Charlie Fox
12-02-2016, 12:52 AM
so i havent been on in a while as my day job has kept me away from my lower-paying yet more satisfying job of woodworking, i think some of you know the feeling. although my day job did give me 2 days off in Death Valley this week so its not always bad.... ;-)
anyway - i was pleased when the missus wanted me to make a coffee table and end tables to go with the new sofa. i jumped on it. i typically like my tables made with wood legs from the same plank but she likes the metal. i personally do not like the contemporary metal/natural edge wood look at all, but when she found an industrial look i was all over it. so you see the results below - basic pipe fittings from Home Depot treated etc - not cheap! $150 for each end table and $210 for the coffee table! so see the pics below - my question is - the coffee table is two pieces glued down the middle long-grain with titebond as is standard, but the end boards were glued using Loctite epoxy, so there is a long-grain to end-grain joint there. this is mesquite - i.e. very stable wood - in fact the center of the coffee table was milled in 1980 and repurposed for this project, the end pieces were milled in Jan 2015 and well air-dried since then.
thoughts? i have always avoided end grain gluing but figured with epoxy it must be fine - if it fails no big deal since its my table and i can fix it. but i would like to make some combo cutting/palenta/serving boards out of walnut and mesquite, mixing long grain surfaces with an area in the center of end-grain for cutting on. curious if this has been done before or i am being a naive grasshopper.... ??
348626348627 348628348629
anyway - i was pleased when the missus wanted me to make a coffee table and end tables to go with the new sofa. i jumped on it. i typically like my tables made with wood legs from the same plank but she likes the metal. i personally do not like the contemporary metal/natural edge wood look at all, but when she found an industrial look i was all over it. so you see the results below - basic pipe fittings from Home Depot treated etc - not cheap! $150 for each end table and $210 for the coffee table! so see the pics below - my question is - the coffee table is two pieces glued down the middle long-grain with titebond as is standard, but the end boards were glued using Loctite epoxy, so there is a long-grain to end-grain joint there. this is mesquite - i.e. very stable wood - in fact the center of the coffee table was milled in 1980 and repurposed for this project, the end pieces were milled in Jan 2015 and well air-dried since then.
thoughts? i have always avoided end grain gluing but figured with epoxy it must be fine - if it fails no big deal since its my table and i can fix it. but i would like to make some combo cutting/palenta/serving boards out of walnut and mesquite, mixing long grain surfaces with an area in the center of end-grain for cutting on. curious if this has been done before or i am being a naive grasshopper.... ??
348626348627 348628348629