Finished walnut live edge table

[Mark Almeidus]

Here are some images of the process of making the table.
I decided to go with angled legs, mostly because of the estetic looks.
I have to say its been a lot more tricky then i expected, because i didnt had marging gauges and other measuring tools needed for easier job. And when you work with live edge nothing is straight so you have to improvise sometimes.

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First i straightened the the endgrain so i can have eaiser job measuring the angle.
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Because i dont have angle metter or should i say i visited 3 shops for tools and non of them had angle metter :D, i had to use a standard angle meter. So the angle is unknown but its the same on bot legs.

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This is my third time to do a mortise and tenon. And it was scary to work with this size, especialy with the saws i have in disposal xd.

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Marking the tenons
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Cutting the tenons with a 2$ saw. This was the most stresefull process.
For the tenons to be 90 degrees to the top i used the 90 degree meter. U can see the 2 vertical pencil lines.
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Ofcourse it wasnt everything perfect, so i had to make little adjustments with a chisel. I wish i had a shoulder plane.
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For the mortise i used a hand drill. I try to avoid using chisels as much as posible because of the echo it creates the whole house is shaking.
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The hardest part was done, and i could continue with little pressure.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Very nice! Keep us posted on the progress.

[Mark Almeidus]

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The fitting of the legs is tight, I have to put pressure and moving left to right to fit. What i didnt pay attentions was the depth of the mortise wic his about 2 millimiters deeper.
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With a hand drill i made holes for the middle leg. This was the best way, so i could hold the drill horizontally eyeballing.
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Adjusting the legs with a hand plane to be parallel. The tenons were tight enough so i can plane it directly.
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I decided to go for pegs for the mid leg because i got enought of mortising :D. This part for the middle leg was also tricky then i was expecting.
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One of the tenons was slighty of (about 1 cm) but it didnt make problems.
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After the stressfull parts were finished, it was time to enjoy planing the board.

[Phil Mueller]

Well done Mark! Someone posted it doesn't matter what the angle is or thickness..as long as it's consistent. Something I live by. Love to improvise. Please keep posting your progress.
Phil

[Mark Almeidus]

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This smoother plane i got it from Portugal last summer while volunteering. The owner didnt know what is it for and he gave it to me. It was in pretty bad shape and looks like its been used a lot. I added a beech sole sharpened the blade and few minor adjustments you have a good smoothing plane.

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Nice combo with the 3 leg stool.

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i will ad 2 pegs per leg at the bottom so it has less chance to shake on different grounds.
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I have to say it was big experience. Maybe i entered to this project with big respect and i was a little bit stressed of how the final look will come. Mostly because its walnut and i had luck to get it for low price. Oportunities like this dont come everyday.

Nothing is glued so far so before i polish the table should i glue everything? Or leave only the mid leg with the pegs unglued?
Also there are 2 big knots at the ends. Is it a good idea to leave it like that or fill the gaps with something?

[Brian Holcombe]

Cool! Nice work Mark.

[Mark Almeidus]

Thanks guys :)

[Phil Mueller]

Mark, really well done. Very nice looking table.
I'm a bit of a beginner, but if I'm going to stain, I do that before the glue up being sure to cover the areas to be glued with tape. If not staining, I glue first then finish.
Not sure about the knot...I'm sure someone with more experience will be along.
Phil

[James Pallas]

That is a very nice looking table. You should be pleased with your work. The stool does go well with it.
Jim

[Curt Putnam]

Wow! Very nicely done - both the table and the build along photography. Well Done!

[Mark Almeidus]

Thanks all. Hope someone will find some usefull tricks :D. I couldnt find any video showing how to make it, thats why i posted images. And the guys from the forum helped alot with ideas.
Will leave the table like that for a while while i am sure what to do with the knots.

[lowell holmes]

Mark,

You do nice work.

How did you get the wood? Did you harvest it your self?

[Evan Patton]

Very nice job!

[Mark Almeidus]

I bought it from woodworker. Its been airdried for 15 years. He got few pieces left which were in bad shape with cracks.

[Matt Lau]

:) great work!

[Barry Dima]

Knocked this one out of the park, Mark. Definitely inspiring. Thanks for sharing the build and thoughts, too!

[Mike Wilkins]

Great work. Don't worry about the knots; it gives the table some character and interest. The table looks perfect in this setting, including the furry object laying on the floor.
One question; did you/will you use any type of finish?

[Will Boulware]

Impressive work! I really like it!

[Mark Almeidus]

Thanks guys.
I will definitely use finish, mate or probably semiglossy. I am still in decision should I glue the legs with the top before i use any finish, or leave it unglued so it can be used as portable table :).

[Don Orr]

Excellent job Mark-beautiful table. Personally I might leave it all unglued for now and see how it goes. If you realy want to fill the cracks a common method is to use an epoxy colored black. If the cracks go all the way through just cover the bottom with tape so the epoxy does not run out. I like it the way it is myself.

[Matthew Hutchinson477]

Question for ya, Mark.

How do you go about shaping the live edge and preparing it for finish?

I have a bunch of slabs drying from a tree I cut down this spring and have left all the bark on the edges. I did so in anticipation of making at least a couple of the boards into live edge sides for a table but I'm not sure what the best method is to go from untouched, bark-covered edge to a smooth-but-still-has-some-character live edge. I was thinking of using a drawknife to strip all the bark off and then lightly sanding the edge so that I would smooth it a little without removing too much of the shape but I haven't done it before and haven't been able to find a tutorial on it.

Thanks!

[Mark Almeidus]

Hi Matthew,
The slabs I have got were without the bark. They had just a little sapwood left which i took it out with drawknife, in some places with spokeshave and sandpaper. This was my first time working with liveedge slabs, so I am in the same boat like you in this regard.. I also couldnt find any indepth tutorial about this. What someone suggested is to remove the bark first, clean carefully and remove the sapwood, and then glue the bark back with epoxy or something. There is someone on this forum who for sure knows better about this.

[Matthew Hutchinson477]

Hi Matthew,
The slabs I have got were without the bark. They had just a little sapwood left which i took it out with drawknife, in some places with spokeshave and sandpaper. This was my first time working with liveedge slabs, so I am in the same boat like you in this regard.. I also couldnt find any indepth tutorial about this. What someone suggested is to remove the bark first, clean carefully and remove the sapwood, and then glue the bark back with epoxy or something. There is someone on this forum who for sure knows better about this.

Well until I see anything otherwise it sounds like the drawknife, spokeshave, and sandpaper are going to be the tools to use. I am planning on making the edge look similar to what you have done with yours so I'm glad to hear your method.

[ian maybury]

Hi Mark Nice going, it looks great.

A thought on the smoothing plane. It's showing what look like worm holes. Maybe it's been treated, but if not definitely best to do so. It's reputedly possible (i've never put it to the test) to end up infecting the timbers in an otherwise woodworm free house...

[Mark Almeidus]

Well until I see anything otherwise it sounds like the drawknife, spokeshave, and sandpaper are going to be the tools to use. I am planning on making the edge look similar to what you have done with yours so I'm glad to hear your method.
I also have ashe wich had bark in it. And to remove I also used flat screwdriver and in some places a chisel and tap with hammer gently. Inch by inch I managed to get about 70 cm of untouched bark at once. But the sledge was about 5 years dried so i guess its easier to remove the bark when the sledge is dried. Also depends in which season the sledge was cut.
For the walnut sledge it was pretty easy. Actually you can see on one of the images where the table is complete, the side of the table is dark, thats how it was when i picked it. There I used only drawknife and spokeshave. Maybe i removed a little of the wood but i tried to keep the natural shape.
Here is a youtube video of removing the bark i just found.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g-H0dLIb-I
On the ashe sledge i used similar method.
Hope this helps :)

[Mark Almeidus]

Hi Mark Nice going, it looks great.

A thought on the smoothing plane. It's showing what look like worm holes. Maybe it's been treated, but if not definitely best to do so. It's reputedly possible (i've never put it to the test) to end up infecting the timbers in an otherwise woodworm free house...

Ian, I have been searching the internet about wood warms but all the info is using some chemicals which I cant find in my town or country. Other method is heating the wood, but i am unable to do that method either.
Would be nice if anyone knows any alternative method for that. I asked a neighbour, he said mixing wood glue and sawdust and fill the holes will make the deal. But I am sceptical about that :).

[ian maybury]

Hi Mark. A quick google just now brought up this page: http://www.woodworm-expert-advice-forum.org.uk/nonchemical.htm

If it's correct it seems like about 8 hrs at 65 deg C should kill off anything live in the wood. (bottom of page)

From what I can figure that's around the minimum oven temperature setting on Euro cookers. Maybe not all. Might this be an option? Maybe check the temperature with a thermometer as the temperature control in cookers can be very approximate...

Anybody else know more?

[Mark Almeidus]

Hi Mark. A quick google just now brought up this page: http://www.woodworm-expert-advice-forum.org.uk/nonchemical.htm

If it's correct it seems like about 8 hrs at 65 deg C should kill off anything live in the wood. (bottom of page)

From what I can figure that's around the minimum oven temperature setting on Euro cookers. Maybe not all. Might this be an option? Maybe check the temperature with a thermometer as the temperature control in cookers can be very approximate...

Anybody else know more?

Ian, for that amount of 8 hours it could also kill me when my granddad sees the electricity bill next month xd.
I also heard you can do 2 hours at 250 or 200 degree, but it is possible to bend or crack the wood.
Well if I cant find other options, I ll try that techigue, but you will have to explain grandpa when the bill knocks the door :).