project so switched to TB original. Nothing has fallen apart yet. your shop looks like mine with the kids' toys competing for space. Love the big wheel mixed into the action. Although you must be somewhere warm. Our bikes and trikes are packed up for the winter. I am jealous. And you question of flipping boards, I have decided that is a myth perpetuated by norm. He mentioned it in every glue up. Maybe back in the day when stuff was dried to questionable levels it made more sense. I am with Eric, grain pattern rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Just one other thought.. You might think about putting some parchment paper under your glue ups, makes the clean up much easier. Absolutely! That was some of the "experience" I gained with this glue up. The wisdom of parchment paper occurred to me almost immediately after it was too late. Lucky the bench was recently waxed otherwise I would have been hosed. The clamps are another story - might need a wire brush and some elbow grease for those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Walnut rocks and it looks like you are off to a good start. I like QSWO as much as the next guy, but for some reason it bothers me when people get stuck thinking all arts and crafts stuff needs to be QSWO. It will look awesome in walnut. Thanks, I was worried it might look weird. Glad to have a second opinion that it will still look good. Looks like you are using TB3 glue. Early on I used it on everything then realized it was overkill for most project so switched to TB original. Nothing has fallen apart yet. your shop looks like mine with the kids' toys competing for space. Love the big wheel mixed into the action. Although you must be somewhere warm. Our bikes and trikes are packed up for the winter. I like how you guys don't miss anything! Good call on the glue. Had that in the garage because of a different glue up that I wanted some addition working time. When I started setting up for this glue up, realized I was out of the standard variety tite bond. Figured it wouldn't hurt to use the fancy stuff. I guess my glue isn't as cheap as Gregory Paolini's, but still cheap. :-) Yup, share the garage with kids toys. I actually built a multi level "toy corral" to keep that junk in one corner of the garage although I am the only one in the family who uses it. I have refrained from suggesting my wife use the corral instead of tossing toys in any open floor space as she currently does. Some things best left unsaid. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pghmyn Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 That really is some quality looking Walnut. Good build so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted March 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I know this is going slowly, but it is moving. Milled and cut to length all the frame parts last night. I do however have a nasty worm hole to fill. Based upon what I've read on this forum, make filler out of sawdust and epoxy. Is that the best way? I think this hole should hide fairly well under the shadow of the top. I assume the process is to scrape the worm poop out, mix the epoxy, mix in the sawdust, pour into the hole, sand smooth when dry. Please correct me if wrong. After fixing some of the wood blemishes I get to start the joinery. Woo hoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I would route out an area and glue a patch over something that big. You only need to route about 3/16 to a 1/4 deep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Personally, I would determine if this has to be hidden or can be embellished? If it has to be hidden, I would consider a new piece or what Wdwerker suggested. If it doesn't have to be hidden, I would consider just filling with epoxy and let it be seen. Worm holes and knots sometimes add to the look of particular pieces. Only you can decide what this piece calls for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I am with TIODS, if it were my piece I'd let it be seen. Either leave it alone, clear epoxy, or epoxy dyed black with india ink. I wouldn't not try to hide it with sawdust or epoxy dyed to match the wood. It just won't look right. wdwerker's idea is good, just takes a little more skill/patience to pull off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 I've heard of mixing sawdust with wood glue for small holes, and epoxy with dye for larger holes, but I've never heard of mixing epoxy with sawdust. Maybe you're confusing two different techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 You probably don't wanna hear my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 eric we know it. buy a new board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted March 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Stupid worms :-). I kinda suck at woodworking and have like 2 or 3 hours a week to do it so milling another board is going set me back before getting to the fun part of this build. But I know the blemish will drive me crazy, particularly since Eric implied I should get a new board and Woodsap made it explicit. Unfortunately I don't think the worm hole will look good unhidden in this case, the rest of the boards are real clean so it will look like unintended blemish. I'd like to try the inlay repair idea, but some other time when I've gained more skills. Thanks for the ideas and opinions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted March 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 After further consideration, I decided to give Wdwerker's idea a shot. Figured I was just going to throw this piece in the scrap bin, so what would I be losing if I screwed it up. And besides, it might give me the confidence to attempt a decorative inlay sometime. Hard part was the location didn't lend itself to an easy grain match, but I found a piece that was in the ballpark. Marked it out. I made it longer than the worm hole because it looked like the grain would match better. Routed the slot out: Chiseled the ends square: Fit the piece, glued it in trying the sawdust "slurry" idea: Scrapped and sanded flush, hit it with some mineral spirits to see how it might look. Not bad, but the outline seems to be pretty visible. Is this as good as it gets or is there a trick to blending in the inlay to make it harder to see it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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