First bigger woodworking piece. Coffee table.

[Josef Booyens]

Hi there.
Recap, no real working knowledge of real wood work, just making myself some furniture.

Wood = Maranti
Inner piece = 25mm White marble
Material cost
Wood = 40 USD (ZAR400)
Marble = free, off cut scrap from a counter building business.
Finish = The real satire, a tin of Danish oil. costing almost the same as the wood. Thing is, i bought 2....

Still trying to fine tune the finish... been putting a bit on, taking some of with sand paper, trying to get it real glossy. no success yet.

Any comments and suggestions to better design is welcome.
Thanks!252859252860252861

[lowell holmes]

Nice.

I like it.

[Mike Henderson]

Nice design. Question: How did you attach the legs to the table top?

Mike

[Josef Booyens]

Hi, I was told by a friend about biscuit joining. Apparently a joint will never break where its joined in this manner, so good it is.
He borrowed me his device for making the cuts to insert the biscuits in, and it went very quickly.

Im not to sure about the jargon so I inserted a VERY crude sketch to show what I did.

The table is VERY heavy with that piece of marble, and it felt flimsy when one pull on the table.
Afterwards I added the thicker extra pieces to the legs, and it feel much more stable now.

Thanks for the nice comments252935252934

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks for the info. Good idea on the biscuits - I may use your idea but with the Domino. And you're a very good artist - much better than me!

Mike

[Gus Dundon]

Superb! The wood is beautiful. Great craftsmanship & design.

[Josef Booyens]

Thank you every one.
I thought everyone would say biscuits isn't real wood work.

I leave this forum always feeling inspired.

[Joe Shinall]

Biscuits are made of wood. They join wood together. Real woodworking in my book! Good looking table Josef.

[David Nelson1]

I like it especial the leg design

[Prashun Patel]

I like the design. Can't wait to see more from you!

I am learning myself so I offer these comments humbly and constructively:

Biscuits are perfectly legitimate, and probably fine here, but know that there are stronger options for joints that require more stress resistance. All I'm saying is do some research on them around here and make yr own conclusion.

Danish oil will not build to a high gloss finish. In general for that, you require a film-forming finish like shellac, lacquer or varnish. You can still get a good sheen with it - and I'm sure there's someone out there who's gotten a gloss finish with it, but it is in general difficult. Danish oil is usually wiped on and wiped off, and left to dry. This is repeated until the sheen is even and satiny. You can increase the sheen by sanding the surface with very fine grits of sandpaper, but it still won't be gloss.

FWIW, I love the look of a Danish Oil finish and think it's a fine choice here if you are not married to a hard, glossy finish.

[Mark Valsi]

Nice, I like the legs

[Josef Booyens]

I was like OMF! Look at that! I can never do that!
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?179604-Gluing-box-joints
I certainly don't trust my skill with that at this stage.

I wanted an oil type finish, as I like the look more then hard varnish.
I actually have bought some shellac, and find out I have no idea what to do with it. And then I went and read about it and saw I have no clue what to do with it. It sounds impossible to use.
I read a few nice articles on how to get excellent finishes with Danish oil, and it seems inside my capability to do.

Have a look at my other item Prashun.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?184198-African-Mahogany-Carving-Board-Serving-Board-Critique-Requested

Thanks for the positive comments people. It keep me inspired to continue.