A Table full of Experiments!!

[Brad Hammond]

This was a bunch of "firsts" for me.
First "real" indoor funiture project.
First attempt at some serious resawing.
First attempt at veneer.
First attempt at inlays.
and finally.......the first time i got a holy %$@# from the wife.....lol

This table is 14"x32" and 33" tall. Walnut with a sapwood inlay. For that I have to give ALOT of credit to my sawyer! When i had this walnut sawn he asked if i wanted to keep the sapwood. Told him I didn't know what i'd do with it, but he said he had faith in me,,,,wink wink. Well, when i had the idea for the inlay i didn't have any maple, so i broke out the sapwood. A decision with which i'm more than happy with...( i say that humbly). the sapwood grain is fairly deep, even when sanded, and when sanded with the walnut it picks up some of the dust and creates a dark marbling. this is the best way i can describe it. Needless to say, i'm keepin as much sapwood as i can find.
I still need to buff out the top. It has 5 coats of poly, it's going in the hall so it'll get LOML's purse and possible some keys on it everynow and then.
thanx for looking..........any suggestions and critiques are more than appreciated!!

[Kevin Gerstenecker]

Brad, that table belongs in an Art Gallery! :D That is just "knock you off your feet beautiful!" You really need to be building more furniture. Now that you let the Wife see it, there will be NO rest. ;) For a bunch of "First's", I'd say you did more than alright. Thanks for sharing the photo's of your beautiful table...........that table top is awesome, as is the entire unit. I be likin' it! :D

[Bob Lasley]

I can see why your wife said that. Brad that is one fantastic looking table. This may have been all those firsts, but I bet it won't be the last! Great job!

Bob

[Bill Roland]

Brad, You are not far from Nashville, so I'll be down this weekend to pick-up that table you made for me. Ha Ha. That is a great looking table. I wish my "first" came out that good looking.

Bill Roland

[Ted Shrader]

Brad -

The table turned out GREAT! Well done. The veneered top is well arranged, the sapwood inlay is a great idea.

Knocked all those firsts out of the way, now you'll have to find some more.

[Brad Hammond]

thanx for the kind comments!

while i got your ear lemme ask a question about buffing the poly out.
the plan is to use some 1000 or 1500 wet/dry with a small amount of mineral spirits to even the poly then buff with some automotive compound we used to use to buff clearcoat on the cars we painted.

but, i plan on letting this thing dry for a week before attempting.
any suggestions?
thanx again
brad

[Jim Becker]

The bottom of my jaw is almost dragging on the floor...wow!

[Bryan Nuss]

Brad,

A beautiful work! Well done!

[Brad Schafer]

stinkin' DANG! that's some major league figuring. outstanding work (and nice name, too). :D


b (the other one)

[Mac McAtee]

Great job. I really like the four way book match of the veneer. Please don't let her "throw" her keys on it. Ask her to set them down gently.

I'd think about letting more than a week pass before the buffing you describe. Put your nose right up against it and if you smell the finish, let it sit. When you get no oder the finish is cured.

[Bruce Page]

Gorgeous work Brad, the veneer work and inlay are incredibly beautiful!!

[Brad Hammond]

wow!...........thanx everyone!

[Bud Duffy]

What he said, WOWWWWWWsers that is one fine peice!!!!!

[Todd Burch]

Nice job Brad!! Glad your wife knows fine stuff when she sees it! She has good taste! And you have an eye for good design!

On rubbing out the poly - from some of the reflected light in the pictures, it looks like you might could get by with starting with a coarser grit than 1000 (unless the reflection that I'm seeing is a factor of the quality of the photo???). I would go with 320 first, with a sanding block to knock off any ridges and peaks, then VERY carefully, go higher. Most of your work will be 320. Once every square millimeter has 320 scuff marks on it (no shiny spots), then you have it flat. At that point, all you are working on is getting out the 320 marks, and so on up the line. That latter piece will go pretty fast.

Again, I don't want to be critical, but definitely get that top baby-butt smooth!! Use a raking light to check your work. With 5-6 coats on, you should have plenty of room for "finishing the finish".

Todd.

[Tom Sweeney]

& echo everyone elses comments - That is a fine piece of work Brad - the figure in the wood is amazing & I like the contrast with the sapwood inlay. If this is a bunch of firsts I can't wait to see what's next.
Thanks for posting.

[Dennis Peacock]

EXCELLENT WORK!!!! BEAUTIFUL TABLE!!!!!!

I believe that your sawyer had all this in mind. ;)

Was the inlay tough? How did you go about the inlay in the corners? I am very interested in learning inlay and have done a "little" but I need to learn all I can.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful work..!!!!!

[David Rose]

I think Todd is right. Anything finer than 320 will be really slow going. Again, that is if the pic is "true".

I would like more experienced advice on this one, but... you will probably cut through the top coat of poly if it is as it looks. I did this last week and simply smoothed it on out and wiped on a couple of thinned coats of poly. The wittness lines were totally hidden and it came out nice and smooth. I was not rubbing out to a high gloss, so that might be the reason I got away with it. I've not read anywhere about being able to do this. Just a thought.

Beautiful!!

David

[David Blangger]

That table wasn't built in a workshop....your wife now has a beautiful table and you have a studio.

[Eric Apple - Central IN]

I would go with 320 first, with a sanding block to knock off any ridges and peaks, then VERY carefully, go higher.
Todd.

Good job. Is the larger inlay the sapwood or just the outline ?

On the rub out, I would like to expand on Todd's advice. Pay attention to the grit rating (IE P or CAMI rated). Also, since brush marks seem to show well, I would wait 2 or 3 days for initial curing. Then I would use P600 silcon carbide wet/dry with MS or water to level that finish with a felt block backer. This is in the range of 360 grit without the P. Go easy, you will be cutting much faster then you think. After I got what you have level, I would then apply 2/3 more coats to the leveled finish (waiting just over the minimum time between coats) then wait a week or two (longer better) to start buffing up in the higher grits, starting with about P800.

By doing this you will be better able to avoid buffing thru the finish in the latter rub out stages.

[Brad Hammond]

Thanx again everyone for the kind words..........and a great big thank you for the advice on the top coat. you guys are great.

as far as answers to questions,
eric, the outside band is a band of walnut 2" wide by 1.5" thick. dennis i'll answer your question here too. when i milled the walnut i made a rabbet about 3/16" wide. when i mitred the corners for the band the inlay dado was formed with a perfect corner. after that i fiddled with the width of the sapwood on the table saw until i got a good fit. the thin strips were made by using the offcut. cutting moving the fence over 1/8" then counting 3/16" and making a rip. i made them a little proud of the table top and carefully brought them down to flush with a lowangle plane and finished to flush with sanding.

thanx again everyone......i always enjoy seeing everyone elses work and being a little envious of their talent. it's nice to hear the kind words from everyone. we have one heck of a talented family here at the creek!
have a good day everyone
brad

[Doug Littlejohn]

Major nice Brad!!, that's the kind of work I like to do as well. Veneering, inlays, burled wood or exotics as just way to cool.

Looks like you did an excellent job.

It's really cool when you surprise SWMBO, huh?

[Glenn Hodges]

[Outstanding piece of work, enjoyed looking at it.