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[Coop]

Thanks Chet. There’s still a fox in the hen house though. This top has morphed from bb ends the old way to no bb ends and me buying ugly $$ walnut to back to bb ends using domino tenons. The first phase and eventually the last, required me to run down to the nearest and most expensive of my suppliers and and buying a 6’ piece of walnut that wasn’t part of the original boards to get the extra width I needed. I tried to select one to match to the best of ability. It will live on the backside of the top and covered with pictures and plants if need be.  

[Coop]

I glued up the original walnut boards for the top and squared the ends using  a circ saw and straight edge. I moved the straight edge over a 1/16” or so and used a hand held router and an up cut straight bit to really clean up the ends. As mentioned, the bb ends will be attached using the domino and draw bore dowels. The hole in the center tenon will be 1/4” and the others will be elongated to allow for wood movement, I cut homemade tenons to 1.5” wide. The mortises in the top were cut using the Domino in three separate plunges. Thanks @Chestnut! 

I cut the bb ends to size and marked the center lines for the mortises to correspond to the marks on the top. The mortises in the bb ends were cut to extend 1/8” on both sides of those in the top, except for the center ones and they are 1.5” wide. 

The tenons are then glued into the mortises in the top. These will be rigid. While the glue dried, I rounded over the front and back edges with a 1/16” round over bit.

Using the centerline marks on the bb ends, I drilled 1/4” holes, 1/2” from the inside edges. I then slid the bb ends onto the tenons on the top, clamped the ends to the top and using the same 1/4” Fortsner bit, I marked the holes into the tenons. I then extended these marks 1/16” of an inch closer to the edge adjoining the top panel to allow for the draw bore dowel. I then drilled two 1/4” holes in each tenon, thus making the hole 1/2” wide to allow for movement. The holes were cleaned up using a chisel and rat tail file.

After dry fitting the pieces together, I removed the ends and cut 1/4” dowels and tapered one end to help guide it thru the holes in the tenon. I applied glue to the two center tenons and mortises as well as in these holes. The three pieces were then put back into clamps. The two center dowels were tapped into place, extending proud of the top and bottom. The remains dowels were then hammered in and glue was applied to the top ends of the dowel and tapped in further about 1/16” or so to secure it but not so far that the glue would reach the tenon.

With the glue wiped clean, I’ll let this set overnight and trim the dowels off tomorrow.

 

 

 

[treeslayer]

Nicely done Coop and a great description on how to do drawbore as well. 

[Coop]

Thanks Dave. All credit goes to Marc in this video.

I post this so that others can get a better idea from the video than from my ramblings. At about 18:10 into the video for using the Domino. He demonstrates other bb end methods prior to that. 

[BillyJack]

Would this not be the same as using Dominos? 

Nevermind. I caught it after reading some things twice.

[Chet]

This is coming along.  Nice description of your process.  I like using the draw bore technique. 

[gee-dub]

Great walk through on the breadboard method.

[curlyoak]

Good execution. The draw bore joint for bb ends was important pre tite bond. I make a lot of bb ends. Because I am left handed and rebellious I thought see what happens with just glue. No problem. Several years ago I contacted Franklin adhesives and spoke to an engineer. Tite bond creeps. That is what they said. Tite bond is not allowed for engineered beams or trusses. Creeping is beneficial for obvious reasons in woodworking. And the wood must be dry. I have  made dozens of bb ends and never a problem. The joint was needed pre tite bond. It appears that the creeping quality is not well known. I make the domino slots wider than the domino.

Either way I am sure this project with the skill of Coop will be an heirloom.

[Coop]

I haven’t given up on this project. Hell, they could have elected a new president and subpoenaed documents from the past by the time I get thru. 

I’ve been at the mercy of the weather but finally got the final coat of finish on it yesterday. Parts are everywhere so more pics to follow. The top received two coats of ARS gloss, followed by four coats of GF HP satin. 

i needed drawer stops so I cut a channel and sliced it to fit over the drawer glide. I covered the front edge with a strip of leather to give them some soft closure. 

I will pick up the glass for the doors on Tuesday and provide an almost complete pic then. 

 

[wtnhighlander]

Looking good, Coop! Can you share your logic for the finishing scedule you went with?

[Coop]

Probably not substantiated by others but:

The top- I’ve made other tables from this walnut and the ARS really pops the grain and I liked the results. So I wiped  it as a base coat and sprayed the GF for protection.

Everything else, base, doors and drawer fronts- Shellac base coat - Several years ago, @Chet introduceed me to shellac flakes and to it’s versatility. It sprays easily and dries quickly. You can apply it over anything and anything over it. I used blonde flakes to keep the finish as natural as possible. This stuff will wear you out as by the time you spray the last piece, it’s time to sand the first. Between coats, I sanded to 400 and before  the last coat, to 1000, no logic there. After the finish coat, everything received a smoothing with wadded up pieces of brown paper bags. 

I might add, that the top was finished with a formula provided by @Eric but I stopped short of his last step that included adding  mineral oil as I was afraid that it would accumulate dust. I kind of wish that I had taken that step just because it was his and the dude was cool!

[Coop]

I think I failed to mention the drawer and door pulls. I have looked everywhere for appropriate pulls and made a couple that didn’t seem to work. I remembered some that I removed from the desk that my dad used for many years. There were exactly 6 and that’s what I needed. Message sent from heaven. 

[wtnhighlander]

Thanks for the feedback. What little I have done with High Performance does tell me it makes a good protective top coat. I don't spray, though, so it sounded odd to do so many coats. Now it makes sense.

[Chet]

On 9/3/2022 at 8:11 PM, wtnhighlander said:

Thanks for the feedback. What little I have done with High Performance does tell me it makes a good protective top coat. I don't spray, though, so it sounded odd to do so many coats. Now it makes sense.

The top looks great Coop.  That tree has served you well.  I think the handles are going to work well also.

I am like Coop I spray the High Performance in light coats.  I also spray more coats on flat surfaces that will see use.  I had a past member here tell me that it was best to spray a heavier last coat.  I did and regretted it.  It ended up being cloudy.  I had to let it cure real well, sand it back and start over.  So don't do that.

[JohnG]

No adhesion issue laying GF HP on top of ARS?

[Mark J]

I forget what ARS stands for?  Is it GF Arm-R-Seal?

[JohnG]

On 9/4/2022 at 10:14 AM, Mark J said:

I forget what ARS stands for?  Is it GF Arm-R-Seal?

Bingo!

[wtnhighlander]

In most conversations on this forum, Yes. Abbreviations / acronyms without context can be very misleading, though.

[Mark J]

ARS is oil based and HP is water bourne,  but aren't they both polyurethanes?  I get that the oil based ARS would pop grain, but I'm not following why finish coat with HP instead of just using more ARS?  But then all finishing is alchemy and ritual to me.  

[JohnG]

On 9/4/2022 at 10:47 AM, Mark J said:

ARS is oil based and HP is water bourne,  but aren't they both polyurethanes?  I get that the oil based ARS would pop grain, but I'm not following why finish coat with HP instead of just using more ARS?  But then all finishing is alchemy and ritual to me.  

They are both poly, but poly doesn’t burn into the existing layers like shellac and some others do. Like paint, you can’t just paint latex paint over oil without proper prep work. But maybe GF has some other modifiers in there that make them compatible. Finish “types” are very vague and allow for great variety of composition. 

[Coop]

On 9/4/2022 at 9:47 AM, Mark J said:

ARS is oil based and HP is water bourne,  but aren't they both polyurethanes?  I get that the oil based ARS would pop grain, but I'm not following why finish coat with HP instead of just using more ARS?  But then all finishing is alchemy and ritual to me.  

According to General Finishes web site, the water based top coat can be applied over the ARS if allowed to dry 72 hours prior to applying. The GF HP at 59 on the hardness scale is not as hard as the ARS at 77 but is still very durable. My main reason for using the water based on top of the ARS was the drying time. As I already had the gun out, spraying the cabinet, I was able to apply 4 coats in one day as opposed to one a day with the ARS in our humidity. 

[Mark J]

Ahhh, gotcha. 

[JohnG]

Thanks for clearing that up @Coop!

[pkinneb]

That top is gorgeous @Coop!!

[Coop]

Thanks! It has one board that didn’t belong to the tree and it will go in the back. Maybe partially hidden by family pics.