rguinn Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I've been lurking on the forums here for a while now and figured it past time I contribute. While I have a bit of construction experience and spent my youth building with my dad, this is the beginning of my foray into hardwoods and aspirations of fine wood working. I'm working on a Trestle table for my wife that will be a smallish dinning / kitchenette table. I'm working with 6/4 cherry, for the joinery I'm using a Domino. Its final dimensions will be roughly 36 x 60 This table initially started as an idea from Marc's trestle table video. However I needed it to be wider and not quite so long to fit in the location it will be going. I wanted to do some form of sculpted legs, and really latched onto the Maloof inspired work. I really didn't have a very good idea of how to assemble the legs, I spent quite a bit of time researching and looking for as many variants as I could find. And had my answers after stumbling across a blog post at http://lohrschool.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-new-lohr-woodworking-live-edge-table.html with a little boost in my confidence, and after settling on some general dimensions I drew up this template. I didn't really take any pictures of the rough work, assemble and initial sculpting. I rough cut the template at the band saw, and very carefully used my router to clean up sections with out a lot of grain direction changes. This set of legs has been roughly shaped with rasps, and I did a super quick sanding so I could show my wife, who loves it. I'm pretty happy with how its looking. I have some additional shaping and a ridiculous amount of sanding to do still. One thing I should have done differently, the rough assembly of the legs I cut the length of the middle boards too closely to the final dimensions I should have left them a little long and cleaned them up after the legs were attached to the main upright. I've ordered a spoke shave to help get through some of the other parts, and I think I need to find another rasp that I can do some finer finesse work with. My hands need a break from the rasps; tonight I think I'm going to do the milling of the table top boards. Thanks Ricky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Nice! Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Looking good. I like the shape and the shaping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgreenb Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Looks great so far Ricky! I built a trestle table a few years ago and ended up with something similar to your design (see below), though I think I like yours better because it appears so much "lighter". Looking forward to following this build. Edit: Also, if you're looking for a new rasp, look no further: https://www.lie-nielsen.com/nodes/4094/auriou-rasps Worth every penny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Welcome in, Ricky. Thanks for sharing this build, it looks very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Welcome to the forums Ricky! Looking great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rguinn Posted April 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2015 Don’t feel like I’ve made much progress in terms of the table, but I have spent a bunch of time shaping and learning how to use my new spoke shave, which just feels right, now I want a curved one… The one Rasp I have is a Auriou 10in #9 I think, my next one will definitely be another Auriou not sure If I should get a 2nd cabinet makers rasp or one of the modeler’s rasps. Sort of leaning towards another cabinet in a higher grit. I spent Most of last Saturday shaping and sanding, and for a while my nearly 4 year old nephew was helping me. He has a thing for tools and did exactly as I told him and was actually fairly useful working on some rough spots and sanding. I had two small crack lines that showed up while shaping the under side of one of the table supports where it curves into the glue line. I'm not sure how to address this issue maybe I can just CA glue it? the piece didn't come loose and doesn't have any wiggle in it. It won't be visible unless someone is laying under the table. I suppose another option would be to cut it out and fit in a matching piece maybe? I'm open to suggestions if anyone has one. If I can finish all the sanding and shaping I’m going to try to dry fit the legs and stretchers this weekend. If the shop gods permit I’ll get the table top cut to final dimensions. And damn I need to do some cleaning and organizing in there… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 I spent Most of last Saturday shaping and sanding, and for a while my nearly 4 year old nephew was helping me. He has a thing for tools and did exactly as I told him and was actually fairly useful working on some rough spots and sanding. Teach em' young, it will stay with them their whole life. I have a grandson that I started projects with when he was about you nephew's age. They live right next door and if he hears the tools turned on, he is in my garage quicker then you can turn on a light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 ==>open to suggestions How are you going to finish the table? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 Put some glue in the crack and sand over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 Glue it, sand it or use some filler if you,have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 Yep, CA glue and sand before it cures.. Will work just fine! Nice progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rguinn Posted June 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Well life slowed me down but I’m nearing the finish line now. I did use CA glue on the crack and looks like it'll be fine. I spent a ton of time with the rasp and a card scraper on the legs which has been a good learning experience. I’m looking forward to trying the sculpted rocker build later this summer. I feel like I finally got the process for sharpening it down pretty good. The top went together pretty well, This is the largest panel I’ve ever done. I bought a bunch of pipe clamps for this, every time I buy clamps the wife looks at me side ways, but I still need twice as many. I ‘flattened’ the top with my Lie-nelson smoothing plane, the top is sort of, mostly, kind of flat, good enough no one will notice =). Which again was a good learning experience and quite the work out. Before I do another table top I think I’m going to get a low angle jack plane. My lack of experience and the shorter plane I think contributed to this process taking longer than it needed to be. I used a ‘big’ table edge bit to round over the edges, on top and bottom and it really makes the top look thinner. I had set the top on a moving blanket while I was planning it. Tired and in a rush had left it that way over night. The following day I was reading the forums and came across a reply about a top sitting on a flat surface cupping. which was an Oh shit moment, when I got home my top was indeed cupped or bowing, so I put some slats under it and it eventually (Thankfully) flattened out again. Thank you to whoever had posted the fix, I should try to find that post again. To attach the top I made some wooden blocks, and cut slots in the rails for them to slide in, I’ll just screw the blocks into the top. I think I’m doing it correctly, I decided to use the domino for this, as I could cut wide slots easily and the fit was perfect. I need to do some calculations to make sure they have enough room to move. I forgot to take pictures so I’ll try to remember too. I’ve been going back and forth on how to finish it, and I decided I wanted to try something that was not a poly finish, mainly for reparability sake. I figure I can resurface and change the finish on the top later. I ended up going with Tried and True Varnish Oil. I have the second coat on the top and it looks fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted June 4, 2015 Report Share Posted June 4, 2015 Very nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 That looks really nice! I'd be interested in seeing the joinery details of the feet and lower stretcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewyo Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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