Coffee Table build

[pkinneb]

Back at it today, continued work on the end panels.

First up was some layout work, there is a 3/4" x 4" through mortise on each panel

Then the inside of each panel get a 1/4" deep stopped groove for the shelf

For the through mortise I used a 1/2" spiral bit, I make one pass a little over half way through on each panel. The blue tape was for start and stop points.

Without changing the edge guide I reset the depth to 1/4" and ran the first pass of the shelf groove. After the first pass on both panels I used the through mortise to reset the edge guide for the second pass. this insures the right width

Then I noticed a small crack on the bottom of one panel. I might have to deal with that later but it may be cut off when I add the curved detail. (In the end it did get cut off if not I would have epoxied it.)

Next up I routed a 1/2" groove down the outside of each panel (centered) for the corbels 

Then I grabbed a chisel and mallet and squared everything up

That should work.

Next task was to cut a 5 1/2 degree angle on each side, first lay out

Then I used double sided tape to stick the two sides together inside to inside prior to cutting on the bandsaw (this pic was taken when I pulled them apart because I forgot to take it before hand)

Then I cut close to the line at the bandsaw

and cleaned them up at the jointer

The next item to tackle was adding the curve at the bottom.

Kevin made a template and used a pattern bit after cutting them at the bandsaw since I will most likely never make another I just cut them at the bandsaw 

and then cleaned them up at the drum sander

that'll work

The only thing left to do on these prior to finish prep is to route a 1/4" stopped spline groove down each outside edge, I'll do that tomorrow with the legs and then glue them up and start on the shelf.

[Chet]

Nice, clean work Paul.  The ray fleck in the oak is incredible.

[pkinneb]

19 hours ago, Chet said:

Nice, clean work Paul.  The ray fleck in the oak is incredible.

Thanks Chet! I agree with you on the ray fleck now I need to go find a board or two for the top  

 

First up today was to bring the legs down to final dimension

Next I cut the 5 1/2 degree angles on the top and bottom of each leg

Then I cut the spline grove into the legs and the panels

Next up I made some spline material. These splines are really just for alignment not for strength.

Then I needed to square up the corners of the dado's

Here you can see the spline

just a few finishing touches and they will be ready for glue up.

I also started work on the shelf to insure it would fit into my mortises 

Next up some sanding and planing of edges prior to panel/leg glue up and more work on the shelf.

[Chestnut]

This is cool. I like the direction it's headed. You mentioned fuming it, does it get fumed as a whole or will you do parts separately?

[pkinneb]

 

46 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

This is cool. I like the direction it's headed. You mentioned fuming it, does it get fumed as a whole or will you do parts separately?

Thanks Drew! When I will fume it the top will not be attached but sitting on a couple blocks the base will be fully assembled.

[wdwerker]

When I spray I have put furniture up on large screws driven through some 1x4 scrap. Less chance of a shadow when spraying, maybe the fumes would disperse better.

[pkinneb]

15 hours ago, wdwerker said:

When I spray I have put furniture up on large screws driven through some 1x4 scrap. Less chance of a shadow when spraying, maybe the fumes would disperse better.

Good idea, i'll do that here.

 

[curlyoak]

Beautiful everything. Really nice lumber. Excellent design. Execution second to none. One thing I would do different. I would piece in spline with the grain turned  90 degrees. That way it is unbreakable...If the glue goes beyond the spline it is still strong enough. If the purpose is to locate alignment only then it doesn't matter.

[pkinneb]

2 hours ago, curlyoak said:

Beautiful everything. Really nice lumber. Excellent design. Execution second to none. One thing I would do different. I would piece in spline with the grain turned  90 degrees. That way it is unbreakable...If the glue goes beyond the spline it is still strong enough. If the purpose is to locate alignment only then it doesn't matter.

Thank you for the kind words! Re the spline it is indeed just alignment since the joint is long grain to long grain.

[pkinneb]

Tonight I finished up a couple final details before glue up of the end panels.

First I broke the edges of the legs

Then I put a small chamfer on the bottom of each leg

Next up was glue up

Then clean up a little squeeze out

and let them sit over night

Tomorrow I hope to finish up the shelf.

[Alan G]

Coming together nicely! Can't wait to see this after fuming!

[wdwerker]

It just dawned on me that this is going to be a very stout coffee table ! I would hate to find it in the dark with a toe.

[pkinneb]

2 hours ago, Alan G said:

Coming together nicely! Can't wait to see this after fuming!

Thanks! Hoping next week or so assuming I can acquire some nice QSWO for the top this week.

54 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

It just dawned on me that this is going to be a very stout coffee table ! I would hate to find it in the dark with a toe.

Absolutely it has to stand up to my wife's run away vacuum LOL. The good news is the way our living room is laid out it will not be in a regular walk way

[Chestnut]

I know glue messes with dyes and stains but how much it's does it effect fumeing?

[lewisc]

Tidy work. It’s got the look of a transformer to me. 

What’s that tool your using using to clean up the glue? Some sort of fancy scraper or just a piece of metal?

[pkinneb]

4 hours ago, Chestnut said:

I know glue messes with dyes and stains but how much it's does it effect fuming?

In my little bit of experience it is better than finish because it goes into the wood.  To give you an example, on my side table i had the top sitting on 1" square blocks and the tops of the legs were still fumed even with these sitting on them throughout the 6 hours. Having said that you still need to be careful with glue squeeze out because unlike a finish I think it would be rather hard to fix.

2 hours ago, lewisc said:

Tidy work. It’s got the look of a transformer to me. 

What’s that tool your using using to clean up the glue? Some sort of fancy scraper or just a piece of metal?

Thanks! That's a Paring Skraper from Benchcrafted I bought it and the larger Skraper from them at Handworks a couple years ago. I never use the larger one but this small one is my go to for glue removal.

[pkinneb]

Didn't get to much time to work on the coffee table today had to get some homework for my stained glass class done.

I took the leg assemblies out of the clamps and began final fit of the center shelf board

coming together

Tomorrow I should have time to cut the corbel mortises and start the grid panels for the shelf.

[Chestnut]

That lumber looks amazing. Beings that you so nicely left your plans in the last picture i looked up the final result and like where this is headed a lot.

[pkinneb]

53 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

That lumber looks amazing. Beings that you so nicely left your plans in the last picture i looked up the final result and like where this is headed a lot.

Thanks! Yeah if I am building it you can be guaranteed its someone else's design and in most cases I have plans. I have been woodworking for 3 decades and although I have changed plans quite often I do not think I have ever built anything I designed from scratch. I like to say I have become a pretty good copier. Having said that I do plan on designing a hall table in the future to go with this and the side table I built recently. I also plan on doing the same for a wine hutch at some point.

[wdwerker]

I rarely build from plans. Designing, sketching and working up a cut list can take a lot of time. Then you still have to correct some dimensions during the build to allow for any slight deviation in part sizes. When I draw up a project to scale its full sized on a sheet of 1/4" MDF. This allows me to see all the proportions and work out the joinery at the same time. Plus it prevents a client from using my drawings to get competing bids.  Small scale drawings can look very different from life sized .

[woodbutcher]

1 hour ago, I B said:

Truth!

I'm in the roll your own camp and design everything in Sketchup. Trip recently brought it to my attention that sketches and sketchup are great up to a certain point, after which you've got to prototype and see it in real life to get a better idea on proportions. Grab some dimensional lumber, mill it down, pop it together with a pin nailer and go from there.

This is the only place that Sketchup fails me, is getting a sense for proportions and size. I usually will use cardboard or something to mock up whatever it is im making to get a real life feel for size.

[pkinneb]

So after looking through the remaining QSWO stock I have I decided I had enough for my Morris chair and the top so I went through and found 3 pieces I could use for the top looked at them for a few days and have decided to use them rather then purchasing addl lumber. Its not perfect but I think it will look good

Next I started working on the grids after marking the boards for order I cut them into 3/4" strips. Then I had to set up a stop block to cut 3/4" squares. I marked the strips so the squares could be put back in order too.

Main thing is to keep the small blocks from getting caught between the blade and the fence

Next I laid out the locations of the squares which are hard to see but are marked here in pencil

Then I glued them up one row at a time 

rinse and repeat

Coming to the end of this one should be done with construction tomorrow or Sunday.

[shaneymack]

Looking awesome, Paul. Nice work!

[pkinneb]

14 hours ago, shaneymack said:

Looking awesome, Paul. Nice work!

Thanks Shane! As much as I enjoy my shop and woodworking I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous of your Mexico pics, especially since it was only 10 degrees again here today  

First up today was to bring the grids to final size. as you can see here they are about 3/32" over sized

First I ran one side over the jointer 

Then dialed in the thickness on the drum sander

That's good to go so while I'm at it I decide to run the top through the drum sander but needed to change the 120G rear roll first

Then I put a fresh blade on the track saw to square up the ends

Next up was to clip the ends of the top. Rodel used a template and router for this but since I am only making one I just used the track saw. The track is clamped to the work piece from below.

Other then sanding, the top is ready to go

Next I laid out the mortises in the center piece of the shelf, these will accept the corbels. you can see I added an 1/8" behind the line this is so the corbel pulls the side tight when installed.

Then I used a 1/2" brad point bit to remove some of the waste

I set the bit so just the point pushed through to minimize tear out, then finished from the bottom side using the holes as reference

Then I moved to the bench to chisel out the mortises

I used a rasp to do a final clean up the angle

Then I was able to glue the shelf together. I used some hard board (with wax paper) to keep the small blocks from falling through while I clamped this assembly. Tomorrow I will hand plane/sand the blocks to final thickness.

The last thing I knocked out today was to pre mill my top supports.

Tomorrow the supports will get dovetailed into the sides, then I will make the corbels, final sand, and glue it together.

 

[drzaius]

I just love this build. Beautiful wood, great design & execution. Thanks for sharing.