Hall table

Re: Table top -- warning, wood porn

Dave Mount

>Here's a shot of part of the top. I couldn't get it full length and still show the figure, but this tight curl was edge to edge, end to end. Single board, 14.75" wide.

Re: Drawer detail 

Dave Mount

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Beautiful work!

McKay Sleight

>Dave, nice gloat on the top by the way. When you "disassembled" the front apron, describe your method if you wood. I have tried a number of ways to do the same with none very satisfactory.

Wonderful work and a heirloom gift.

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

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Great Job!

Tim Caley - North Little Rock

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Re: Front apron

Dave Mount

>The front apron detailing is not big deal -- you just make your blank a little over width and rip a strip off either edge. Cut the center section into pieces as needed (5 in this case, 2 drawer fronts and 3 "stiles"), then glue it back together sans the drawer fronts. Cut it to final length, cut the tenons on the ends. In most grain patterns the minor discontinuity in the grain from the saw kerfs isn't noticeable in the reassembled apron. In this table there are only short sections where the wood is continuous anyway, and the lines around the drawers distract the eye from any discontinuity there.

I've seen plans where they suggest actually cutting the drawer fronts out of the intact apron. That just doesn't seem workable to me. I think there are some Japanese saws that have a thin enough kerf and are made so they can plunge cut, so I guess it's theoretically possible. For me, I'll probably just stick to rip and glue.

Best,

Dave

Beautiful....

Martin from Granbury

>Please tell us about your finishing schedule.

Stunning

jim reed @ tallahassee

>cannot speak...must wipe drool...

Nice....Ditto Jim Reed's comment.

vlparisian in cold and wet Houston

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Re: Finishing

Dave Mount

>Hey Martin--

Nothing fancy on the finishing. Top and undercarriage were done separately. The top was started with a coat of Danish oil (neutral/natural), then three coats of Seal Coat (blonde dewaxed shellac about 2 lb cut). With the curly grain, there was a lot of unevenness in how the shellac did or did not penetrate, some areas going "dry", others starting to build. Once there was some build on the entire surface, I sanded the finish flat up to 400 grit, then applied two coats of General Finishes Arm R Seal (wipe-on urethane) in semi-gloss (SWMBO doesn't like high gloss finishes). Ultra fine steel wool to knock off a few nibs then wax.

For the undercarriage, I did a little less build. Danish oil then three coats of Arm R Seal. While this is one more coat of urethane than the top got, the application to the top was done with a foam brush and was more of a "flood" application, while the undercarriage was wiped on with a cloth, so less build per coat. Also, without the shellac, more of the urethane soaked in on the first coat or two.

For people like me that don't have spray equipment, I'm pretty impressed with the General Finishes Arm R Seal. It dries slowly so you have to be careful with dust, and it is thin so it builds slowly, at least when wiped on. But it levels well and I've gotten pretty blemish-free finishes with it, much more so than other products I've tried. If you can get the work horizontal you can flood it on and it does a great job of self leveling, but it will run if the work is not absolutely horizontal. Non-horizontal surfaces have to be wiped on to avoid sags/runs. When doing something like a tabletop or door, I usually flood the top/bottom in separate applications, but wipe the edge on every application and end up with more or less the same build all around.

I've read that you can get the same thing as a wiping urethane by just thinning down the regular stuff. However, when I've done that with finishes with flattening agents I've had some problems with creating a form of "brush tracks", patterns in the flattening agents that are visible in raking light. I don't seem to have that problem with Arm R Seal, but maybe when I tried the homebrew I was using inferior components.

Best,

Dave

question

bill tindal, E.TN

>I liked the table especially the drawer knobs. They go so well with it.

Will you provide details on "board disassembly" for the front piece? I have considered it from time to time but could never figure out how to cut the drawer out reliably.

Re: question

Paul in NJ

>Bill,

What I have done in the past is to rip the board into three pieces. The middle ripping is the drawer and the other two are the rails. Crosscut a piece from each end of the drawer and glue them back to between the rails in their original positions. You lose the thickness of the saw kerfs but as long as the grain isn't too wild it looks pretty good.

Paul Dzioba

Re: knobs/apron *LINK*

Dave Mount

>Hey Bill -- thanks for the kind words.

I like those knobs too, I used them for our kitchen cabs as well and a number of other case pieces. I got them from "Nice Knobs" (link below). That pattern comes in two sizes (SO118 and SO34)and several different woods, I've used them in maple and walnut also. I think someone else here posted once that they were disappointed with something they got from Nice Knobs, but I've always been pleased with what I've gotten. I do a lot of Shaker-influenced stuff and Nice Knobs also makes the kind of tear-drop shaped pulls common on Shaker pieces -- I haven't seen those for sale too many other places (see knob AT34 on their website).

With regard to the drawer front question, the details are in the "front apron" post above. I just rip strips off the edges, cut the middle apart and glue it all back together.

Take care,

Dave


Nice Knobs website

WoW!

Tony - Memphis

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That's gorgeous!

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>What a great persent that will be. Say Dave, my 5th year anniversy is comming up a little later this year (hint, hint;^).