Project Information
Hi Everyone,
(I'm slowly catching up on posting past projects, this one is from Fall 2015)
One of the Grad Students in my lab asked me to make a dining room table for his family. After touring a few lumber dealers together his wife selected a >14 foot x 44 inch Paduak slab which was incredibly flat. I made a special table in my garage to work on the top. I cut off 30 inches from the ends and removed a wedge shaped center section from each to create the legs. To reinforce the glue joint I added a long cleat at the top and a shorter cleat with anti tip legs at the point where the lower stretcher penetrates. (The anti tip legs were suggested by a friend - a professional woodworker - who advised that I put them in to prevent any end to end rocking that may take pace with three toddlers in the house.) The pressure plate around the lower stretcher protrusion is to spread the force of the Walnut pegs, again to minimize stress directly on the glue joint. I wanted to arrange the legs as they came off the slab but their slight taper required me to set the cut-off edge on the floor.
The table was made to be easily dismantled for moving and I was able to transport it one trip (on a bright SUNNY day) to my friend's house. Screws were used to secure the upper stretchers to the legs after the Walnut pegs were hammered tight. The top was attached to the stretchers with buttons, screwed into its underside and fitted into shallow mortises in both the stretchers and the long cleats at the top of the legs. My friends also requested Forever Glides which gives the table a slight levitated appearance.
This slab was the widest I ever worked with and its rings indicate it came from the outer edge of the log; I can only guess the entire tree must have been greater than 60 inches in diameter. To smooth the bandsaw cut surface I hand planed the underside to see how well I could use hand tools but I was not pleased with its appearance and ended up sanding both top and underside. The entire table was finished with Arm-R-Seal, the top receiving a prior coat of shellac, and as promised I was able to deliver it in time for their Thanksgiving Feast.
(And speaking of feasts, I treated myself to this pizza on my way home from setting up the table.)
Thanks for looking,
Marc
(I'm slowly catching up on posting past projects, this one is from Fall 2015)
One of the Grad Students in my lab asked me to make a dining room table for his family. After touring a few lumber dealers together his wife selected a >14 foot x 44 inch Paduak slab which was incredibly flat. I made a special table in my garage to work on the top. I cut off 30 inches from the ends and removed a wedge shaped center section from each to create the legs. To reinforce the glue joint I added a long cleat at the top and a shorter cleat with anti tip legs at the point where the lower stretcher penetrates. (The anti tip legs were suggested by a friend - a professional woodworker - who advised that I put them in to prevent any end to end rocking that may take pace with three toddlers in the house.) The pressure plate around the lower stretcher protrusion is to spread the force of the Walnut pegs, again to minimize stress directly on the glue joint. I wanted to arrange the legs as they came off the slab but their slight taper required me to set the cut-off edge on the floor.
The table was made to be easily dismantled for moving and I was able to transport it one trip (on a bright SUNNY day) to my friend's house. Screws were used to secure the upper stretchers to the legs after the Walnut pegs were hammered tight. The top was attached to the stretchers with buttons, screwed into its underside and fitted into shallow mortises in both the stretchers and the long cleats at the top of the legs. My friends also requested Forever Glides which gives the table a slight levitated appearance.
This slab was the widest I ever worked with and its rings indicate it came from the outer edge of the log; I can only guess the entire tree must have been greater than 60 inches in diameter. To smooth the bandsaw cut surface I hand planed the underside to see how well I could use hand tools but I was not pleased with its appearance and ended up sanding both top and underside. The entire table was finished with Arm-R-Seal, the top receiving a prior coat of shellac, and as promised I was able to deliver it in time for their Thanksgiving Feast.
(And speaking of feasts, I treated myself to this pizza on my way home from setting up the table.)
Thanks for looking,
Marc