Shane Jimerfield Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 I'm going to journal my build of a Shaker Window Table. This table will feature several interesting design features that where showcased by Fine Woodworking, and some very interesting wood. The top will be made of quarter sawn coastal redwood. Some really ancient stuff. I got some boards a few years ago from a guy down in Northern California. He pulled a few logs out of the Eel river that had been resting on the bottom for over 100 years. These logs still had the saw marks from the hand saws that were used to fell the large tree. The grain is very tight, with rings at over 30 per inch. Due to it's ancient age and respite on the bottom of the river the wood is quite dark - not your typical lumber yard redwood. The wood had become somewhat mineralized, and has a beautiful resonance when tapped. Some guitar makers use this type of wood for soundboards because of its beautiful resonance. To tie the top to the base I will incorporate a white oak ribbon down the middle. This ribbon will be made of 4 laminated layers. This design feature was featured in Fine Woodworking a while back where Scott Lewis showed us how to do it. I've made several cutting boards using this design and love. For this project I will be sticking with just a single 1/2" curvy lamination. The base is characteristically Shaker, and will feature the leg design that was just featured in FWW that Pekovich designed. I will be using white oak that I got from another guy who salvages wine barrels. They are nearly quarter sawn. This oak comes from the large barrels - the staves are 12' long and 2" thick. Check out the crystallized wine deposits (photo below). I've resawn these to get the skirts and legs. There are some nice medullary rays that have presented themselves in the resawing. Here is my drawing. Here is the top (already routed the groove before I got the camera out). Here is my router template/guide for the Lewis curve. Here are the four oak strips that will be laminated in the curve. Using my new Supermax 19-38 I was able to get these strips - oh, perfect! Test fit, looks good. And the glue up. Got some nice squeeze out across the joint and lamination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Here is the work on the base. Resawn oak wine barrel staves. Crystallized wine. Smells wonderful in the band saw. Jointed the faces. Oh look! Nice medullary rays show themselves. Now I'll let these acclimate for a few days before I true them up to cut the skirts and legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 Time to go scrape the glue off, and make the template for the legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 BTW, I'm taking suggestion on ways to finish the top. I often use a wipe-on linseed oil and poly mixture, because I like to feel the wood when it's done. However, I think this top could benefit from a little more protection. Should I just add more coats, or use something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted October 18, 2014 Report Share Posted October 18, 2014 I like using wax. Great compliment to the wood, and has a nice feel. The ol standby is still an option. (Arm R seal) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Crawford Posted October 19, 2014 Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 Shane, Wondering if the long submersion and subsequent mineralization has made the redwood harder. My experience with redwood is that it is very soft, a large pice I recovered from an ocean beach about 40 years ago is as soft as any newer wood I have purchased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridnharley Posted October 19, 2014 Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 You said the redwood has a beautiful resonance when tapped. I believe that shows the hardness of the piece. Your finish might sit more on the surface then penetrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted October 19, 2014 Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 Truly old growth redwood is much harder than the second growth wood that is available today. Add in some mineralization and it could be fairly dense, but I still wouldn't use it for a cutting board ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 You said the redwood has a beautiful resonance when tapped. I believe that shows the hardness of the piece. Your finish might sit more on the surface then penetrating. Even so, it isn't hydrophobic. it absorbs linseed oil greedily. I'm just not fond of finishes that don't let you feel the wood. So, I was wondering if there might be a way to give it a bit more hardness. As Steve said, it is harder than what you might expect, but it is not a hardwood. In fact, I'd even say more brittle than hard - if that makes sense - which is why it seems mineralized. I was just scanning through the pics. Wow, what a difference the lighting and flash makes on the color. The first and second image are more realistic color representation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefmagnus@grics.net Posted October 19, 2014 Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 Nice looking table. Did you design it in Sketchup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Countryside Workshop Posted October 19, 2014 Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 Nice build! I wish I knew where to find the article in FWW about the curved inlay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted October 19, 2014 Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 Go to FWW and search for Scott Lewis articles ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 Nice looking table. Did you design it in Sketchup? I wouldn't say designed. I already had the design in mind, then drew it in Sketchup. I don't find Sketchup to be a good design tool. It requires too much thinking about how to do things in it which takes away from my ability to think about the actual design. So, when designing I am old-skool - grid paper, pencil, straight edge and dividers. And lots of books for inspiration. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick A McQuay Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Simple but elegant, I like it. Looks more Sheraton inspired than Shaker, to me. - sent via Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Countryside Workshop Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 To bad you have to become a member to see his article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wdwerker Posted October 20, 2014 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 I quit subscribing to several woodworking magazines years ago, but an annual online subscription to FWW gets you the new issues and the ability to search every article from issue 1 to current day. I have many years of the magazine on my shelf but it can take hours to index and find an article. The ability to search online and download a PDF of the article to my IPad for reference in the shop is worth the cost of the subscription. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 To bad you have to become a member to see his article. They wouldn't exist if it were free. The Woodwhisper Guild costs money too. This site is like a self-pay campground, some pay some don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CessnaPilotBarry Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Looks good, so far! I examined the original yesterday, great little table! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CessnaPilotBarry Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 I quit subscribing to several woodworking magazines years ago, but an annual online subscription to FWW gets you the new issues and the ability to search every article from issue 1 to current day. I have many years of the magazine on my shelf but it can take hours to index and find an article. The ability to search online and download a PDF of the article to my IPad for reference in the shop is worth the cost of the subscription. FWW's search feature is outstanding, as well as the ability to save what you've found! For the cost of the access, I don't think it's worth storing all the mags. A few years ago, I realized that I have very rarely looked at the magazines I had shelf after shelf of, but all the real information I used had come from the online search. I gave a way the magazines and reused the space for more important things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 The Top is complete with one coat of finish - went with the old stand by - Linseed Oil and Poly mixture. I'll probably give it an extra coat or two of thinned wipe-on poly after three or four coats of the oil/poly mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Countryside Workshop Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 I love the close to the wood look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Got some time yesterday to shape the legs. I whistled when I was done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Jimerfield Posted October 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Did the joinery for the base today. Here's the dry fit with the top. The base will get an antique oak stain to darken it - not as dark as the top, but darker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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