First furniture project in years....

[colinc]

Hi,

I have been putting time into other interests over recent years, but with retirement on the horizon I decided that it is time to reboot my interest in proper woodworking. The pictures are of a table I just made for some friends. It is to a design published by Mike Pekovitch in his book, bought for me as a Christmas present, that I found quite inspirational and which I would highly recommend.

I am pleased with it, not perfect, but I learned a lot from making it.

Regards,

Colin

 

[colinc]

The top is from a board of brown oak from a local estate.

 

[custard]

Nice job Colin, and it shows off that beautiful Brown Oak superbly!

=D>

 

[colinc]

Thanks, I have a similar amount of it left, am looking for a worthwhile use for it. It is a really pleasant wood to work with. I think that I ought to buy a few more boards from that tree.

Colin

 

[custard]

If these boards work well you should definitely get some more.

The problem is that because Brown Oak is caused by an infection that's essentially rotting the timber, it can become quite punky and spongy. You want that sweet spot where the deep brown colour has fully developed, but the timber itself hasn't yet started to soften and become too spalted. If your Brown Oak hits that elusive balance then fill your boots!

 

[colinc]

That's interesting, thanks. I knew about the fungus but this is the first board of it I have come across. I think this is in that sweet spot because it is very firm, but cuts really cleanly. I'll see if more is available.

 

[thetyreman]

very nice job colin =D>

 

[John15]

Congratulations Colin. Brown Oak is a super wood. A very attractive table.

John

 

[Yojevol]

Yes I agree - a good job done and brown oak is nice to work on. Usually the brown discolouration does not progress up the tree evenly so you can get a strippy effect when it's known as Tiger Oak. Is this the reason for the light streak up the middle of your table?
I was lucky enough to come across some tiger oak which I incorporated into a pair of cabinet doors:-

Brian

 

[woodbloke66]

Hi,

I have been putting time into other interests over recent years, but with retirement on the horizon I decided that it is time to reboot my interest in proper woodworking. The pictures are of a table I just made for some friends. It is to a design published by Mike Pekovitch in his book, bought for me as a Christmas present, that I found quite inspirational and which I would highly recommend.

I am pleased with it, not perfect, but I learned a lot from making it.

Regards,

Colin

The table looks good. I've done a bit in Brown Oak and it's nice stuff; I snapped up a few choice boards at Yandles a couple of years ago. That book was recommended to me the other day by Andy Pickard from Devizes and it's currently winging it's way to me as well as Richard Jone's 'Cut & Dried'. Mike P's book is apparently a good reference for this 'kumiko' work which seems to be currently doing the rounds on InstaG - Rob

 

[custard]

Tiger Oak is one of those ambiguous phrases that means different things to different people. Every furniture maker and forester that I know uses Tiger Oak in the same way as you, a tree that's recently been infected so you get stripes of brown but also regular straw coloured Oak in the same board, like these,

Contrast this with Brown Oak, where even the paler parts are still brown as opposed to Oak's normal straw colour,

But plenty of antique dealers use the phrase "Tiger Oak" to mean quarter sawn Oak where the medullary rays are clearly displayed.

I'd always prefer to buy timber by selecting it myself, but with Brown and Tiger Oak it's essential, you can pick through a dozen rubbish boards before finding one with the colour, grain, and hardness that you really want. Furthermore, getting a colour match between boards of Brown or Tiger Oak from different trees is almost impossible, so you're better buying from yards like English Woodlands or Tylers where the sawn log or boule is laid out for you to pick from.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I too am fond of brown oak. In my experience it tends to have a slight greasiness to it as it's worked and, because the wood is somewhat degraded by the fungus Fistulina hepatica, commonly known as beefsteak or ox-tongue fungus, it's not as heavy as uninfected oak: it's also weaker so caution is required if the planned end use (unlikely most of the time) of the material is structural.

Its colour tends to be somewhat fugitive, as evidenced in the image below of a brown oak door frame surrounded by normal oak carcasing - both oaks were European oaks. In the image below, the piece was probably about twenty five or so years old. Slainte.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

... it's currently winging it's way to me as well as Richard Jone's 'Cut & Dried'.

I meant to thank you for mentioning you'd bought a copy of my book in my last post, Rob. It slipped my mind, but I very much appreciate it. I do hope you find lots of useful information there, and hopefully you'll also find it in a style that's accessible, i.e., not overly academically dense and therefore difficult to follow the arguments and subjects discussed. Slainte.

 

[Bm101]

Colin, could you post some pics of the joinery/ underside?

 

[colinc]

Colin, could you post some pics of the joinery/ underside?

This is one I took whilst building it:

 

[colinc]

Looking at the boards again, I can see why it might be called Tiger Oak. I am going to see if I can buy more from the same tree.

 

[Bm101]

Thanks Colin.
That is far clearer to me as a beginner. Much appreciated. I like the style of this very much. I don't have the relevant design terminology to describe it other than to me it balances naturally and with a certainty of grace to the curves. The 'floating top' seals it.
Personally, for what it's worth, I think you nailed it.
=D>

 

[colinc]

Hi, I cannot take any credit for he design, I leaned heavily on the article in Fine Woodworking by Mike Pekovitch. I cannot recommend his book, 'The how and why of woodworking' too highly, it simply inspired me to make an effort to make something a bit more challenging and outside my comfort zone. I am happy with the product I made, but I learned from it and would probably be able to improve on it if I made another. However, my leisure time is limited so I should probably move on to the next challenge. Actually, I have currently moved on to building a new bench as my current one is somewhat flexible.

 

[Bm101]

Fair play Colin. I hope you have some good advice on your bench! (hammer)