What did you do in your workshop today ?

[MikeJhn]

I know everyone can park on a public road. but a little thought sometimes wouldn't go amiss. I was doing a lot of serious building work a few years ago and someone parked right across my garden gate .............. and went on holiday for a month.

I think that vehicle would spontaneously combust one evening, or strangely be dragged to the local scrap dealer.

Mike

 

[MarkDennehy]

Knocked together some 2x4s (I know they're 4x2s but (a) 2x4 is just embedded in my head from saturday morning cartoons, and (b) they're actually 100x44s here anyway) to a sort of milk crate stand thingy to get the sander off my benchtop so I could get back to work. Glue, screws, splitting out lap joints and not caring if one out of 8 didn't even try to close up.

Then got back to the legs for the side table and profiled and shaped the back, glued them up and trimmed the bridle joints.

And started a new project, a small frame-and-panel chest.

And I get to use the pigstickers on this one finally

Oh, and I tried my idea of using teflon rods for blade guides instead of the steel rods that came on the bandsaw:

Didn't work so well with a large unwieldy piece (I was trying to rough-cut the tabletop to size and it had almost three feet of inch-thick oak off one side of the bandsaw table so I don't think I was holding it flat enough), but then I found I'd miss-set on of them and it had been behind the blade, which had eaten a notch into it, so I had to reset it. We'll see how it does with smaller pieces during the week.

 

[MikeG.]

You can use bits of wood for those blade guides, you know. Beech works best in my experience.

 

[MarkDennehy]

I've seen Matthias "how do I still have fingers after the stuff I've built?" Wandel do that Mike, but I hadn't thought to try it myself. Do you mean the rods themselves or the entire holder? Or combining them by just having a piece go into the guide holder's mounting hole and then having a slot cut for the blade at the front?

 

[MikeG.]

No, just the rods/ blocks. Just replicate what you've got there at the moment, but in beech, with the end-grain facing the blade.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Disassembled and re-glued this stool yesterday.

It was the first piece of furniture I ever made, at 13, in school. First M&T joints ! I used it at my desk for "O" and "A" level homework, it was used and abused through several student houses and flats, and is now in daily use by DW at her dressing table. Over the (37 !) years it had become a bit wobbly, and finally wobbly enough to disassemble without damage. Should be good for a bit longer.

 

[MarkDennehy]

See, now *that* is an heirloom piece

 

[Glynne]

Started to re-finish the top of the table I made with Roger Berwick (Dodge) some 5 years ago.
Despite 4 grandkids, 2 kids and a wife who clatters everything onto it, the table has worn pretty well.

Will use several coats of cellulose sanding sealer and then wax.

 

[El Barto]

Disassembled and re-glued this stool yesterday.

It was the first piece of furniture I ever made, at 13, in school. First M&T joints ! I used it at my desk for "O" and "A" level homework, it was used and abused through several student houses and flats, and is now in daily use by DW at her dressing table. Over the (37 !) years it had become a bit wobbly, and finally wobbly enough to disassemble without damage. Should be good for a bit longer.

Amazing!

 

[MarkDennehy]

Resawing sucks.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Well, not worked on today, but this was completed on Saturday last. Somewhat scruffy photos I'm afraid of a 2550 mm long oak refectory table now waiting for the buyer to decide on a finish, including the bare wood option. Just one of those jobs one takes on from time to time as a freelance sub-contractor charging by the hour. Therefore, not my design, nor my client. Slainte.

 

[MikeJhn]

Love refectory tables, but tell me why is the centre panel always thinner than the outside framework, is it just material saving or is there some deep dark secret to expansion and contraction?

Mike

 

[Sgian Dubh]

... tell me why is the centre panel always thinner than the outside framework, is it just material saving or is there some deep dark secret to expansion and contraction? Mike

Weight, mostly, although there is usually a small financial saving too. Roughly 12 ft³ of American white oak were purchased for this project. Assume something like a loss of mass of 30% - 35% in this case through basic machining and shaping, which still leaves close to 8ft­­³ in the finished table at a typical weight per ft³ of 45 lb (~20.4 kg)and ... well you do the maths. Slainte.

 

[MikeJhn]

Ah Weight that make sense thanks for the reply.

Is French Oak considered as good?

Mike

 

[MikeG.]

........Is French Oak considered as good?

Mike

Next best thing to English oak.

French woodlands are generally tighter-packed than English ones, which suffered during WW2. Our trees spread out more in comparison with the French trees which fight for the light and so head straight up. This means we have trees with more figure and non-linear grain, and have less availability of long straight beams/ planks. These are generalisations, of course, and you can certainly find some uniform straight English oak and some gnarly bits of French oak. Dullest of all is American white oak.

 

[MikeJhn]

Thanks for that, it was just an academic question as I have a ready supply of French Oak.

Mike

 

[Phil Pascoe]

........Is French Oak considered as good?

Mike

Next best thing to English oak.

French woodlands are generally tighter-packed than English ones, which suffered during WW2. Our trees spread out more in comparison with the French trees which fight for the light and so head straight up. This means we have trees with more figure and non-linear grain, and have less availability of long straight beams/ planks. These are generalisations, of course, and you can certainly find some uniform straight English oak and some gnarly bits of French oak. Dullest of all is American white oak.

Also, much French oak is/was planted primarily for barrel staves, which need straight grained wood - hence the close planting. I once went on a tour of Tregothnan (on the Fal) where it was explained that the Oaks there were particularly valued in the past because they were weird and wonderfully shaped - they were specifically choosen for parts of boats because their shape ensured straight grain running through a shaped part. Horses for courses.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Is French Oak considered as good? Mike

As good as the American white oak used in that refectory table? Is that what you're asking? The answer is ... it depends. For a table of this sort I can't see that it makes any difference, but in a situation where durability is a factor (soil contact) European oaks are generally somewhat better performers than American white oaks. European oaks all come from the same group of species within the genus, and country names, English, Scottish, French, German etc appended before oak only indicate where the tree grew. The only difference between any examples from any region, whether that be from the UK or eastern Europe are differences in character up to the point of felling conferred on the wood by its growing conditions which are such things as climate, soil type, elevation above sea level, forest grown or open grown, etc.

Having said all that, you'll need to take it with a bit of a pinch of salt because the oak genus is notorious for self-hybridisation, one of the factors that's aided its success as a life form. It's not unusual to come across a European oak that has characteristics of both Quercus robur and Quercus petraea which can make positive identification a bit tricky. Interestingly from my point of view, this is a topic I've discussed in some detail in a book being prepared for release on timber technology. Slainte.

 

[MikeG.]

Well, not worked on today, but this was completed on Saturday last. Somewhat scruffy photos I'm afraid of a 2550 mm long oak refectory table now waiting for the buyer to decide on a finish, including the bare wood option. Just one of those jobs one takes on from time to time as a freelance sub-contractor charging by the hour. Therefore, not my design, nor my client. Slainte.

I will be making a refectory/ trestle dining table next year (plus 10 chairs to go with it). I wonder if you could give me a couple of dimensions from yours, please? Could you tell me how wide the table top is, and the length of the foot of the pedestal/ trestle? I'm wondering about the stability of the overhang I have in mind. Also, could you tell me the distance between your trestles? Locating the legs out of the way of 3 diners along each side is the issue there. Thanks.

 

[MikeJhn]

All interesting stuff chaps, thanks for the information.

Mike