Slab table completed

[Joe Craven]

Well, it's finally done...I think it came out pretty well! I plan to write a lengthy blog post about the project (with better pictures) and will share that when it is done.

The top is a pair of book matched Chinese Chestnut slabs.
The bow ties are walnut that I had lying around.
Finish is simple: ~8 coats of semi-gloss poly.
The base is mostly 2" square tubing.
Final dimensions are 90" x 36"-44" x 29.5" (although height might eventually change a bit, depending upon chair selection).

Thanks again to all of the advice from everyone throughout this project.

291066291068

[Jamie Buxton]

The legs curve. How do you bend 2" square steel tubing?

[Joe Craven]

The legs curve. How do you bend 2" square steel tubing?

With the right equipment it can be done pretty easily, but I found that it can be hard to find someone who can do it. It turns out that bending square tubing is pretty straight-forward if you have the right dies for the bender. However, to get this large of a radius (50" for these S-curves) you need to use a thicker sidewall than normal (evidently a smaller radius is much easier).

In this case we used 1/8" thickness tube and it torqued the end product a bit, which had to be corrected afterward. The guy said if we'd used 3/16" or 1/4" thickness that it would have come up perfectly.

FWIW, my insistence on this bend in the legs added a lot to the cost and build time for the base, but I thought it was worth it in the end.

[Danny Hamsley]

Beautiful.

[Von Bickley]

Great looking table.....

[Andrew Hughes]

Great looking table,lovely looking wood.Now you just need to make the chairs.:)
Thanks for sharing with us . Aj

[Joe Craven]

Thanks everyone - and, sorry for placing it into the wrong forum category!

[Sean Hughto]

Looks great from here! One thought, I read somewhere and have since followed the advice than when using multiple coats of poly on something like a table top, use gloss for all but the last coat or two, and then use the semi. That way the surface isn't shiny, but is less likely to have a cloudiness that can build with many coats of semi. Just something to consider. Maybe it makes little difference - I've never done a side by side test, but the concept made perfect sense as semi just has the the particles added to it.

[Cody Armstrong]

Really like the slab top Joe. It's beautiful!

My curiosity has gotten the better of me. What did you use to join the slabs together?

Thanks in advance,
Cody

[Kent A Bathurst]

Business travel takes me to remote, but interesting locations.

Recently - few trips of a week or so each to SE Louisana - pulled a classic Yates American A-62, the workhorse of planer mills, and replaced it with a modern 240 LFPM molder. All of this right in the middle of crawfish season. 2 - 3 times per week, 4 - 6 lb per meal.

Which brings me to the actual point:

A trash receptacle of some sort, placed under the gap in the table top, and you have a high-class crawfish-eating table. They sell 'em at the local hardware, made out of cheap plastic, etc., but there must be a market with the high-end folks.

Other than that...........very nice. Very, Very nice. I like the curves in the legs. They seem "just right" - not too aggressive, not too timid.

[Gus Dundon]

I'm impressed with this table! The slab looks great and the execution is perfect. The metal legs complement well with the wood and it made the table more elegant and expensive!