Coffee table design

[SawDustB]

27 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Man that thing looks like a back breaker. I think 2 pipes would look the best but with the tops of your legs being 3" wide if you get a good connection to the top i doubt you'll need the braces. Everything is so bulky and big if you did one in the center it'd end up looking like that one guy that roids and only does arm workouts.

I know. I was trying to make sure it didn't look like the base was going to be crushed by the top. Structurally, it didn't need to be that heavy. I like the legs at the 2x3, but I have debated giving the stretchers a diet. I know the pipes likely aren't required, but I think it would look good.

I do think I'll make the base attached with a couple of screws through the top stretcher, so I can move them separately. The top is heavy enough by itself.

[Mark J]

You know if you put a vice on that it would be a mini Rubo. 

[SawDustB]

2 hours ago, Mark J said:

You know if you put a vice on that it would be a mini Rubo. 

I know . I briefly debated using it for a joinery bench or something before remembering that I have no room. I figure if nothing else if it's not needed as a coffee table it can double as a sitting bench.

[wtnhighlander]

 

9 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Man that thing looks like a back breaker. I think 2 pipes would look the best but with the tops of your legs being 3" wide if you get a good connection to the top i doubt you'll need the braces. Everything is so bulky and big if you did one in the center it'd end up looking like that one guy that roids and only does arm workouts.

Moving that thing is likely not easy on the 'roids, either.... 

[SawDustB]

Here's the legs as built. I'm still fitting the tenons on the second set. For scale, they're 12" high and 16 5/8" wide.

I've gone ahead and routed the spots for the legs on the underside of the top. I've left 1/2" gap width wise, but if anything I expect the top to expand, so that should be plenty. I'll be using a lag bolt or two for attaching the legs to the top, allowing for wood movement with a slot.

I'm looking for something to use between the legs. Right now I'm still going with the idea of pipe, just trying to figure out what. My best options look to be either buying 3/4" galvanized pipe, or getting a 1" brushed nickel curtain rod. I'm thinking that I'll put 3 of them across the table width. The stretcher in the leg assemblies is 12 5/8", so if I put 3" between the pipes they'd span 9" of it.

For finish, I'm going to test a couple of things for the legs. The top may end up getting some kind of gray dye or stain to match what's in the space. This may actually be a good application for the wood weathering solution from my last project, the tool stand.

 

[SawDustB]

I've basically got the joinery fit together. A couple of the bridle joints need a bit of finessing to close done gaps, but it's all square and going together fine. Here's my mock up, after I heaved the top back onto the bench.

And a view of the under carriage.

It definitely looks like I'm building the ultimate bench on bench here... This thing is heavy!

[Mark J]

When it's all done tell your partners, you built it, now they have to come over and take it to the office.

[SawDustB]

9 minutes ago, Mark J said:

When it's all done tell your partners, you built it, now they have to come over and take it to the office.

I'm thinking that instead, I'll just bring it in and put it in place without telling anyone - a stealth coffee table delivery. They don't know I'm building it, just that I took the piece of wood. I'll transport it in pieces, though. 

[Chestnut]

13 hours ago, SawDustB said:

I'm thinking that instead, I'll just bring it in and put it in place without telling anyone - a stealth coffee table delivery. They don't know I'm building it, just that I took the piece of wood. I'll transport it in pieces, though. 

Also deny any knowledge of where it came from and suggest the coffee table fairy must have delivered it.

[RichardA]

Yeah, coffee table fairy... the one with the 4" splinter in his right forefinger.

[wdwerker]

Wrap it in a packing blanket held in place with some stretch wrap or packing tape then use a small hand truck to wheel it in. Saves your back, prevents scratches and increases curiosity if anyone catches you making the delivery. 

I've got one of those collapsible hand trucks that would work well for that job, they aren't expensive and fit in the trunk until needed. 

[SawDustB]

10 minutes ago, wdwerker said:

Wrap it in a packing blanket held in place with some stretch wrap or packing tape then use a small hand truck to wheel it in. Saves your back, prevents scratches and increases curiosity if anyone catches you making the delivery. 

I've got one of those collapsible hand trucks that would work well for that job, they aren't expensive and fit in the trunk until needed. 

That's my plan, more or less. We've got a  heavy duty hand truck at the building, so no issue there. I'll probably bring it in on an evening or weekend, so it should be deserted.

[SawDustB]

So since I posted last, I've gone a bit further on the project. I tried filling some knots and defects, but I didn't have epoxy, so I got creative... I used a mixture of weldbond and ink to create a black filler. On the plus side, it looks good and filled reasonably well, but it made a mess and doesn't sand well.

I had to use a plane, card scraper, and file to take off most of the excess. I did build the base as well. Here's what I ended up with. It still needs to be ebonized.

And here's the current state of it on my bench. I need to clean up the top a bit more, and I have some minor repairs on the base. Then it's on to finishing.

[drzaius]

It's late for this now, but Weldbond, if the thickness is more than paper thin will take forever (like weeks to months) to completely cure (& will never be really hard) & will shrink a lot. Not a good choice & it will haunt you for some time. Sorry to be a downer.

[SawDustB]

9 minutes ago, drzaius said:

It's late for this now, but Weldbond, if the thickness is more than paper thin will take forever (like weeks to months) to completely cure (& will never be really hard) & will shrink a lot. Not a good choice & it will haunt you for some time. Sorry to be a downer.

Yes, I've realized now that it was a poor choice. After a few days it's not terrible, but there's definitely more melting and smearing going on when I tried to sand. If it was a smaller piece I likely would have tossed it through the planer by now. Even so, it seems to (hand) plane or scrape reasonably well, so I'll just be putting in more manual labor on this one. 

It does seem like it will do what I want where it's been planed down flush or below the surrounding wood. It is about as hard as the surrounding pine.

[drzaius]

It will continue to shrink as it dries & cures. Final hardness shouldn't be an issue though.

[Coop]

The underside would be a great place to stash weapons! Who would/could turn it over.

[wdwerker]

Underneath an office waiting room coffee table might not be the best place for a weapon. You could put a webcam under there but that also doesn't seem to be a wise idea either.

[SawDustB]

It's probably safe to assume that the only thing that will likely live under here would be magazines or newspapers... Anyway, I've gotten all the way to finishing. There was a lot of scraping and sanding in between, along with easing edges. I've got 3 coats of Enduro var on the top.

I've also applied the ink to the base. It covered pretty well, but I think there will be a second coat.

Just need to do all this a few more times, then I can put it together. I'm aiming to deliver it next weekend.

[Mark J]

What's that gonna weigh when you get it all together?  Will you be able to move it?

[SawDustB]

7 minutes ago, Mark J said:

What's that gonna weigh when you get it all together?  Will you be able to move it?

I'm guessing the top is around 80-90 lbs. The base isn't too bad, maybe another 10-15. I should be able to manage it, although I'll be using a hand truck at the far end. I don't actually gain a lot by taking the base off.

[SawDustB]

So apparently, despite being shellac based, this ink is at least a little water soluble. I didn't want to spray finish with the doors closed, and it's about -10 C outside, so I opted to brush the Enduro var on the legs. It only dissolved a little bit of the ink, but it was messy. On the plus side, it helped to carry the ink into some of the crevices that were hard to reach when wiping it on. It does mean that I've now got a few ounces of finish that are now only good for top coating over black 

[wtnhighlander]

That has been my experience with ink, too. Messy, no matter what.

My preferred method for "ebonizing" is to use Kiwi black liquid show polish, a leather dye that works great on wood.

[SawDustB]

3 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

That has been my experience with ink, too. Messy, no matter what.

My preferred method for "ebonizing" is to use Kiwi black liquid show polish, a leather dye that works great on wood.

I did look for it after you mentioned it, but I had trouble finding a source in Canada. I figured this ink would be ok, since it's supposed to stay put with being shellac based. In retrospect, I should have just sprayed it with finish. The end result looks good.

I've got 3 good coats on the base and 5 on the top now, so I'm basically finished with that step. I need to pick up some appropriate lag screws tomorrow to secure the top, then I'll get it all assembled. I'm thinking I'll glue in the aluminum lower stretchers, maybe add screws on a couple so they can't loosen over time.

[SawDustB]

It's done! Well, aside from being upside down and dusty, anyway. I glued in the aluminum using weldbond, and just used 4 lag screws to attach the base. I think I'll remove the top for transport, but I wanted to make sure I glued the base up to be flat to the top. I think tomorrow evening might be when I deliver it.