wdwerker Posted August 16, 2014 Report Share Posted August 16, 2014 Nice combination ! Good choice of woods to contrast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted August 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 Quick update again. I flattened the boards, the thickness of the table will end up being about 5/4 inches. I also took the clamps off the breadboards and cleaned up the edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted August 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Some more progress tonight. I got to the shop and did some final thickness planing for the boards. The final thickness is just a hair under 5/4. This is a far cry from the original thickness I was hoping for but I have come to terms with it. Additionally I did some final ripping of the boards to width to eliminate sap wood on my preferred side up. The final effect is as follows: I also laid the breadboards onto the boards for purposes of showing what the final product might look like. I may lament the planing I needed to do to get everything flat, but the end result is difficult to argue with. The boards even without clamping are pretty darn flat when on a flat surface. I have everything ready at this point to do the glueup for both the base and the tabletop. The next issue I have is the breadboards. My original idea for the breadboards was to use a router to cut a tennon all the way across and then cut a dado into the breadboard pieces and attach the breadboard that way, so the effect looked like this: After telling this to a fairly knowledgeable fellow at my woodworking club he said that I should not attach the breadboards that way, but instead cut the tenons short before the end of the table and make a mortise in the breadboards so the ends of the tenon are encapsulated. The concern being that during the change of the seasons the table will shrink differently then the breadboards such that the table will become proud or sunken and be more noticeable then if the breadboards encapsulated the tenon. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 I have to agree about using a closed mortise, rather than a groove. The table WILL shrink or expand, and the exposed joint is much more noticable. With the closed joint, you also have the option of going Green and Green style, and leaving the breadboard proud of the table top on purpose as a decorative element. Then any shrinkage will be unnoticable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 23, 2014 Report Share Posted August 23, 2014 Although I would tend to agree on leaving the joint hidden, it really is a personal choice based on the look you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted August 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Big update today. I went to the woodworking club and got the entire base glued up. I was going to the top but due to time and space was not able to make that happen. The glueup went reasonably well (could have been better and could have been worse) which puts it slightly above par for my glueups At any rate I began by glueing up the leg assemblies After that I moved onto the apron. In between I glued on the long hard maple stretcher. That fit down so snugly that I didn't even bother to clamp it. After that I just put on the rest of the apron. When doing the aprons I had to disturb my clamps several times and I am worried this will lead to weak joints. Nothing I can do about it right now, but it is a concern that I will be testing tomorrow when the clamps come off. Next up the glueing of the tabletop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Nice progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 If the glue was still soft and pliable when you disturbed the clamps there should be no problem. If it was hot and the glue kicked off quickly the only worry would be if the joints opened up considerably for a length of time... It happens to us all. I do a complete dry clamping run so I can figure out spots where clamps can interfere with each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted August 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Another good day woodworking. I took the clamps off the base and it looked pretty solid so I think I am going to be alright. After the clamps were off I went ahead and glued up the table. This time I did a dry clamping first and that made a pretty big difference. The glueup of the top went about as perfectly and smoothly as I could have hoped for. Once the top was glued up I got the random orbit sander out and started in on the base. I managed to do most of it at 80 grit before time ran out. Its hard to tell but all the edges have been rounded over just a bit. I plan to sand up to about 180 or 200 and then put the finish on. I am thinking of going with a varnish of some kind but I am very open to suggestions. At the shop where the table is at I do not have access to a spray gun so the finish will be applied with a rag or brush. I also wanted to darken the cherry a little bit with an amber finish if at all possible. I also don't want to put down such a thick coat of finish that I can't feel the wood anymore. Which finish is going to be easy to apply, and also not build up such a film that I can only feel the finish and not the wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Arm-R-Seal would be a good option. You'll get some darkening but, not much yellowing. Test on some scrap first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted August 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 Think I should go with Satin, or Semi-Gloss on Arm-R-Seal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted August 24, 2014 Report Share Posted August 24, 2014 I like the Satin but, that's just a personal preference. Suggest testing some pieces and see what you like. It does change as you add layers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 To get a good protective finish without losing the 'feel' of the wood, I suggest that you do the wiping varnish thing, and apply multiple coats of thinned Arm-R-Seal to get the film you want. This may take several days, so if time is tight, you can build up an undercoat by wiping on thin shellac ( think Bullseye sealcoat with some more alcohol added. This allows several coats in just a few hours. Then to the final coat with Arm-R-Seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted August 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Fortunately time is not tight. The girlfriend knows about the table and is eager for it, but I am not trying to hit a specific date. Since I am only going to the woodshop every few days and then only for a few hours its really my usable time that is limited. But that's not so bad when it comes to applying a finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted August 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2014 Some more progress. Only been able to put a couple of hours into the table this week so far. Basically all I have done is take the clamps off the table top, flatten the boards a bit with a hand plane and get to sanding. Looking forward there is going to be a LOT of sanding before I am ready for finish. Here is the table after doing a lot of the work with the hand plane. And here it is after working one side over with 80 grit. Today I also did some more sanding of the base and flattened the top of the base where the table will ultimately rest so everything is nice and flush. Next up is flattening the other side of the table with the plane more sanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted September 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2014 Got a bunch of time in the shop today so was able to get some things done. I had during the week gotten a few hours randomly in the shop, but the only thing I did was continue sanding the base. Today I got the table flipped over and started working on the other side. This side had LOTS of glue drips so I began with a number 4 plane... and well.. that took a while. After the plane had its day I used a sander to even it out and took this side from 60 to 80 to 120. With both sides now fairly flat and even it was time to cut the ends off. The shop I am at has a lot of festool tools including the track saw. I have only used the track saw once before but it is definitely a pretty sweet system and I will almost certainly need to get an equivalent item for my own shop one day. Having trimmed the table to length and squared it off I was now ready to make the tenon for the bread boards. I was pretty excited about this and I had thought about the best way to do it for some time. My solution was to make a jig that could sit on the table and be my pattern as it were for the tenon and then use a router bit with a bearing to follow the pattern and cut out the tenon. I would then use a fine tooth saw to cut out the corners. This seemed to be going pretty well till I got a bit more then halfway through the cut. Concerned with chipout on the other end I removed the router to enter from the other side of the table. This was a bad idea and caused the router to basically destroy my jig and mess up my table. (Important safety tip in case is there is anyone actually as clueless as me. Don't pick up the router off your pattern or jig till after you have switched it off AND it has stopped moving) There were various trials and tribulations with this jig over most of the day and ended up building the darn things 3 times! The first time it actually was completely non functional because it was too thick to allow my router bit to get to the right depth. The final time I made the jig bigger then previous versions so that I could make my tenon a bit longer and thus come back and cut out the section where I messed up. Ignore the blue tape. Its not actually holding it on Tomorrow I will likely be back in the shop and with any luck will have my bread boards installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 6, 2014 Report Share Posted September 6, 2014 Nice day in the shop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted September 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2014 Another day in the shop and this time some real structural progress has been made! I used the new jig to clean up the old tenons, then flipped the table and used the jig there as well. I did end up destroying said jig with the router towards the end. However by then I was mostly done with the process and was able to sorta "make do." After that it was pretty simple to saw off the corners of the tenon and clean them up with a chisel. Now that I had my finished tenons it was time to create my mortise. Using a dial a dado set to 1/4 inch I dropped my breadboard onto the blade and did a stopped cut. I have never done this before and was a bit nervous about it but it turned out to be very easy with a little prep. I basically just snuck up on the correct width for each mortise by making multiple cuts moving the fence a small amount each time. This left me with a lot of material at the ends of the cut that needed to be removed. I used a 3/8" drill bit to get a lot of it out then locked it in a vice and cleaned up the rest with a chisel and hammer. This took a while. Actually it took much longer then I thought the whole breadboard portion should take. At any rate I finally got both cleaned up and mostly dry fit into place. (Didn't push on all the way cause I was afraid I would never get them back off again) Then it was time for the glue-up. This went pretty well and I ended up using the three longest clamps in the whole shop. Still I was glad we had clamps that long to begin with. Next up will be more sanding and then finally I will be able to put on the finish. The breadboards will be a left a bit proud on each side to accommodate the change in seasons without too much fuss. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted September 7, 2014 Report Share Posted September 7, 2014 Looking awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted September 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 Question for you folks. Should I put feet on my table? By that I mean the little rubber feet that would go on the bottom of the table. In the past with things like shop furniture I have put rubber feet on the bottom and I found it helps to level furniture put on an uneven concrete slab. The table where it will go right now (my girlfriend's apartment) will likely have a very level floor. But she will move from there in another year and I have no idea where it will be down the line. Thoughts on feet? And while we are at it, where to get them? This will be a pretty heavy table so my thoughts about sturdiness leads me away from the small little ones I see on sale at rockler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 Looks like the small inconvenient setbacks were worth it. This thing is looking sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 Rubber or felt, something must be there in my opinion. Too many damaged floors in my past career to recommend nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 Looks great, very well done! Also, I think you need another lathe! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted September 8, 2014 Report Share Posted September 8, 2014 I would use felt, so it can slide when you want to move it. Rubber is more likely to just peel off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minorhero Posted September 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2014 I have never heard of using felt. Where do I pick it up? Any tips for securing it? (or should I just search it and find some videos?). @MikeM: yeah I personally only own 1 lathe. However I am building this table at a woodworking club a heck of a lot closer to where I am living then where all my tools are located. The club has a lot of lathes.. Not exactly sure off hand how man, my guess would be about 12-15 including at least one big oneway lathe. Its a pretty awesome shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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