# Large oak dining table.



## Allubo (30 Aug 2013)

Last week we finished an oak dining table commision, the table was made for a fairly big kitchen to seat a maximum of 12 so settled on the basic 8x4 size. The client wanted something to similar to his original table just bigger.

We settled on a 36mm oak veneered top sitting on 100mm square legs with a triple mitred frame.







Here's how it was done.

The timber used was 65mm prime square sawn oak. So first things first, labelling and machining.





There are two 54mm thick ply runners which go down the centre of the frame for support in the centre of the table. These stop the top from sagging in the middle and give reassurance should the client need to stand on it.





Because I used 65mm stock I planed the leg components down to 54mm and glued together to make 108mm square pieces, because I would machine this again after, I didn't use clamping blocks.









The legs were the centre piece of a triple mitre, we made a scale model of this first to test how well we could do it and were happy so then moved on to the real components. Because the rails were 100x50mm we could allow for the inside of the leg to remain to add to glueing surface.





Two initial cuts gave the outer faces to which the rails would meet up to and the. I removed most of the material with a hand saw,





Then it went back on the dim saw to nibble away the remaining material.


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## Allubo (30 Aug 2013)

Then the saw marks were removed by block plane to make it flat.










Before and after.





All four done.










Next for the short rails, being 100x50mm these were just straight timbers with a 45o at either end, however because the long rails would foul on the end, the had to be mitred again the other way to form the triple mitre joint.


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## Allubo (30 Aug 2013)

Clamped up to trial.





Domino holes cut for ply stringers.





And corresponding holes for the rails.





Glue up of the short sides.





The mitres were also dominoed.





You can never have enough clamps!





Side complete.





Inside face.


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## Allubo (30 Aug 2013)

Test fitted the ply stringers.





Then dropped the long rails in for a dry run.





Once the rails were glued to the legs, they were dowels through the inside with 19mm oak to ensure it cannot physically come loose, it ensured each corner was completely secure and will not come apart without removal of the dowel.
Coming through the inside meant it wouldn't be seen unless you go underneath the table, I've never liked the look of through dowels as a feature so happy it's not on display.





Planed flush





Corner locked up





Next it was time to assemble the top, started by glueing to 18mm mdf boards together and then trimming 12mm off all the way round to square off and then add the oak lippings to make back up to 2440x1220mm.





Oak veneer straight edged ready to go onto the oak lipped top.





Joined oversize.


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## Allubo (30 Aug 2013)

A sheet of hardboard was used to trim the veneer, it was then covered in panel tape on its smooth side to stop any glue sticking to it when it gets pressed.





I use a straight razor to trim the veneer.





The veneer was trimmed to the same size as the top but the finished piece would have a 5x5mm chamfer so a little movement was acceptable. The masking ate was pit around the edges for two reasons, 1, to prevent breakage, and 2, to give a little more pressure to the edges when pressed.





In the bag with the hardboard on top, the blanket is to allow the air to escape easily without leaving air pockets.





Next the points were marked on the rails where the screws would come through to secure the top.





Underneath.










After cleaning up and sanding it was stained. I would have rather just applied an oil but the client wanted it to match the rest of the wood in the house.


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## dm65 (30 Aug 2013)

Looks great, especially those double mitres - how long did you spend working them out ?

And well done for the wip, you know we like to see every step =D>


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## Allubo (30 Aug 2013)

The table was then finished in a heavy duty oil and buffed up, this was done twice for durability.















And finished.

There was also some 90x90mm leather squares glued to the legs to protect the floor, think it have a nice finishing touch to when it was put down, made a satisfying noise.











To show who made it.


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## Allubo (30 Aug 2013)

dm65":v8gnw6ug said:


> Looks great, especially those double mitres - how long did you spend working them out ?
> 
> And well done for the wip, you know we like to see every step =D>




Thanks, I was a little worried after saying I could do the mitres but after a little play with some mdf we worked it out ok, the legs were left quite a lot oversize in case they got FUBAR but thankfully not. I like to document work when I can but sometimes it's easy to get carried away :S


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## MrYorke (31 Aug 2013)

Any particular reason for not using veneered MDF rather than doing it yourself?


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## MrYorke (31 Aug 2013)

Looks fantastic by the way. Well done


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## ColeyS1 (31 Aug 2013)

Those trisexual mitre thingys are proper smart  bet it feels nice and solid ! 
Cheers

Sent from my GT-I9300


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## Baldhead (31 Aug 2013)

Very very nice and excellent WIP pics.

Baldhead


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## Allubo (31 Aug 2013)

MrYorke":2l6oxa49 said:


> Any particular reason for not using veneered MDF rather than doing it yourself?


 

I never have and never will, we use preveneered at work and I think post lipped boards look terrible, I also really enjoy straightening veneer and joining it and think it looks much nicer as you can specify your veneer when ordering. It is also thicker than the veneer you get on preveneered boards so you're less likely to sand through. He also wants a coffee table in the same style so this can be made with the same bundle of veneer to create a matching set.

Thanks

Alex


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## RossJarvis (31 Aug 2013)

nice job, I like the way you hide all the "working" bits to give a clean style.


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## Allubo (31 Aug 2013)

RossJarvis":1xrmx3se said:


> nice job, I like the way you hide all the "working" bits to give a clean style.




Thanks, the nice thing about hiding it aswell is that when someone does look underneath/ inside the realise it's more complex than it looks and they've actually got something that's had some thought gone into it.


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## Steve Maskery (31 Aug 2013)

Alex that looks great.
Can you tell us what stain you used please? I've made a little Shaker stand and am making a coffee table and I want a little colour to them. Not dark, but darker than natural and I don't know much about stains and dyes.
S


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## Allubo (31 Aug 2013)

Thanks for the comment, im not a big stainer either (haha), the wood was obvious normal euro oak, I used wickes antique pine stain with a hard wax oil over the top, I applied with a sponge in a methodical linear pattern then followed with a dry cloth to remove excess. It looked very dark when applied but once buffed off it bought the grain back out and gave it that colour. I only applied one coat if stain so can't tell you what multiple coats does ect.

Hope that's helped application wise.

Thanks

Alex


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## Steve Maskery (31 Aug 2013)

Great, thank you.
S


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## wallace (1 Sep 2013)

Lovely work Alex. Why are table tops veneered and not solid wood. Is it a stability thing or a cost thing?
mark


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## Allubo (1 Sep 2013)

Both reasons, it would have increased the cost considerably and I would see it warping very quickly from solid wood, you can minimize warpage but not eliminate it. Veneering also gives a cleaner mor consistent surface in my opinion. Think there's a lot of false stigma that solid is better than veneered nowadays because of the likes of oak furniture land and such.

Thanks for the comment 

Alex


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## martinhowlett (22 Nov 2013)

Thats a lovely joint


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## MARK.B. (22 Nov 2013)

Nice job, the client must have been delighted.


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## houtslager (22 Nov 2013)

yep, a nicely made table with great joinery [ albeit hidden  ]

K


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## pablo823 (23 Nov 2013)

loving how you did the legs, lovely work

Paul


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## The Bear (23 Nov 2013)

Lovely piece, I'm very impressed

Mark


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## mailee (23 Nov 2013)

Wonderful job and those joints really are nice. It looks very clean lines too.


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## Allubo (25 Nov 2013)

Thank you for the comments guys


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## houtslager (25 Nov 2013)

like the joinery, though not too keen on the finish - p'raps it's your piccies but to me it looks treakly 

still a nice table.

K


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## Allubo (25 Nov 2013)

Thanks, I would have rather not stained it but that's what the client wanted.

Alex


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## markturner (26 Nov 2013)

That's a great bit of work, very well done, and some impressive design and technique. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you charge them for this? 

Cheers, Mark


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## Allubo (26 Nov 2013)

Thanks mark. 

The bill total was £1250. It was a slight undercharge in retrospect as labour wasn't charged at full price @61 hours.

Thanks

Alex


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