What I did with the mystery wood

[Greg Tatum]

Just a simple hall table using poor man's cherry(red alder ;) ) for the legs and rails. This is the 1st real piece of furniture I made and I did it at a woodworking class. It measures 30"H x12"W x36"L. It is finished with nothing more than 3 coats of 2# cut shellac(includes a wash coat) and paste wax.

I found the wood for the top at a road-side sawmill in Oregon. They called it Red Gum Eukalyptus from Australia...dunno, has no eukalyptus smell at all.

The rough-sawn board was only 6 3/4" wide x 8' long x 4/4. This board was a bit challenging due to crazy grain.

The top of the table was made by cutting the 8 footer in half and joining heartwood to heartwood. This, to my eye, gives the top the appearence of a tree....from bark to pith to heartwood.

Also included are pics of the leftovers. you can see the natural colors.

Thanks for lookin'
Greg

[Warren White]

Greg,
The table is very, very nice. I like the clean design and the wood is spectacular. Could you provide details on the finish? What type of shellac, and what method did you use to apply it?

The wood was a great find and you did an excellent job of bringing it to its maximum potential.

Warren

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Clean design and follow through! I like it! :D

[David Wilson]

Great use of some beautiful wood. I think you have a future in woodworking.

[Greg Heppeard]

One word...GORGIOUS!!

[Greg Tatum]

Warren, the finish was applied using a few blue paper shop towels. I first saturated the table legs and apron with Sealcoat dewaxed shellac by Zinsser then quickly wiped it all off. While that dried a bit, I did the same with the top, both sides and edges.
http://www.zinsser.com/pdf/TDB/SealCoatTDB.pdf

After waiting about 20-30 min I then took a folded shop towel dipped into the shellac and using it like a brush I just wiped it on, let it dry and applied another. The final finish is Briwax applied with yet another blue shop towel and buffed out with, yup you geussed it, a blue shop towel.

All in all it is a very simple finish. It looks great but doesn't offer the best over all protection....but that's okay because the table doesn't get heavy use.

The suggestion for the finish came from Michael Dresdner who helped me with the project in his shop. He is a finishing Guru and accomplished woodworker. You can read his articles in Woodworkers Journal.

Thanks all for the kind words.
Greg

[Lynn Sonier]

Beautiful piece of wood and utilization thereof.

[Dave Crabbs]

Greg Tatum -This is the 1st real piece of furniture I made
Come on Greg I think you are pulling my leg I'm sure you've made some before... ;)
That is a very nice table you made!!! I like the way you finished it and the way the grain really pops. Thanks for sharing.
Dave

[Mac McAtee]

Great job. I sure like that wood, not to mention the design.