John Zahurak
01-01-2012, 1:47 PM
Happy New Year everyone! Here is a description of the new dining room table that I managed to just finish in time for the holidays. There is a mix of hand and power tools, in the construction, so feel free to move upstairs or keep here.
Inspiration for the Table:
My wife and I usually look through magazines and books to find a piece of furniture we both like. In this case our table is a combination of elements from two we found. The first was a Circa 1775 Hepplewhite dining table in the “Dictionary of English Furniture” by MacQuoid. This table had the basic form that we both liked. The second inspiration came from one we spotted in an antiques magazine by Nathon Margolis built in 1937. It had inlay drops we liked.
Dimensions:
The table dimensions were taken roughly from those above adjusted to fit our dining room and family size. The dimensions ended up being tweaked again in construction to match with the lumber I had. With no leaves, the table top is 72 x 46 ˝”. It stands a little under 31 ˝” tall.
There are 4 leaves each 13 ˝” wide, so the grand total is 10.5’ long.
Construction Details:
The table is constructed out of mahogany. I started with the legs first. The legs were tapered on the table saw and cleaned up with a hand plane. I also inlayed the legs at this point in the construction (described later). The corners of the table are bricklayed then bandsawn to rough shape, then scraped and sanded to final shape. The curved corners were then joined to the straight rails with mortise and tennon joints.
The legs are joined to the curved corners using bridle joints. The bridle joints were cut using a combination of hand saw, router plane, and router (my first time cutting these joints). Fine tuning of the joint was done with a shoulder plane, chisels, and smoothing plane. The bridle joint and the corner were reinforced with corner blocks, a backer block, and long screws to tie them all together.
After joining the legs the rails, I veneered the rail to cover the bricklay corners. I used a thick veneer for this with liquid hide glue and clamping cauls. Alternatively, I could have veneered the rails first and then cut the bridle joints. However, I was concerned about chip-out while cutting the joint and my ability to get a crisp joint in the corners. While unwieldy with the frame glued together, my technique did work fine in the end. The liquid hide glue also allowed me to re-heat (used an iron and a wet towel) and re-press a few areas that did not pull in tight the first time.
Since the table is quite long when fully open, I was concerned about it sagging. I added a cross-brace stretcher dovetailed into the rails with an additional support leg under each half of the table. This also uses a bridle joint to attach the leg. I added decorative support blocks on two sides of the legs to help prevent the legs from twisting when sliding across the floor. The cross-pieces are notched to allow room for the table slides (metal). Where the pieces are notched, I added wood (in the shape of an L) to reinforce the cross-piece and further tie in with the side rails.
The main top is made of three wide boards arranged for grain….hence the tops final dimensions. The boards were hand planed to thickness and then scraped and sanded. The leaves similarly were from wide boards cut to a more manageable size. Unfortunately just before finishing, I discovered a significant check/crack in the end of one that I ultimately decided to cut out. In the end, they all were cut to 13 ˝” wide. (27” wide leaves are too heavy to handle comfortably!)
I used bullet shaped dowels to align the tops, pushed them all together and planed and sanded the top as a huge unit…..it looked like a sea of mahogany to plane and sand!
Inlay:
The fan inlays were made for me by Rob Millard to fit my leg and skirt dimensions perfectly. He was great to work with and I recommend him without reservation. Note: During final sanding, I managed to sand through one of the fans…..very sick feeling. I called Rob for inputs. Took a pencil rubbing of the one I sanded through, sent it to him and he made me another just a fraction oversized. Problem Fixed!!
The stringing and banding I made from holly and black died wood. The long straight runs of stringing on the legs were cut using a router with a 1/16” bit. The curved portions of the stringing were inlayed using the Lie Nielsen inlay cutter with various pivot points anchored outside of the leg in a scrap board. I also used a narrower cutter blade for the lower curves as the bell-flowers get smaller.
The bellflowers were punched from holly veneer using various gouges and the recesses in the leg were punched using the same gouges. A combination of router and chisels were used to form the recess for the petals. Sand shading was followed by glue up with liquid hide glue. The flowers were done sequentially to give the desired overlap effect. (Center first followed by the outer petals.)
The banding on the bottom of the legs was completed after the leg stringing and it terminates the ends of the stringing. The banding was inlayed using chisels and a router plane. I mitered the corners as I wrapped the banding around (not recommended....I don’t think it is noticeable and it is tedious since the banding cuts are angled due to the leg taper). I used many of the same techniques Steve Latta uses in his DVDs (which I recommend highly as well).
The banding on the table rails I was done in two stages. The long straight sections I cut on the table saw (I have a slider, so I clamped the assembly down and then slid the whole assembly over a dado head cutter). This only got me part-way since the rails are curved. The rest of the way around the curve was done using a cutting guage, marking knife, and chisels to score the line, then a router plane to remove the waste. Finally the banding was clamped in using flexible plywood blocks and clamps. Last it was scraped flush with the rail.
Finish:
The finish starts with a thin coat of boiled linseed oil (not sure it is necessary) followed many coats of pale shellac padded on with sanding between some of the coats. Finally I wiped on many coats of the paste varnish to increase water resistance. (I struggle with keeping the shellac streak free and had to strip the table once and start over…..will look in to spraying in the future.)
Although I have heard that paste varnish is not water proof, I found differently. I left water and vodka standing on the finish test board for 20 minutes. No damage to the finish, so I am satisfied for my purposes.
217851217852217853217854217855
Inspiration for the Table:
My wife and I usually look through magazines and books to find a piece of furniture we both like. In this case our table is a combination of elements from two we found. The first was a Circa 1775 Hepplewhite dining table in the “Dictionary of English Furniture” by MacQuoid. This table had the basic form that we both liked. The second inspiration came from one we spotted in an antiques magazine by Nathon Margolis built in 1937. It had inlay drops we liked.
Dimensions:
The table dimensions were taken roughly from those above adjusted to fit our dining room and family size. The dimensions ended up being tweaked again in construction to match with the lumber I had. With no leaves, the table top is 72 x 46 ˝”. It stands a little under 31 ˝” tall.
There are 4 leaves each 13 ˝” wide, so the grand total is 10.5’ long.
Construction Details:
The table is constructed out of mahogany. I started with the legs first. The legs were tapered on the table saw and cleaned up with a hand plane. I also inlayed the legs at this point in the construction (described later). The corners of the table are bricklayed then bandsawn to rough shape, then scraped and sanded to final shape. The curved corners were then joined to the straight rails with mortise and tennon joints.
The legs are joined to the curved corners using bridle joints. The bridle joints were cut using a combination of hand saw, router plane, and router (my first time cutting these joints). Fine tuning of the joint was done with a shoulder plane, chisels, and smoothing plane. The bridle joint and the corner were reinforced with corner blocks, a backer block, and long screws to tie them all together.
After joining the legs the rails, I veneered the rail to cover the bricklay corners. I used a thick veneer for this with liquid hide glue and clamping cauls. Alternatively, I could have veneered the rails first and then cut the bridle joints. However, I was concerned about chip-out while cutting the joint and my ability to get a crisp joint in the corners. While unwieldy with the frame glued together, my technique did work fine in the end. The liquid hide glue also allowed me to re-heat (used an iron and a wet towel) and re-press a few areas that did not pull in tight the first time.
Since the table is quite long when fully open, I was concerned about it sagging. I added a cross-brace stretcher dovetailed into the rails with an additional support leg under each half of the table. This also uses a bridle joint to attach the leg. I added decorative support blocks on two sides of the legs to help prevent the legs from twisting when sliding across the floor. The cross-pieces are notched to allow room for the table slides (metal). Where the pieces are notched, I added wood (in the shape of an L) to reinforce the cross-piece and further tie in with the side rails.
The main top is made of three wide boards arranged for grain….hence the tops final dimensions. The boards were hand planed to thickness and then scraped and sanded. The leaves similarly were from wide boards cut to a more manageable size. Unfortunately just before finishing, I discovered a significant check/crack in the end of one that I ultimately decided to cut out. In the end, they all were cut to 13 ˝” wide. (27” wide leaves are too heavy to handle comfortably!)
I used bullet shaped dowels to align the tops, pushed them all together and planed and sanded the top as a huge unit…..it looked like a sea of mahogany to plane and sand!
Inlay:
The fan inlays were made for me by Rob Millard to fit my leg and skirt dimensions perfectly. He was great to work with and I recommend him without reservation. Note: During final sanding, I managed to sand through one of the fans…..very sick feeling. I called Rob for inputs. Took a pencil rubbing of the one I sanded through, sent it to him and he made me another just a fraction oversized. Problem Fixed!!
The stringing and banding I made from holly and black died wood. The long straight runs of stringing on the legs were cut using a router with a 1/16” bit. The curved portions of the stringing were inlayed using the Lie Nielsen inlay cutter with various pivot points anchored outside of the leg in a scrap board. I also used a narrower cutter blade for the lower curves as the bell-flowers get smaller.
The bellflowers were punched from holly veneer using various gouges and the recesses in the leg were punched using the same gouges. A combination of router and chisels were used to form the recess for the petals. Sand shading was followed by glue up with liquid hide glue. The flowers were done sequentially to give the desired overlap effect. (Center first followed by the outer petals.)
The banding on the bottom of the legs was completed after the leg stringing and it terminates the ends of the stringing. The banding was inlayed using chisels and a router plane. I mitered the corners as I wrapped the banding around (not recommended....I don’t think it is noticeable and it is tedious since the banding cuts are angled due to the leg taper). I used many of the same techniques Steve Latta uses in his DVDs (which I recommend highly as well).
The banding on the table rails I was done in two stages. The long straight sections I cut on the table saw (I have a slider, so I clamped the assembly down and then slid the whole assembly over a dado head cutter). This only got me part-way since the rails are curved. The rest of the way around the curve was done using a cutting guage, marking knife, and chisels to score the line, then a router plane to remove the waste. Finally the banding was clamped in using flexible plywood blocks and clamps. Last it was scraped flush with the rail.
Finish:
The finish starts with a thin coat of boiled linseed oil (not sure it is necessary) followed many coats of pale shellac padded on with sanding between some of the coats. Finally I wiped on many coats of the paste varnish to increase water resistance. (I struggle with keeping the shellac streak free and had to strip the table once and start over…..will look in to spraying in the future.)
Although I have heard that paste varnish is not water proof, I found differently. I left water and vodka standing on the finish test board for 20 minutes. No damage to the finish, so I am satisfied for my purposes.
217851217852217853217854217855