# Shaker End Tables



## Chems (16 Apr 2010)




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## wizer (16 Apr 2010)

Very nice work. Are you a TWW Guild member? He's just done a series on making these shaker table, same as your design.

I can't offer any advice, but interested to hear how you get on with selling them.


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## Chems (16 Apr 2010)

No not a guild member, I do love the WW thou, I used to be a fan of T-Chisel but have totally changed camps and don't like him much anymore but can't get enough of the WW. I saw the latest video of loads of pictures of different ones. 

Theres a lot of building in such a little table, I've never wanted for a bandsaw before but working with real wood again I can see the attraction defiantly, you end up wasting a lot of wood with out resaw capacity.


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## Richard Findley (16 Apr 2010)

Hi Chems,

Tung Oil is ok but it takes a dogs age to dry. I'd prefer either standard Chestnut Finishing Oil or you could try the new Hard Wax Oil which promises to be harder wearing. Oil always looks good on Oak, that's for sure!!

Tables look great, not sure about your technique for chamfering the undersides of the tops though, it looks like something Norm would do :roll: :roll: :shock: :shock: !! Be safer on a Router table if you've got one.

Best of luck with selling them!!

Cheers

Richard


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## wizer (16 Apr 2010)

I agree with Richard. One of the Hardwax oils (Osmo, Fiddes, Chestnut) would be ideal for this. Easy to apply and great finish which you can build up to the lustre you like. I've not yet used Chestnut or Fiddes, but I'm sure they're all similar.


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## chingerspy (16 Apr 2010)

I was thinking the same thing re TWW  Very nice Chems. Is anyone a guild member. I think I could benefit and would enjoy the community aspect but it all seems more worthwhile if you are in the US (store discounts etc.)

Sorry I can't offer real advice on selling them. Is there a high street "gallery" style shop or something locally that you can have a chat with?

As for finishes, you could go all out TWW and use Arm-R-Seal from General Finishes  - CHT sells it.


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## Chems (16 Apr 2010)

I'll have a look at the Chestnut finishing oil as I can get that easily with out making an internet order. Whats the hard wax stuff?

Richard, yeah I have a router table, its pictured more than once :roll: I have a huge chamfer bit but its 45 degrees, and these are 45mm deep at about 15 degree slope, don't think you could get that with a router bit, specially not cheap. TS is great for panel raising like this, looks a bit hairy buts its fine in reality.

Most of the guild videos look like they are done by other people not marc, I'm not sure I'd invest in it to be honest like you say better if your an American.


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## Richard Findley (16 Apr 2010)

Chems

Take a look here: https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/new-finish-from-chestnut-t40538.html to find out more about the Hard Wax Oil. Feedback seems to be positive!!

I'll take your word for it on the table saw!!! Wealdon do a cutter for about £50 that looks about right and may be worth a look if you're going into production with these: http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Large_Raise_198.html

Cheers

Richard


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## wizer (16 Apr 2010)

Arm R Seal is a bit different from HardWax Oil. I prefer it for some stuff.

The Guild videos are all made by Marc, none by other people. There's been some interviews with other furniture makers or woodworking 'talent'. But it's mainly build stuff or techniques. It is much more valuable to American users. I only subscribe because I get so bored sitting at this bloody computer. Marc's thinking about making the guild video content available at a charge per video. This will probably make sense to us Brits. We can then pick and choose which content we want to see.


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## jhwbigley (16 Apr 2010)

Chems":249qrxcn said:


> . TS is great for panel raising like this, looks a bit hairy buts its fine in reality.
> 
> .



:shock:


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## Chems (16 Apr 2010)

Richard Findley":5tdz3v1m said:


> I'll take your word for it on the table saw!!! Wealdon do a cutter for about £50 that looks about right and may be worth a look if you're going into production with these: http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Large_Raise_198.html
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Richard



Takes so long with the router, need lots of passes. I'm a very careful TS user and it doesn't feel wrong at all when you do it, most important thing is to make a zero clearance plate of some sort for the specific cut.


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## OPJ (17 Apr 2010)

They look nice, Chems. I might have made the legs slightly thicker or kept them slightly wider at the bottom of the tapers but, it's fine line between having something that looks like too much a taper and a tapered leg that still looks parallel... If that makes sense!  You probably wouldn't want to cut the legs from thicker stock as the current thickness works well with the bevelled edges of the top.

I bought some of the Chestnut hardwax oil from Richard this week and my first impressions are that it's not quite as thick as the Osmo oil, which makes it a bit easier to apply (photos in a couple of days...). It's really great stuff and this kind of finish is more hard-wearing than other oils (Danish, linseed, tung, finishing, etc.). Also, it barely darkens the wood, unlike the others. :wink:

I glued up a 6mm drawer base the other day and this is how I did it:







Very similar to your setup except, I clamped a pair of strips at each end to keep the ends as flat as possible. If you're worried about these sticking, putting a bit of wax on the mating surface. :wink: It's not just Titebond III but, with their other two main glues (I and II), you can also remove the cramps after half an hour (as long as you don't stress the joints!).

I can see why you want to cut those chamfers on the table saw (are you cleaning them up with your plane, afterwards?) but I would make the left-hand guard at least 100mm tall, so there's no way your left hand can get in there! :? If you made it wide enough, you could also have a surface for running a push-stick along, which should keep your hands even further away (though, personally, I'd prefer to do this on a router table first!! ).

Selling - you could approach any local shops, galleries, or try to get your nose in to any forth-coming exhibitions that might be going on (?). Be aware that most shops will want to add their own 'mark-up' though, which could greatly increase the selling price, even by an extra 50-100%. :?

Pricing - obviously, you need to look seriously at how long these have taken you to make. It's generally "easiest" to look at the number of days - £250 per day (ten-hours). Though, if your overheads are low enough, you might want to get away with charging £20 p/h... But then, what do you do when you move to a larger workshop? Suddenly bump your prices up sharply and frighten all your previous clients away? Another way is to break it down in to processes - how long does it take you to perform each action of the build? Is there anything you could do to make each process faster, more efficient? If you need to reduce your costs, which parts of the design(s) could you alter? If these first two sold quickly, would you look at producing a larger batch, which could also reduce costs slightly?

Do it both ways (counting the number of days and the calculated time spent on each process) and I'll bet the results are different! 

Oh, and don't forget to add your material costs (including wastage allowance) on top!


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## Benchwayze (17 Apr 2010)

Chems,

Nice tables and an interesting WIP. These are cock-on for the bedroom.

I like to see Shaker stuff made in Cherry, but that's personal preference 



Regards 

John


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## Chems (17 Apr 2010)

Just a quick reply from my phone. Panel raising on the saw is much more fun! Hands never need to get close i do it with a pair of push sticks an clean up with card scraper. I meant to say at the start i got the plans online so taper etc are from the plan. I'd be happy for three hundred for the pair, in materials each cost 50. I was going quite quick at the start but found i slowed right down. The leigh jig is great but takes so long to set up, once done you can do the drawers in about 3mins but doesn't work out for only 2 drawers. Thanks for all the feedback!


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## rileytoolworks (17 Apr 2010)

Chems, with regards selling these (finely crafted - well done!) tables, have you considered asking a 'gallery' to sell them on commission?
I know near you there is the Heart Of The Shires and that old dairy farm at Upper Weedon (I think). If I were you, I'd approach somewhere local like this, explain that you've made some speculative pieces and ask if they'd be interested in selling them on your behalf. 

Nice tables. I was looking at your pictures last night and secretly hating you for the space you've got!!!

Adam.


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## ByronBlack (17 Apr 2010)

To sell - I know it's obvious and might not be the right place, but you'll be surprised: ebay - if you do a nice job with the listing and photos to seperate it from the usual bargain hunters rubbish you might get lucky - I've bought a number of 'premium' items from ebay before so it's not just for the cheap stuff.

Also, ask around your friends and family and work colleagues. I sell a lot of stuff this way before I list things on ebay or amazon marketplace.

And has been mentioned before; local galleries, furniture/antique stores etc..


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## Chems (17 Apr 2010)

Riley, Bryon, thanks for the pointers, I'll defiantly try ebay. I did contact terrigena who sell furniture not far from here and got a maybe type response, send through some photos.

When you say Gallery, what sort of gallery do you mean, like a normal art gallery?

Riley, I did drop into Heart of the Shires the only furniture place there is Fraiser James and didn't ask but didn't think an exclusive kitchen place would be best. Envy my space, but don't forget, I've got your saw also! :twisted: 

Benchwayze, I did notice that after I started, next ones will be cherry  


Whilst were here I've also made a website for myself I'd really like to start having my tools pay some money back!

www.TimberWorks.org

(I know one of the pictures doesn't match up on the ordering bit, its cause obviously I don't have a completed picture of the table yet)


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## rileytoolworks (17 Apr 2010)

Chems":22sl968i said:


> . Envy my space, but don't forget, I've got your saw also! :twisted:



That's it. Bloody well rub it in...


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## Richard Findley (18 Apr 2010)

Hi Chems,

Website is looking good!!!

Don't forget, if you're using Cherry, it's quite a bit dearer than Oak!!!!

Back to that cut on the T/S, if you are comfortable doing it then that's something, I'd be inclined to make up some sort of guard though, maybe an inverted "L" shape which also adds pressure wood to fence to help stabilise it and guard the blade/fingers (I think that's pretty much what Olly was getting at)

Olly - Glad you like the HWO!!

Cheers

Richard


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## Chems (18 Apr 2010)

Yes just checked my price list, Oak is £40 a cube and Cherry £75. Like you say quite a big difference!

If I wasn't so eager to get it done in the future I may make a type of sled that runs along/over the fence like a tenon jig. But to be honest I'm not sure I'd go to the bother, with big pieces like my fingers are a long way away and I'm off to the side. 

Thanks for the Gallery idea I got a lead on a Gallery that is interested to buy them. See how it goes fingers crossed.


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## WoodAddict (18 Apr 2010)

Great work so far and exciting times ahead after the website launch! Congrats on the website and some of the work in the gallery


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## chingerspy (18 Apr 2010)

Glad you got a response and now know what was meant by gallery shop 

There are a few of them in Letchworth where I work now and then. High street shops with a mixture of mid-high end furniture in them from local makers. There are usually one or two pieces the same or in different woods. Ideal for what you are producing as long as the price is right of course as they will no doubt then mark the piece up a fair amount.

You never know, commissions may come from it


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## Chems (18 Apr 2010)

Thanks WoodAddict and Chinger.

I've been looking for a Gallery like the one you describe chinger but don't think there any near me. 

My website domain comes with free advertising for a certain amount and I've listed a google add and facebook add, already got a few hits from facebook.


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## TrimTheKing (19 Apr 2010)

Nice work Chems

One thing, Just noticed a typo on you website homepage, unique has an extra 'i' in it on your page. Second paragraph "can also ship uniquie pieces".

:wink:

Other than that it's quite a nice site.


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## Chems (19 Apr 2010)

Trim, change it, thanks for reading it so carefully. What would one do without all the help from UKW?!

I also set up a facebook page cause apparently its one of the best way to improve your search engine rating and I'm on googlemaps.


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## big soft moose (19 Apr 2010)

Chems":dvjdfooh said:


> Trim, change it, thanks for reading it so carefully. What would one do without all the help from UKW?!
> 
> I also set up a facebook page cause apparently its one of the best way to improve your search engine rating and I'm on googlemaps.



few other points re your hompage mate

you need a comma after based in northamptonshire " Based in Northamptonshire, Timberworks..."

the capitlisation on " Bookcases to Dining Tables, Hardwood or Painted Finish, Free Standing TV Cabinets to End Tables ... " looks wrong - I realise you are doing it for emphasis but really capitals should only be used at the begining of a sentence or for propper names.

and also the sentence "I'll be happy to make a piece unique for you" looks ungramatical

imo it should either be " I'll be happy to make a unique piece for you" or "I'll be happy to make a piece unique to you"

and finally the phase "Hardwood or painted finish" - what happensd if i want a hard wood piece in a painted finish ? Imo that should either be "hardwood or softwood" or "natural grain or painted finish" , or both

hope thats helpful


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## Dibs-h (19 Apr 2010)

Very nice Chems - I will have to make a mental note - never to show any of your work or posts to Wifey! My list of things to do would just increase infinitely! :lol:


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## Chems (19 Apr 2010)

big soft moose":26c7w8g2 said:


> Chems":26c7w8g2 said:
> 
> 
> > Trim, change it, thanks for reading it so carefully. What would one do without all the help from UKW?!
> ...



BSM, it is helpful, I will get onto changing it. I think you an my partner should meet, shes a cambridge graduate and the amount of stick I get for grammar and miss use of commas in things I write even texts is unreal!

Dibs, I'll do an exchange if you build me a nice workshop like yours!


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## Chems (19 Apr 2010)




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## ByronBlack (19 Apr 2010)

Looking good - but in the fourth photo, there is some blade burn on the side of the top nearest the camera - I'm sure you know that know, but thought i'd mention it just in case.


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## Chems (19 Apr 2010)

I was tempted to get it off before I took the photo but I felt that was dishonest! Still got quite a bit of cleaning up to do, legs need a bit of sanding and theres a tiny bit of glue squeeze out. Nice thing about the domino is you don't need to use much glue on the faces so it minimizes the clean up. 


Anyone seen any good plans for a DIY router lathe? I've seen a few but a lot of them seem to be made with a bearing type thing to hold the shaft.


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## Chems (20 Apr 2010)




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## Eric The Viking (20 Apr 2010)

I know everyone has a different view, but aesthetically, I love them. They have great proportions - very balanced.

This thread even prompted me to get a book on Shaker design from the library yesterday!


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## wizer (20 Apr 2010)

Very nice. I'm not sure if I'd ever want to have a shaker table in my house. But I'd like to build one.


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## Chems (20 Apr 2010)

I know exactly what you mean Wizer, love to look at it and liked making it but wouldn't have one myself. 

Eric, shame I can't take credit for the design, I just followed the traditional plans. I've been researching them on the internet to get a feel for price, which varies from around £600 to £350 each and the difference between nice ones and machine made ones seems to be the legs, if the legs are tapered enough they don't look delicate enough, but to tapered and they'd look silly.


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## Eric The Viking (20 Apr 2010)

Chems":2ue0howt said:


> the difference between nice ones and machine made ones seems to be the legs, if the legs are tapered enough they don't look delicate enough, but to tapered and they'd look silly.



I know just what you mean. 

It's the same with the pulls you've made. They finish the piece, and their size and shape is very important as your eye is drawn to them. too big and they'd dominate, making it almost comic; too small and the piece would look too plain. 

In fact, I think they make all the difference. Before your last pictures I was thinking, "that's nice, worth a look sometime." I was interested but not enthusiastic and happened across the book on Shaker design, so thought "why not". But they're far more balanced with the knobs than without, to my mind, anyway. 

I like Louis XV commodes too, mind:







Funny stuff, aesthetics...


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## OPJ (21 Apr 2010)

Just seen the thread and I think you've done really well considering! :wink: They look and suit the piece very well. That's always one of the hardest parts for me; creating something looks good but doesn't overpower the rest of the piece or look to dull. Not sure what I'm going to do for this curve-front cabinet yet but, at least I have a _proper_ lathe now! 

If you do find yourself wanting to do more in future, I'd also recommend you look in buying a small, second-hand 'midi' lathe, like the one Pete mentions in the other thread. I wouldn't gone for one of those myself and saved some space, if only Pete wasn't selling his M900 for £75! :roll: :wink: The great thing about those Midi lathes that, when you do want to upgrade, you shouldn't have any trouble selling it on. Also, with the Record Power model at least (DML305, I think?) there's an optional bed extension, in case you want to turn longer work.

Time to get some oil on that timber then!  In case you haven't seen my latest blog post, I strongly recommend the hard wax oil from Chestnut.


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## mr grimsdale (21 Apr 2010)

Chems":r06dpgd2 said:


>


I made one for myself based on the Woodworking Magazine download People liked it and I've now sold a few. Not sure abt the copyright but it's in the public domain, not an exact copy etc so should be OK I hope! There are a lot of them about, it's a classic design, a useful little table.
Yours looks good. The only thing I'd do much differently would be the DTs. There seems to be a new fashion for thin half pins on the edges which looks a bit odd to me, esp as you have a fat one in the middle. I'd have it the other way around.
I reckon it's easier to think of DTs only in terms of the pins (and pin holes); it's the pin ends you see and notice first, they are the main design feature. The tails just fill the space between them - forget tails!
There are no rules - you can do what you like, but I think the thin edge pins are weak and could break. Also if you need to trim the drawer there is no thickness to remove. Just a thought.


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## Chems (21 Apr 2010)

I used the leigh jig to do the dovetails so the pin laylout is a little dictated by that. If I was to do them again I'd get a little DT saw and hand cut them, not worth setting up the jig for 2 drawers.


Olly, thanks for the words on the knobs. As your biggest WordPress fan I have of course read your latest blog and intend to get up to GoodTimber today to get some of that Hard Wax oil if I get time.


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## big soft moose (21 Apr 2010)

OPJ":vx8oxmxe said:


> Just seen the thread and I think you've done really well considering! :wink: They look and suit the piece very well. That's always one of the hardest parts for me; creating something looks good but doesn't overpower the rest of the piece or look to dull. Not sure what I'm going to do for this curve-front cabinet yet but, at least I have a _proper_ lathe now!
> 
> If you do find yourself wanting to do more in future, I'd also recommend you look in buying a small, second-hand 'midi' lathe, like the one Pete mentions in the other thread. I wouldn't gone for one of those myself and saved some space, if only Pete wasn't selling his M900 for £75! :roll: :wink: The great thing about those Midi lathes that, when you do want to upgrade, you shouldn't have any trouble selling it on. Also, with the Record Power model at least (DML305, I think?) there's an optional bed extension, in case you want to turn longer work.
> 
> Time to get some oil on that timber then!  In case you haven't seen my latest blog post, I strongly recommend the hard wax oil from Chestnut.



you could always put the m900 on ebay (you'd probs get more than 75 notes) and get yourself a smaller one - theres a baby perform type axminster lathe on ebay at the moment currently sitting at £41

the m900 is a great lathe but its total overkill if you are only going to turn knobs and pulls.


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## OPJ (21 Apr 2010)

Chems, you may find that Richard Findley is the only one supplying Chestnut's hard wax oil at the minute... It doesn't appear to be available at Axminster or Classic Hand Tools yet.

Pete, I'd be lying if I said that hadn't already crossed my mind!  But, even with a smaller lathe, I'd have to build a bench for it and buy an extension kit if ever I wanted to turn some legs or something - that's why your offer was so appealing to me. Clearly, I have no reservations about squeezing something far too large in to my small workshop! :wink:

Chems doesn't have this problem though, he has _loads_ of space...


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## Chems (21 Apr 2010)

My next big machine purchase will probably be a bandsaw, I think theres to much wastage when working with hardwood if you don't have a resaw capacity. Didn't get anything done today for a few reasons. Is the hardwax oil not fully rolled out then? How quick is richard on postage as I want these finished yesterday!


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## jhwbigley (21 Apr 2010)

Chems":1rxa9m6u said:


> My next big machine purchase will probably be a bandsaw, I think theres to much wastage when working with hardwood if you don't have a resaw capacity.



I've only ever needed a bandsaw for deepening drawer parts, like when you what a pair of 10mm thick drawer sides. not much point resawing if you get the bit you want and a bit 3mm thick left, might as well take that of on the thicknesser. 

I like the shaker style, nice and simple  

JH


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## OPJ (21 Apr 2010)

You'll be able to do so much more with a bandsaw... Book-matching, veneering, accurate shaping in thick stock where a jigsaw blade might flex - you know that purchase is going to make a lot of sense! :wink:

As far as I recall, the oil arrived from The Turner's Workshop next day. Either that, or you should phone ahead before visiting Good Timber (it's probably cheaper still to take up Richard's current offer!).


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## ByronBlack (21 Apr 2010)

I'm a massive fan of the bandsaw, don't think there is any reason not to have one, they can just do so much. Even though i'm going galoot - a bandsaw is still high on my list of purchases at some point.


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## Chems (21 Apr 2010)

I agree, theres lots you can do with a bandsaw, you can venture into the world of curves! They look like fun too, quite safe to use. 

Need to get some filler of some sort for this knot in the top, and get some hardwax oil to finish it.


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## Chems (23 Apr 2010)




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## WoodAddict (23 Apr 2010)

That's a lot of dust. How long since it was last done? (just purely out of interest)

I do like those tables, good luck with the sale and let us know how it goes.. :wink:


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## Chems (23 Apr 2010)

Thats 23 days worth, I also had a drum full from the RSDE-2 which I think is something like 50 litres. Off both my saw and P/T. If only there was a good use for it we'd all be minted!


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## OPJ (24 Apr 2010)

That looks like a good repair with the epoxy. Do you have a 'before' photo? It will be interesting to see how it turns out once you've oiled it (I have no idea how epoxy or if epoxy reacts to finishes?). I've got a couple of large knots (more like cracks!) on the walnut seat of a chair I'm making at college and I might consider using epoxy, as I haven't done so before. Otherwise, they'd need quite a bit of wax to fill them!


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## Chems (24 Apr 2010)

To be honest, it looked just like it does, only before you could stick your finger now you cant. 

Oil is going on at the mo. Pics soon.


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## Chems (25 Apr 2010)




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## Ironballs (25 Apr 2010)

These are looking good and you've obviously made them well, but I reckon with a couple of changes and some more thought about board selection you'll take them to the next level.

First up the tops, on one you have a mix of quartersawn and plain oak, I think for a well resolved top you have to go with boards all of the same cut and ideally with similar grain so that you can make the joins disappear. You also appear to have a bit of sap on the q/sawn board which for oak is a real negative - can look good on walnut and cherry for instance, but not on oak.

Next up is the drawer, I reckon with a bit of practice you could aim for a closer fit, but that's only nit picking. What will make a big difference is taking an oversize board for the front and then bandsawing out the drawer front, the two "waste" parts become your top and bottom rails and with some care and planing down to clean up, you end up with a drawer that flows into the rails. You can use the same technique if you don't want a full width drawer, just repeat above but with an overlong piece and cut the drawer front from the width of the middle piece.

If you're going for sale then these things can lift your piece and allow you to stand out and command a higher price - for very little more effort

Cheers

Damian


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## Chems (26 Apr 2010)

Ironballs":3nz89wm2 said:


> What will make a big difference is taking an oversize board for the front and then bandsawing out the drawer front, the two "waste" parts become your top and bottom rails and with some care and planing down to clean up, you end up with a drawer that flows into the rails.



I did this but messed them up at the dovetail stage 

Thanks for your points damian, I was just thinking earlier how much better I could do it again. Not sure about the quater sawn and the plain, it must be mixed up in the pile at the timber place I will have to be more careful as I actually bought character oak for this and really really struggled to get good boards out of it. (How can I easily tell the difference when looking at them in the pile?) Its my first trip back into hardwoods for over a year an a half having not had a P/T. Hopefully the average punter won't notice the imperfections! If these ones go I'll defiantly make some more.


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## 9fingers (26 Apr 2010)

One more comment for the website Chems.

Maybe make your two occurrences of your email contact into clickable links so they will open up the reader mail program.

Very nice work. I'm not a great fan of pine/redwood. needs just as much labour in construction but you cannot sell it for such good prices.

Bob


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## Chems (2 May 2010)




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## woodbloke (2 May 2010)

These are good simple pieces, but I would have to echo IB's comments ref timber selection and drawers.
The tops as shown have visible lines of sap...not only does it look bad (in my view anyway) but should be avoided like the plague, 'specially in oak as that's where little wormy varmints like to lunch :evil: The tables are easily going to last a couple of hundred years or so, but any sign of inadequate husbandry ie keeping in a damp environment will have those sappy bits full of holes in no time at all.
As for the knot...that should never have been included on a show surface. You could get away with a small live knot or two (I have on my AP stool just finished) but, in my view anyway, you ought to have been a lot more careful with the timber selection...that knot is the first thing that the client is going to see.

The timber on the drawers as well appears quarter sawn on one and plain on the other....much better to have selected a big lump and bookmatched it to make a matched pair.

If a big enough piece wasn't available, then you could have cut a pair of 4mm slices off a quarter sawn piece and then glued them over a 14mm plainer piece...the glue line would then be right where your marking line is for the lapped d/t's and would have blended in quite well. Yes, there would be a mismatch in the grain with the d/t's but the fronts (which are the important bits) would have been perfick :wink:

Sorry for the ramble, but I think the points were worth mentioning - Rob


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## Chems (2 May 2010)

I actually really liked the sap running through the top. 

I defiantly think I'll make these again as they are a great project, next time smaller dovetails and more careful timber selection.


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## xy mosian (2 May 2010)

Nice tables, well done. 

But could I please see the grain on the knobs horizontal.

xy


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## Chems (2 May 2010)

Yes as only one is glued in! Can't do anything about the other one I'm afriad


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## woodbloke (2 May 2010)

Chems":4xo6txhu said:


> I actually really liked the sap running through the top.


Personal choice and fair enoughski, but go to any timber yard and examine the waney edged boards of oak with sap...looks just like a colander and so will those table tops without proper care :wink: - Rob


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## Chems (2 May 2010)

It would make a good forum project, you should do a set. 

I did cut away all the sap wood, but somehow those bits escaped me. Hopefully they remain good overtime. They are well protected.


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## xy mosian (2 May 2010)

Sorry I mentioned it now Chems  

Still as I said "Good stuff"

xy


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## woodbloke (2 May 2010)

Chems":2wjapux2 said:


> I did cut away all the sap wood, but somehow those bits escaped me.


Understood...sometimes though, it's difficult to chop out all the sap and a little bit does remain. Can't be helped, it's if it's left in deliberately as a 'feature' on oak pieces that worries me - Rob


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## Chems (2 May 2010)

What caught me out most was that when at the timber yard they asked, prime or character, and I said character, thinking that meant it had the best character, so it was quite knotty and difficult to get what I wanted out of it. Been away from hardwood for too long! 


XY, thanks glad you like them!


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## OPJ (2 May 2010)

Now, those are looking great with the hardwax oil on! 8) How many coats did it take? Haven't yet tried adding a coat of wax, myself.

If that is "character oak" then I've seen much worse  - meaning, many more knots. Some large; some with gaps going right through to the other face. :? Was it much cheaper than the prime grade? Oh well, at least you know for next time! :wink:

Can't remember whether this has already been mentioned but, on the drawer, I would personally make the half-pins wider and probably narrow the central one, slightly (but, that partly depends on what cutters you have available).

Sap's a pipper to spot in many lighter woods, also including ash.

Have you had any luck getting these in to the shop?


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## Chems (2 May 2010)

Thanks Olly, 2 coats I used then the Bison Wax. 

I had to cut around lots of bits but been fairly small items it was easy to avoid a lot. I did at one point consider going back an remaking a top but decided I wouldn't. I'm not sure of the price difference but I'll find out.

I was limited with the dovetails by the leigh jig, but the next ones I will definatly hand cut. Sent the pictures off today so wait and see what happens. I've also got 3 orders through my site so I'm going to be very busy!


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