Sunburst Dining Table

[RogerM]

Just finished this to go in the corner of our kitchen/breakfast room. it is 134cms across and made from 24mm ply with a sunburst veneer of 2mm American Cherry and Birdseye Maple, separated with a 3mm string of sycamore and ebony. The legs are solid cherry. Finish is a single thin coat of Osmo Raw on the Birdseye Maple to keep it as pale as possible, and then 4 further coats over the whole piece of Osmo Top (satin) which seems to be bombproof. Loads of stuff here that I've never done before so a very steep learning curve to climb, but I had great fun climbing it!

 

[custard]

I salute you Roger, for a first sunburst (or even a hundredth!) that is absolutely incredible.

Almost everyone inserts some sort of motif into the centre to overcome the problem of working with all those feather edges, or to obscure the pivot point from routing out the stringing. I must have done half a dozen sunbursts with expert craftsmen on hand to help before I dared complete a sunburst with nothing in the centre. And that lipping and the stringing all looks totally flawless!

I'm astonished that a hobbyist, self taught and working alone, has pulled this off. Just magnificent work!

=D>

 

[pollys13]

Amazing, such skill.

 

[memzey]

That is awesome stuff Roger - top notch! I’d love to see some wip pics. Really nicely done.

 

[thetyreman]

the attention to detail is amazing, really good photography as well! =D>

 

[Racers]

Wow!

Pete

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Amazing job. Looks perfect even on max zoom on the photos. Where's the WIP though ? We all could learn something ! :lol:

 

[Lons]

Fantastic work, =D> how many hours in that Roger?

 

[John15]

All as above Roger. Congratulations.

John

 

[RogerM]

Thanks for all the kind comments guys. My best guess is that there are about 200 hours work here spread over 6 months (on and off), not including the hours I spent scratching my head! I've done a WIP with loads of piccies on another "Haven of Wood" :roll: but most forums do not allow links to other forums on the same topic. Maybe the mods will confirm? But I'll post an edited version here within the next few days.

 

[custard]

If you do post a WIP Roger then please include details on how you made the lipping. I appreciate the sunburst is the sexy bit, but for me the lipping is one of your biggest accomplishments with this project.

It's customary to run a line of stringing over the joint between the lipping and the main table surface, the purpose being to cover up any tiny gaps, chips, or other problems. Lipping problemss are regarded as pretty likely even amongst professional makers once you're dealing with curves. However, you've fitted the lipping with no gaps and therefore no stringing. That alone is an astonishing feat of craftsmanship!

I'd also be interested how you learnt about woodworking and if you've got any more projects in the pipeline.

 

[Dave72D]

I've only ever made one coffee table, and a workbench. Never even heard of sunburst dining table, but that is stunning.

 

[Mrs C]

Wow!

I would love to see the WIP photos. If you are not allowed to post could you pm me the link?

Thanks

 

[Bm101]

Wow!

I would love to see the WIP photos. If you are not allowed to post could you pm me the link?

Thanks

Check your PM Mrs C.
It's a great read. I'd add superlatives but I don't know where to begin.

 

[RogerM]

If you do post a WIP Roger then please include details on how you made the lipping. I appreciate the sunburst is the sexy bit, but for me the lipping is one of your biggest accomplishments with this project.

It's customary to run a line of stringing over the joint between the lipping and the main table surface, the purpose being to cover up any tiny gaps, chips, or other problems. Lipping problemss are regarded as pretty likely even amongst professional makers once you're dealing with curves. However, you've fitted the lipping with no gaps and therefore no stringing. That alone is an astonishing feat of craftsmanship!

I'd also be interested how you learnt about woodworking and if you've got any more projects in the pipeline.

Having reviewed my thread originally posted elsewhere, it will be an absolute monster to recreate here, so if the mods will allow, there is a link to it here. Failing that, I'll PM a link to anyone who is interested on request.

Custard - hopefully the detail of how I made the lipping will be described there to your satisfaction, but briefly, I made a template out of several layers of 18mm mdf, with the edge covered with parcel tape to stop squeeze out sticking the lipping to the former. I then cut 7 strips of cherry approx 3mm thick and glued them consecutively in the order they were cut, clamped up to the former. Glue was cascamite, and spring back was minimal.

Lipping was made in 3 sections to complete the circumference, and because they were glued up in the order they were cut, the grain continues across the laminations and it's hard to see that it's not a single piece.

The table was cut to size using a trammel and a trim router with a 6mm spiral down cutter which kept the edge nice and crisp. The final few mm was cut with a jigsaw and the remaining material trimmed off with a trim router. When gluing the completed lipping to the circumference, I clamped it in place with a ratchet strap cobbled together from an old strap originally used to hold a tumble dryer to the top of a washing machine. I thought that if needed I could cut a groove around the join and insert a matching cherry string in to it, but as it turned out it wasn't needed.

And as for how I learned? I'm entirely self taught. These forums, magazines and YouTube hold all you need to do most things.