Quarter Sawn Oak and Steel Tables

[Jefferey Scott]

Hi guys,

I've recently designed a line of furniture that utilizes steel rectangular tubing and various species of wood for the tops of the tables. I call it the "Grinder Industrial" series. I've sold the three pieces shown below in the pictures to a client who specified the dimensions and let me decide on the treatment of the steel. Each pieces was finished with automotive clear coat.

Wonder how many of you folks mix metal and wood in your designs?

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[Jim Becker]

Nice design, Jeff. I have not mixed metal into my projects, but if I had the skills and tools to work with it, I certainly would do that from time to time.

[Vince Rosypal]

Love the mix of wood and steel!!

[Adam Herman]

They look sturdy! I like in Hide metal in my work to create impossible wood structures.

[Art Mann]

I think the exposed metal is a nice contrast to the warm mellow wood. Maybe I should be collaborating with my son-in-law, who is a commercial welder.

[John K Jordan]

I mix welded steel tubing, channel, and angle iron with wood but not for beautiful furniture like that! Mine is functional, usually for farm use. My architect son does have an idea for a table we might do some day.

JKJ

[Bill McNiel]

Jeffery,
I did a live edge dining table commission a couple of years ago that had a steel base. Very different from your approach but it came out quite nice.

[Jefferey Scott]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I've been a woodworker for 30 years. Steel is something I got into when I bought a MIG welder several years ago. I taught myself to weld, plasma cut and fabricate things from brackets to a tornado shelter. It's a lot of fun, but compared to woodworking, you get pretty filthy being a metal fabricator. :) Combining the two avocations seemed like a natural progression. Once my new shop is built, I'll be able to enjoy the two with much more room to expand.

[John K Jordan]

...It's a lot of fun, but compared to woodworking, you get pretty filthy being a metal fabricator. :) Combining the two avocations seemed like a natural progression. Once my new shop is built, I'll be able to enjoy the two with much more room to expand.

Filthy for sure! It's a MUST to keep the cutting, drilling, milling, welding, and grinding away from the wood. I keep a separate drill press and grinders for the metal work.

I got the metal-working/welding addiction years ago when I got a cheap wire welder. It opened up new horizons for me - fixing and connecting things that used to take so much effort were suddenly a tack weld or a bracket away. I was a welding inspector at one time and knew all this but for some reason never learned to weld.

My wire welder was a little flux-core Lincoln from HD, then got a torch and learned to gas weld. I built a welding room into my new shop with double doors to an outside concrete porch, added a big horizontal bandsaw, a real mig machine, tig, new stick, plasma cutter, hydraulic press, and eventually mill and metal lathe. I like to make tools and things but I use it more to make and repair things around the farm, like this restraint chute for llama and alpaca health care and shearing (hope this doesn't look like a thread hijack):

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This alone saved enough to pay for a good plasma cutter! It has hinged removable side panels for access, a neck squeeze, lots of tie downs, and the livestock scale fits inside.

I recently made a stainless steel burn barrel, trivial to cut with plasma. Grate in the bottom is made from rebar. This one should last my lifetime:

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We are fortunate to have an excellent steel supplier here who will sell one stick at the same price an industrial company gets (as long as you can haul 20' length.) I was even more fortunate to find a machine shop downsizing and bought about 8000 lbs of good angle iron/tubing/rod stock at scrap prices.

Besides having the stuff to fix almost anything for a friend, another thing I like about the metal work is the number of people, especially young people, interested in learning!

I'd encourage anyone who has not taken the plunge to go buy a wire welder. With the flux core wire you can get started without having to fool with the gas tanks. I know, it's another vortex...

Jeffrey, I'd love to see more of your metal/wood projects if you have pictures. What kind of finish do you use on the brushed steel?

JKJ

[Jefferey Scott]

John, I've been using automotive clear coat on the steel. So far it's worked ok. There's not a whole log of options in finishing bare steel they way I want. I've also finished the tops to my tables with auto clear and it's a bit finicky for wood. I may try some gloss woodworking grade cat lacquer on it next time.

I see you caught the bug of welding like I did. I tell people the attraction is instant gratification on assembling pieces, no wait for glue to dry.:)