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I'm new here, lots of great information and inspiration!

These are two recent projects built to sell with my wife's fused glass artwork at the local gallery/gift shop. I've always liker the arts/crafts/mission style and wanted to build examples, this way I get to hone my skills (And sell the results) until I find something I want to keep.

The unusual top came from some cutting board designs I found and I thought 'what the heck…' and decided to make these end tables unique (I actually made a set of two, only one is pictured). The wood prep work for the 'basket weave' top is by far the most time consuming.

In the process of cutting out all of those pieces of wood for the tops, plenty of extra offcuts and culls were made. I used the leftovers to make a bread board.

The tables are White Oak, ammonia fumed with a wiping varnish finish. The top also uses White Oak and the accent is Walnut.

The bread board has added Walnut feet and uses a mineral oil finish.

Gallery

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Very nice! I'm working on a butcher block using a basket weave pattern. Love the ammonia fumed look!
 

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Thanks for the comment!

The thing I like most about fuming is not having to stain (yeehaw!) I fumed the bread board and table top after glue up but the table base was fumed before glue up (much easier to apply and sand the final finish that way).
Another big win for fuming is I no longer accidentally cut through the stain on sharp corners when rubbing down the top coat.
 

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Welcome to Lumber Jocks!

I love that basket weave pattern. Where did you find it? Also, where did you source the ammonia?

Thanks,
Charlie
 

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A different take on some classics, Splinter! The unusual feet on the cutting board are nice. Can you post a pic from the bottom?
Thanks for sharing and welcome to Lumberjocks!
 

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Love the table. the Arts and Crafts style has always been a favorite of mine as well!
 

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Thanks for the complements guys!

I spotted the style first by looking at projects by stickeyStyle
Curiosity got the better of me an I used some Google fu to see what else can be done (probably some Celtic knots next).

Sorry I don't have more photos of the feet (I sold this board recently), but they started off as simple rectangles of 1" Walnut. I then cut an "L" so the foot would wrap around the board side. I also used a round-over bin in the router table to curve the inside angle of the "L" so I'd get a tight fit with the rounded over board edge. The exposed edge of the foot got a curved cut.

The reasons I put the feet on the board were twofold. First was to make it easy to wrap your fingers around the sides to pick it up, I've been trying all sorts of things to get this part right. The second reason is to make it hard to have the board sitting directly on a wet countertop. Every 'square' used in this board is end-grain glued to the next. Any excess moisture and the expansion would probably make the joints fail so feet make it look more like a table setting than a kitchen work horse (also a good reason to call it a 'bread' board vs. 'cutting' board).

For the fuming, I made a tent from several saw horses and some painters drop cloth plastic. The parts were strategically hung and/or placed on pointy supports to make sure air could flow over all surfaces. An old dog food bowl, 5" computer fan to circulate the air, about 6 hours and viola!. I usually use about a pint of ammonia.
The ammonia is "Janitorial strength" from the local Ace Hardware. I've tried the household stuff an it was just way too weak. This stuff could be faster, but around here it is all I can find and it does work quite well given time.
 

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Very cool design! I bet gluing up that basket weave pattern is a chore! I've done quite a bit with white oak better haven't tried fuming it yet. You've given me the inspiration to give it a go for the next project!
 
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