River table

Builder's choice?

Henry (Raleigh NC)

Dave - you can pick whatever pleases you - anything from exotic species all the way down to big box 2x4s (noooooo!).

I made a padauk bar-height table for our kitchen that is not a river table; some question the species ID, I call it padauk b/c it was sold to me that way.

I used a maple base, with a black 'lacquer' finish (on the base only).

Lots of options - what are you considering?

Henry

Why used a different wood?

Re: Why used a different wood? Different tastes

Henry (Raleigh NC)

Why used a different wood?

.... and right there is the difference in Bill's taste, and mine. Of the 6 tables I have built for my home, only one has the same material for top and base (that is all mahogany - reclaimed).

I love the look of dark table top (lacewood, padauk, cherry, mahogany, etc.) and a maple base; I'm also pretty certain that this is not Bill's taste (recalling previous WC comments). I hope I am not misquoting you Bill!

Henry

Re: Why used a different wood? Different tastes

Dave

My mistake, I ment to ask about the box for the pour.

misinterpreting

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Mine was a question not a taste statement. Maybe the builder can't afford the foreign wood, or can't find any more, or his daughter likes painted legs. How can one advise until one knows what is motivating the question?

I occasionally use contrasting wood, maple and walnut for example....

Re: River table

Dave

My mistake, I meant to ask about the box for the pour.

Apologies.  And nice piece!

Henry (Raleigh NC)

Bill - yes I am guilty of reading into your question and perhaps selectively recalling your previous comments. My apologies.

Nice piece BTW (and good example).

I do LOVE contrasting woods - not every time - but when it is well done I do love it.

Henry

Re: River table

Mark Mandell - Gone Round in New Jersey

Make the pour box out of 2x4s. Coat the interior and bottom surfaces with shellac.

Glue (with caulk) the box to a piece of heavy plastic. Caulk the inside corners to seal. Apply heavy coat of paste wax to the inside surfaces (wood and plastic).

This will allow you to easily remove the box after your epoxy has fully set.

Re: River table

Barry Irby

Mark has more experience with this than I, or at least different experience.

I have done a table that required pouring epoxy, not a river table, maybe similar. I made some mistakes that you can avoid. The epoxy I used was very low viscosity, about the consistency of water and took a LONG time to set, something like five to seven days. I taped the underside of the wood with aluminum tape and it leaked. The job of that epoxy is to find every crack and crevice and flow into them and unfortunately on out. In my case it leaked out of cracks I could not see.

So, if you are using tape, sand the surface smooth, clean it thoroughly, tape more area than you think and roll the tape firmly. As a side note, the tape can be very difficult to remove. VERY difficult.

If I were building a form I would use Melamine coated MDF. Strips of the same thing for the sides. Screw the sides on securely. Caulk the inner corners with acrylic latex caulk. Either wax the form thoroughly or spray with Mold Release. Then install your pieces and clamp them down so they don't float. Be sure the setup is as precisely level as you can.

Mix your epoxy slowly and thoroughly to avoid bubbles. Add pigment to taste, following manufacturer's directions. Pour in and clear the bubbles off the surface with a heat gun or torch. Wait. Wait some more.

When the epoxy is hard enough you can't dent it with a thumb nail you can remove the form. Might be wise to wait an extra day. Likely to be harder to remove the form than you thought.

Some random thoughts. I am frugal by nature....tightwad. I see the epoxy as shockingly expensive. Goes against my grain to waste it. Pouring into a form has waste. Some epoxy will leak under the wood and you will grind it off. You must pour the epoxy deeper than you think because it shrinks as it cures. Therefore you need dams around the voids to allow you to flood the surface perhaps an 1/8 or 1/4" deeper or you will have to do a second pour or grind away the entire top. I was concerned about applying silicon based caulk to the surface for fear of silicon contamination in the finish. I used Rubio Mono Coat for the finish and it was not a problem.

When I do this again I will also line the form with a piece of polyethylene like a pool liner. Poly does not stick to the epoxy and gives a second barrier to leaks. Another thought is to search out some of the people on line doing this and watch their videos and some of them sell forms made of HDPE that are expensive but don't leak and easily removed.

I have learned a lot from Blacktail Studio, Black Forest, and Canadian Woodworks.

I would like to find a local shop that has a four foot planer and or sander and would clean up these tops for me. If you follow that path be aware that big tops warp more than you think and you could lose considerable thickness doing this. If you would like contact me off the Forum and we can talk.

Padauk and color

John K Jordan

>>>I plan on building a river table out of paduk.

I suspect you already know this but just in case, padauk is notorious for not holding it's color. The beautiful orange when cut can quickly change. The color change may be delayed by certain finishes to exclued oxygen and UV light and by keeping the wood out of the light. Using a dye may help. This article may be of interest:

https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/preventing-color-changes-in-exotic-woods/

I quit using padauk after disappointing experiences. Perhaps the color is not a concern.

JKJ

I wondered about color change

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Back when we thought we were selecting a matching wood for the top I was wondering if the match to what the wood became was important , and not how it started out.

I am forever amused by novices extoling the virtues of air dried walnut for it's XXX fill in the blanks romantic description of "fresh" walnut color. It doesn't last long in the sun. For some reason even the brown fades to an ugly yellow-brown under lacquer.

Do I understand correctly ....

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Only one side of the table is coated with epoxy? What is done to the other side? If this slab is not thoroughly dry thought needs to go into how to deal with the remaining water that will leave eventually and shrink the wood when it leaves.

Re: Do I understand correctly ....

Barry Irby

I agree.

The ones I have seen on YouTube, They clamp the top down into the form and in some cases put a perimeter of caulking around edges and openings to limit the amount of epoxy on the bottom. Some people Also put dams around the openings on the top to allow for extra thickness and to compensate for shrinkage. Some of them just flood the top which might be good because the epoxy will find and fill voids and cracks you might not have seen. Some of these guys either own or have access to 48" or wider planers and/or sanders. Then they run them through on both sides again to remove the epoxy.

The rest of them that don't have the equipment sand and sand and then sand some more.

Personally I am skeptical of the river tables. Just can't convince myself that two slabs with a six wide stripe of epoxy down the middle is going to hold up. OTOH I do have faith in epoxy or wood glue to hold the two slabs directly to each other.

Also, I let steel channels 2" by 1" into the bottom of the slab to hole it flat. The slots for the screws are elongated to accommodate movement. Got the idea and buy the channels from a YouTuber who has done many many tables over the years.

Once I have sanded the top back to bare wood on both sides and cut the slots for the channels I finish both sides, including the slots with the same finish. Skeptical of coating the whole thing with epoxy.

Re: I wondered about color change

AZ in Colorado Springs

There's a retired army NCO who likes padauk and uses a lot of it at the air force academy wood hobby shop. There's always a bunch stacked along the wall. It turns medium-dark brown fairly quickly after any machining. This, of course, is unfinished. But I can't imagine it would remain orange very long unless maybe covered with bar top epoxy.

Re: Padauk and color

William Duffield

There are two different padauk species, Andaman Pterocarpus dalbergioides and African Pterocarpus soyauxii. Their properties and availability are different, in particular in how long they hold their bright orangish color. There is more info at The Wood Database on them and on other similar species (e.g., amboyna, narra, etc.) in the Pterocarpus genus which should be read and appreciated.

https://www.wood-database.com/andaman-padauk/

https://www.wood-database.com/african-padauk/

I've seen some furniture made from padauk that remained beautiful after it had turned to a deep chocolate brown.