Walnut dining table

[MattRoberts]

Looking great so far! Look forward to seeing the progress

 

[gasman]

Thanks guys. Andy your reply made me laugh
The boards really are beautiful but it has that perennial problem that English walnut has of what to do about sapwood. The 6 boards I used for the top were the best, out of the 16 in total, in terms of straight and flat and also with the most heartwood on one face and closest match to each other. All of them however have much less heartwood on the underside and because of that I have not been able to alternate the boards in terms of the direction / arrangement of the growth rings. So I am absolutely relying on this thing not drying out much more than it is otherwise its going to become bowed upwards. Anyway I am still reasonably confident/hopeful. I've got saturday sunday and monday off work so should have the frame complete by then - cutting the top to allow the legs is going to be tricky!
Cheers
Mark

 

[custard]

it has that perennial problem that English walnut has of what to do about sapwood.

What's your finishing plan? I generally blend in Walnut sap at the finishing stage, firstly with an aniline dye stain (use water based for preference, keeping a wet edge with spirit based is pretty tricky), applying multiple thin coats to the sap area plus a few all over coats, working these successive coats while the wood is still semi-wet, like in water colour painting, to achieve adequate blending. I'll then finish all over, I've had some success using this (Antique Walnut) for that subsequent all over coat,

http://www.generalfinishes.co.uk/index. ... ore&CID=17

As always, experiment first on an off cut.

 

[gasman]

Thanks Custard
I was going to do pretty much as you say - but using Van **** crystals. I have a solution mixed up which is not too dark and several coats of that over the sapwood and then 2 or 2 over the whole thing followed by osmo hardwaxoil as it needs to be very resistant.
Thanks again
Mark

 

[gasman]

Sorry about the delay. I have made more progress over the long weekend.
First glued up the main frame - TB3 as it gives that darker line

Then I cut out half of the tops of the legs like this - the outer half will be visible from the table top

With the table top in place on the frame (which I could expand until the table top fitted between these raised bits because of the sliding dovetails), I then carefully marked out the table top where I would have to remove wood

I cut just inside the transverse line up to the longitudinal line, then roughly cut out with a jigsaw before finishing with a 2" chisel. Then it was just a case of slowly removing tiny amounts with a sharp chisel until the legs fitted into the table top

Heres the table from below showing the small gaps in the rails

Finally I turned the top over, stained with a vandyke crystals solution and when that was dry put a coat of osmo polyx on

I think this weekend should finish it. I will pick up some M6 threaded inserts and 50mm M6 bolts so that the sliding rails are also held together snugly. At the moment, although the sliding dovetails are tight, there is still a little bit of racking between them
Comments / criticism welcomed
Thanks guys
Mark

 

[custard]

You're pretty handy at this furniture making lark aren't you Gasman? Accurate joinery, tight glue lines, considered use of the boards at your disposal, efficient build completed in a reasonable time.

Fess up, you've done this stuff before. If you haven't then I take my hat off to you, you're a natural!

=D>

 

[n0legs]

Gasman that is looking great =D>
Really impressed with the expansion/contraction solution, I've stored that idea for future use =D>

 

[Mr T]

That is a nice piece of work Gasman, really well thought through and precise execution. Hat's off!

The big question is how stable is it?

Chris

 

[gasman]

Thats the $64000 question Chris.... I am still concerned about that aspect. However, with the table top in place, and 2 clamps lightly applied to hold the 2 components of each rail together (i.e. mimicking the 50mm M6 bolts and threaded inserts) you can easily push the table across my workshop without any impression of racking. As I said before if I was making this for a 'client' (I do occasional commissions for colleagues, friends, family etc), I would be more concerned but this is going to sit in my dining room when it will not be moved. I think it will be fine. I almost like the problem-solving bits better than the actual construction!
Thanks for your kind comments
Regards
Mark

 

[thetyreman]

It looks great Gasman!

I think you should be proud of yourself, very clean joinery and precise, can't wait to see the finished table.

 

[gasman]

More progress over the weekend. Frustrating as I don't get much done during the week any more as work gets in the way!
I trimmed the legs to the table top height and the tolerances are acceptable

Before final assembly I drilled almost through the sliding dovetail assembly from inside and then screwed an M6 threaded insert into the outside part and a slotted 6mm slot countersunk into the innermost component so that the 2 parts of the sliding dovetail assembly were held together with an M6 50mm slotted bolt and there is room for 6mm 'movement' of the top

To attache the table top to the base, I decided on 3 separate mechanisms. First a series of 'buttons' which I glued up from 8mm walnut

and then had 2 on each cross-rail and three on the stretcher

Second I drilled 10mm pilot holes in the sides of the legs and used 80mm screws to go into the side of the table
These holes were then plugged - tried as hard as possible to grain match the walnut

Third, I drilled and countersunk a 6.5 mm hole from below just inside each leg and used a 100mm screw to go up into the table top (can't find the photo sorry). For the final assembly, I used TB3 to glue up the joint between the top of each leg and the recesses in the top. So at the end of all that - I think, the legs are firmly held to the sides of the table top, with the facility for small movements of the sliding dovetail assembly to prevent cracks. We will see!
When all that was done I rubbed down everything going through the grades to 400, stained the top once again with vandyke crystals, wiped down with wire wool and then started osmo-oiling it.
This is after polishing the second coat with a soft cloth

Comments welcome thanks alot
Regards
Mark

 

[memzey]

That looks awesome! Well done mate, a super looking table. I hope the work you put in to making it durable pays dividends, you certainly deserve it to.

 

[Austinisgreat]

A beautiful piece which would grace any home! Thanks for sharing the WIP.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[gasman]

Four coats of Osmo Oil clear satin, each polished with a cloth when just dry

Its taken way longer than any other table I have made - but it was interesting and we will see whether the joint gaps remain tight as it dries
Cheers
Mark

 

[memzey]

Looking great Mark. Well done - the Mrs must be chuffed!

 

[n0legs]

Very very nice Gasman =D>
That is a lovely piece of furniture. Very impressed with the staining to even out the colours, well done sir.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

"Four coats of Osmo Oil clear satin, each polished with a cloth when just dry"

Any reason for four when Osmo recommend two? (iirc )

 

[thetyreman]

that's a beautiful table

 

[Woodmonkey]

Great work Mr G-man, that looks awesome. And an elegant solution to an interesting design problem, well done sir!

 

[gasman]

Thanks guys

"Four coats of Osmo Oil clear satin, each polished with a cloth when just dry"
Any reason for four when Osmo recommend two? (iirc )

Good question Phil - I dunno I always build up thin coats gradually and just find that tables do better with 4 or 5 coats. I am hoping this will be gin / coffee / heat proof up to a point
Cheers Mark