Fox's Modern Table

[Alan G]

51 minutes ago, Denette said:

I am not sure if you are joking, but that is a really bad idea, if for no other reason than a glue line perpendicular to the grain.

I wasn't. If you do some sort of edge banding you are still going to have a perpendicular glue line. 

[Denette]

I wasn't. If you do some sort of edge banding you are still going to have a perpendicular glue line. 

True, which is why plan A was to patch it. If the patch goes badly then I'll consider edge banding. Something just seems off about putting the offcut back into place. Not the least significant problem is that the length would be wrong if I did glue it back into place.

[wtnhighlander]

Treat it as a breadboard end, perhaps?

[drzaius]

I did the same thing, exposing a biscuit, when I made a cradle for my grandchildren. Which, BTW, is one of the reasons I don't use biscuits when gluing up slabs anymore. Anyway, to fix it, I just chiseled out the offending part & glued in an endgrain patch that sort of matched & it's all but invisible. I know it's there, but I have to look for it to find it.

[davewyo]

12 hours ago, Denette said:

And much more importantly, what about wood movement?

Oh , you're right. I didn't even think about it.  My mistake.

[Eric.]

Yeah you can't edge band that because it violates movement rules.  I'd do what your gut told you and just route out a recess, square it with a chisel, and plug it with a piece of cutoff.  If you're careful with grain match it should be fairly inconspicuous.

As for edge treatment...I wouldn't do much...just lightly break the edges with a block plane or 220 paper.

[Denette]

Oh , you're right. I didn't even think about it.  My mistake.

 

No worries! I'm always a little paranoid about wood movement.

 

Yeah you can't edge band that because it violates movement rules.  I'd do what your gut told you and just route out a recess, square it with a chisel, and plug it with a piece of cutoff.  If you're careful with grain match it should be fairly inconspicuous.

As for edge treatment...I wouldn't do much...just lightly break the edges with a block plane or 220 paper.

 

That's the plan! Good to have it confirmed as not a bad idea, though. And yeah, I did 220 with a block on the legs and I'm super happy with it.

[Denette]

Also, for finish - get this - I'm doing the Thomas Moser method. Three coats of boiled linseed oil applied at 130°f, left to sit for three hours, wiped dry, left for a day, then coated again, followed by an insane buffing with multiple layers of bowling alley wax. I'm planning on pre-finishing the pieces, and only doing a final waxing once it's assembled. My father-in-law did this on a dining table and it's gorgeous and durable.

[Eric.]

Just now, Denette said:

durable.

Gorgeous, maybe...but it ain't durable.  Straight oil just isn't capable of building any film significant enough to protect the wood.  I love the look of oil...but don't fool yourself.  Personally I'd go for something like ARS on that table...you're putting it in a kid's room, after all.  Gonna take a beating, no way around it.

[Denette]

Gorgeous, maybe...but it ain't durable.  Straight oil just isn't capable of building any film significant enough to protect the wood.  I love the look of oil...but don't fool yourself.  Personally I'd go for something like ARS on that table...you're putting it in a kid's room, after all.  Gonna take a beating, no way around it.

I don't plan on putting it in his room right away. It might live somewhere a little safer until he gets old enough to treat it right. We will see - how long does BLO take to cure? Can poly or Arm-R-Seal go right on top of BLO?

 

I read an article on the Moser finish that said that the linseed oil soaks in super deep when you heat it, and that once it finally cures up (over a few years) it is as hard as polyurethane, and the bowling alley wax waterproofs it and is easy to buff scratches out of.

 

Regardless, my father-in-law's dining table is well over a decade old and looks fantastic.

 

I'll do a few test pieces, obviously.

[Eric.]

I refuse to believe that BLO cures as hard as poly.  Of course varnish is not a very hard finish to begin with...not as hard as shellac or lacquer anyway.  It's protective but not hard.  Brittle is a better descriptor.  Shellac and lacquer are brittle.  And the fact that BLO doesn't really build a film is the main reason it's not as protective.  That doesn't mean you can't use it or it won't look great...as long as you have the appropriate expectations of how durable the finish is.

You can put ARS over BLO, but I find it completely unnecessary because since the ARS is oil-based, it gives the wood the same richness and depth of color that straight oil does, but it builds more of a film and therefore offers more protection.  If you do decide to use BLO for the first coat, I would wait a week or so before adding any oil-based top-coat.  Another reason why I don't use BLO as a first coat.  Takes too long to dry and cure.

The one advantage of the oil/wax finish is that it's much easier to repair.  But I'm not in the repair business...once I finish a piece, it's done.  I'm not interested in babysitting.

[Denette]

Thanks for the input, Eric! I genuinely appreciate it. I'll think it over. For now we are busy having a baby.

[Denette]

Told ya so!

[Alan G]

Congrats! 

[Eric.]

Let the green poop flow!  Congrats man.

[SawDustB]

Congratulations!

13 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Let the green poop flow!  Congrats man.

Yup, the first explosive poop incident should cure you of any thought of using something other than a film finish.  Some things just don't belong in the patina of a piece.

[wtnhighlander]

 

Congrats to you and the Mrs!

 

 

Regarding a question you asked earlier, I believe there may be evidence that Methuselah died, waiting for his BLO to cure ....

 

 

[Gixxerjoe04]

Congrats, hope you don't like sleep for 6 months give or take, but after seeing the patience you have on that miter joint I think you'll be fine haha. I've already in my head thrown a piece of wood in the burn pile in the future for ever thinking about trying that joint, no thanks, I'd be cussing and throwing stuff a lot.  Thank festool for the domino for my lazy simple butt.

[Denette]

 

Well, we got maybe 4 hours of sleep last night - better than I thought! He is an awesome little dude. I'm updating at the moment because his mom is napping and he is out of the room getting the ol' Abrahamic discount.

 

Here is the article on Thomas Moser's finish, lifted from a book my father-in-law has that Moser himself evidently wrote:

I realized that simple friction was not the only way to develop heat. I began warming boiled linseed oil on a hot plate, experimenting with temperatures from tepid to over 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I discovered that oil warmed to about 130 degrees penetrated wonderfully. While a drop of room-temperature oil would slowly and reluctantly soak into wood, a heated drop vanished into it like melted butter on a cotton shirt.

 

Finally, in 1976, we settled on the finish we use today. First, we polish the surface to a 400-grit finish. Then, using a spray gun or a soft cotton rag, depending upon the size of the piece, we apply a coat of 130-degree boiled linseed oil. We allow the oil to soak in for half an hour, wipe away the excess, then wait a day and rub the whole piece with Scotchbrite, a synthetic abrasive equivalent to traditional 0000 steel wool. In the case of tabletops, we may also rub down with 400-grit wet-and-dry sandpaper. We repeat the process twice more, for a total of three coats of linseed oil applied over four or five days. Finally, we rub on two coats of Butcher's Bowling Alley wax, which is a mix of carnauba wax and beeswax, rubbing vigorously by hand in the direction of the grain. This is an extraordinarily labor- and time-intensive finish, but the result is wonderful: the wood seems to come to life again.

 

Polyurethane is tougher in the short term, but I have never found a more durable finish than ours in the long run. After about five years, the volatile elements of linseed oil have evaporated to leave the finish, like that on the gun stock, "case hardened." You can stand a sweaty lemonade glass on it overnight and find nary a ring the next day.

 

 

[Gixxerjoe04]

My son is 8 months old, def is quite a change to deal with(assuming it's your first though, if not then you already know haha), less sleep, not much of a life doing anything else haha.  Woodworking time cut down quite a bit and all that, but I wouldn't change it for anything, hell the last 8 months flew by and I'm sure it'll continue to fly by.

[Denette]

My son is 8 months old, def is quite a change to deal with(assuming it's your first though, if not then you already know haha), less sleep, not much of a life doing anything else haha.  Woodworking time cut down quite a bit and all that, but I wouldn't change it for anything, hell the last 8 months flew by and I'm sure it'll continue to fly by.

Yeah, I'm sure it will! This is my first kid. I'm just thankful for the blessing it is that teaching gives me the summer off to stay home with him and my wife until a week or two into August. That should help make the transition a whoooole lot smoother since we will both have no obligations beyond our house.

[Gixxerjoe04]

Yea that'll be nice, I got two weeks off because I used vacation, I think it's pretty ridiculous companies don't give you any actual time off unless you save it.  Then once they have to go to daycare, your woodworking budget shrinks and you start thinking of all the cool stuff you could buy with the cost of daycare haha

[Eric.]

Yep that kid's got some damn fine timing.  My wife's a teacher too and we had one kid at the right time (June) and one at the wrong time (October).  Also, your wife is going to be extremely grateful that she doesn't have to endure Arkansas July and August walking around with that monster insider her. LOL  Thank dog we're dudes.  No thanks to that.

[Denette]

Yep that kid's got some damn fine timing.

You don't know the half of it. He was conceived within a week of our deciding to get pregnant, and he was delivered on the day we were already scheduled to induce labor. We walked in the door and were already in labor. Punctual kid.

 

[bushwacked]

3 hours ago, Denette said:

You don't know the half of it. He was conceived within a week of our deciding to get pregnant, and he was delivered on the day we were already scheduled to induce labor. We walked in the door and were already in labor. Punctual kid.

 

LOL! Impressive! 

 

My first kid arrived 3 days after out first wedding anniversary ... needless to say, I didnt have to get her a present that year