Shaker(?) style dining table build

[Steven Mikes]

I bought a bunch of reclaimed white oak (supposedly anyway) boards from a guy on Craigslist and decided they would be used for a dining table. Figured I'd take some pictures along the way and share.

First up is a rough board
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getting tamed by the scrub plane
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Alongside a leg already shaped from another board
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Removing scrub marks with the jack plane
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Flattening and removing twist
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[Steven Mikes]

Joined the aprons to the legs with haunched MT joints following advice from a FWW article. I pinned them afterwards with 1/4" dowels.


Test fit
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Close up. The mortise is a little too deep I think...
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After assembling all the aprons and legs, I thought the structure could benefit from another cross piece in the middle so decided to use a sliding dovetail joint (my first one!).
I cut a guide block at about 10 degrees and used that to chisel the rail and saw the slot. Why a stopped sliding dovetail you ask? Well the piece was supposed to go all the way through
but when I was measuring the cut my kids were screaming at each other and I must have mis-marked it after "attending" to them. It was only after making the cut on the bandsaw that I realized
what I'd done, and there wasn't enough material left in the board to get another piece :)

Cutting the slot with saw, chisel, and router plane
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Assembled frame
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Not gonna lie I'm pretty proud of these =) Wish the M&T joints on the aprons were as precise...
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I started preparing the boards for the table top now. Seeing as how these are not very clear boards (several knots and some very wavy grain) and the color varies somewhat from piece to piece, I'm wondering if maybe a light stain might help everything look more uniform in the end? Not too familiar with finishing in general, any advice is appreciated!

Now to keep working on those boards without tearing out all over the place...

[Steven Mikes]

<also reserved>

[David Eisenhauer]

Looks like a very good start to me and that is a nice looking dovetail connection for the center support piece as well. You can always add in color, especially if you have an uneven color look to the finished top. I tend to stay with aniline dyes for various reasons, one being that I can vary the strength of the mix to apply to individual boards or areas of uneven coloring when trying to make the whole thing as even in coloring as possible. I apply a dewaxed shellac over the dye, then topcoat with whatever I feel will best address expected duty the furniture will encounter. For a table, I'd go with poly for expected heavy use and ability to clean with a damp rag. As always, save the scraps to test your color selection before applying. What style did you have in mind for the top design? Thanks for sharing the build photos.

[Chris Hachet]

Very nice Start.

[Mike Allen1010]

Well done Steven – that looks great! Personally, sliding dovetails are a challenge for me and yours turned out awesome.


I look forward to the rest of the build. Thanks for your post and pics.


Best, Mike

[Christopher Charles]

Looks great so far, I like the lines. I have fumed oak in the past but would not recommend that route if you are trying to even the tone. Will look forward to seeing more progress.

Best
Chris

[Frederick Skelly]

That's nice work! I like the style. I'm impressed with your sliding DT - I've done them with a tailed router but never by hand. If that's your first try, you knocked it out of the park!

Look forward to seeing the rest of the build.
Fred

[Steven Mikes]

Couldn't figure out how to edit my old reserved post so I'll just continue here:

Dug up a couple more picture of the apron joints. After putting the top together it looked pretty bad (with all the chips, tear out, and different coloring) so I decided to paint it. Put 2 coats of milk paint, then some BLO. I also decided that since the top looked pretty crappy anyway it wouldn't hurt anything to just nail it down with cut nails rather than bother to attach the top properly. It works perfectly well as a table, been using it for a couple weeks now. The finish looks pretty flat though, thinking of putting a coat of paste wax or something to give some shine. Maybe danish oil+poly mix? Not sure how either of those would go on ontop of what's there already.

My wife's camera is currently out of commission so I can't take a decent picture. Will try to remember to post one when it gets back.

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[Robert Hazelwood]

For the finish, I've sealed milk paint with a homemade "danish oil" (mixed up some poly and BLO, wipe on and wipe off just like BLO). 3 or 4 coats should give it a nice satin sheen.

Are the planks in your top glued together? If so you may have issues when the top shrinks or expands. Cut nails are somewhat flexible but that top is very wide, so there could be more movement than the nails can accommodate which would cause the top to split around the nails. Since you aren't that happy with the top anyways, maybe just let it ride and see what happens. If it splits, you have an excuse to try again.

Nice joinery work.

[Steven Mikes]

Thanks Robert! I'll give that mix a try. Already planning on a new table in a year or two ;) And chairs to go with it...