Rough wood--experts needed

garys · Post by **garys** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 1:05 pm

Update today. I got about 70 bd. ft. of cherry from the guy. I pretty much cleaned him out.

Since then, I've been working on a dining table that my wife wants. I have it assembled now, and next I need to put in lots of sanding time on the top to get it nice and flat. Then I can finish it, but that will be a while yet before it is finished.
Here is a picture of it ---under construction.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 1:10 pm

garys wrote:Update today. I got about 70 bd. ft. of cherry from the guy. I pretty much cleaned him out.

Since then, I've been working on a dining table that my wife wants. I have it assembled now, and next I need to put in lots of sanding time on the top to get it nice and flat. Then I can finish it, but that will be a while yet before it is finished.
Here is a picture of it ---under construction.

Nice sturdy top. Please tell us you allowed for movement when attaching top to the base.

Momma oughta be happy with that!:)

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 1:11 pm

Looking GOOD so far. Did ya turn the legs yourself? Can ay post a pic of the top

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:08 pm

JPG40504 wrote:Nice sturdy top. Please tell us you allowed for movement when attaching top to the base.

Beautiful table, you clearly are good at your craft. I could not help but chuckle when reading the statement above. About thirty years ago the physician my wife was employed by purchased a handmade cherry dining room table and chair set. That table must be 30 feet long. They used it originally in Colorado for several years. Then moved it into their new home in central Virginia. After about two years they served a dinner to a large group of medical professionals. As the food and place settings were all prepared and the guests were making their way to the feast, the table collapsed in the center of the length. Needless to say a great deal of fine food and china were lost. The table was shipped back to the gentleman who had originally handcrafted it and totally rebuilt. The lack of space for movement of the wood having been the issue. Great advice. Fjimp

garys · Post by **garys** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:38 am

beeg wrote:Looking GOOD so far. Did ya turn the legs yourself? Can ay post a pic of the top

No, I cheated on the legs. I bought them from Rockler. I figured that they can do a better job of making them than I could.

I'll take more pictures of the top when I get it sanded and farther along.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 1:22 pm

Very nice lookin' table, garys! Yep! needs to get a bit warmer before finishing!

garys · Post by **garys** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 2:09 pm

After days of sanding and prep, I got the first coat of urethane on the table top. Today it looks like this.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:11 pm

garys wrote:After days of sanding and prep, I got the first coat of urethane on the table top. Today it looks like this.

So glad you posted that! I almost mentioned the edges would look much better if embellished. I see you knew that yourself.

Well that leaf should cause intentional expansion. Having a slide, does the lock provide 'give' for the outer sections expanding? That leaves the side rails? <<< After thought - since the outer sections move out to open up for the leaf, they are also free to 'expand naturally'

Still concerned re top to base expansion!

garys · Post by **garys** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:21 pm

The lock has enough movement so any expansion at that point shouldn't be a problem. Only time will tell if the rest of it works too. It isn't a really large table and that should help too. Less size means less expansion.
I plan to seal all the wood so it doesn't have much option to suck up moisture in the future. Temperature change shouldn't be a problem because my workshop is in my house.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Wed Dec 28, 2011 3:40 pm

garys wrote:The lock has enough movement so any expansion at that point shouldn't be a problem. Only time will tell if the rest of it works too. It isn't a really large table and that should help too. Less size means less expansion.
I plan to seal all the wood so it doesn't have much option to suck up moisture in the future. Temperature change shouldn't be a problem because my workshop is in my house.

Thermal expansion and contraction of wood is minimal. Some clock pendulums are wood for that reason. Also wood does not move much along the grain(that is why I be concerned re top vs rail movement). Since you only want the top to not raise above the base rail, a slip(tenon or whatever) is desirable.

P.S. Constant humidity a plus. Not sure I would seal the underside of the top. Humidity again!