Coffee table finished

[Cary Swoveland]

Here are two pics of a coffee table I finished recently

63905 63906

It's made of maple, cherry and ebony. The finish is a light coat of boiled linseed oil followed (immediately, before the BLO dried) with several coats of dewaxed, super-blond shellac. I applied the BLO with a rag, the shellac with a cotton pad. I then sprayed a few coats of Enduro clear satin Wat-R-Base (for protection) and finished off with Beall's three-stage abrasive and wax.

Were I to do it over, I would make a couple of changes. I made the interior of the top from three pieces of maple 3/16" thick that I resawed from a single board. No problem there, but I attached those boards to a piece of 3/4" plywood in a complicated and time-consuming way (to allow for wood movement). I should have just glued those boards to pieces of undistinguished 3/4" maple. Secondly, the maple ends are held in place with bolts. (Hence the ebony discs on the ends.) I think it would have been better to have used hidden tapered sliding dovetails. I could have done by having a couple at each end.

Cary

[Greg Cole]

Cary,
Very nice. Anything with curly maple & cherry is to my liking. The ebony contrast is a very nice touch.
I do agree about the round buttons, but I like it just the same.
I did a coffee table recently with cherry inlaid much like you did with the ebony & wrapped the edges with cherry... a tad more rustic looking.
I looked at your shop pics and must say... your nice shop (and you_ produces some nice things.

Greg

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Very nice~! What do you call it ? Mission style on steroids?
Great use of wood and figure I really like it.

[Charles Jackson III]

Nice job on the coffee table.

[Andrew Williams]

That is a beautiful table Cary!

[Glen Blanchard]

finished off with Beall's three-stage abrasive and wax.

Cary

Stunning Cary!! Although I also use Beall's 3 stage system, I have never used it on a project this size. Would you mind explaining briefly the method you used to apply it?

[Hans Braul]

Very nice work. I agree that it would have been easier to simply glue resawed top pieces to 3/4 stock underneath. I just did that on a smaller table that I will post in the next few days. Very nicely done though. I guess with every project we all think of the things that could have been done differently. But don't let it cloud the fact that you've made a beautiful piece!

Congrats
Hans

[Tom Cowie]

Another great table !

There's more fine woodworking on this site than in Fine Wood....

Tom :)

[John Timberlake]

Nice looking table. Like the contrast between the maple and walnut with ebony highlights. The base is very neat.

[Don Bullock]

That's a beautiful table Cary. The design including the contrast of woods is excellent.

[Cary Swoveland]

Stunning Cary!! Although I also use Beall's 3 stage system, I have never used it on a project this size. Would you mind explaining briefly the method you used to apply it?

Thanks for the compliment, Glen.

I guess I had Beall-on-the-brain when I said that. I used the Beall system with another recent project--the three Beall buffing wheels are still mounted on my lathe.

I finished up the coffee table with Menzurna's three-stage polishing compounds, applied with Surbuf hook & loop polishing pads attached to my 6" Festool ROS. Both the Menzurna and Surbuf products are described at http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/rubbingpolish.htm#menzerna

I'm very pleased with the Menzurna products. The Surbuf pads work well, but they're overly-tenacious in the way they attach to the sander's pad. I actually damaged the Festool's pad the first time I removed a Surbuf pad.

Cary

[Tim Martin]

Great Job Cary, thats a really nice piece. I love the contrasts and the design.

I assume the maple is solid? and is it Rock maple (sugar maple?)?

[Cary Swoveland]

Great Job Cary, thats a really nice piece. I love the contrasts and the design.

I assume the maple is solid? and is it Rock maple (sugar maple?)?

Thanks, Tim. The top and three vertical pieces at each end of the base are solid maple. It is Eastern (hard) maple, rather than Western (soft) maple, but I'm not sure which specie. According to one member of the Les Paul Forum, there are four species of maple in North America:

Eastern Maple

(Acer saccharum) Hard Maple, Rock Maple, Sugar Maple
(Acer saccharinum) Silver Maple
(Acer rubrum) Red Maple

Western Maple

(Acer Macrophyllum) Big Leaf Maple, Curly Maple, Tiger Maple

Cary

[Tim Malyszko]

I love the coffee table. The contrasting woods look great - the ebony accents really set if off and the figured maple is an eye catcher.

Nice work.:D

[Jim W. White]

Very Nice Cary!! ...my wife walked by as I was surfing your post and it immediately caught her eye as well.

Beautiful!

Jim in Idaho

[glenn bradley]

Great looking table. I really enjoy mixed wood pieces. Now here's something odd; I have that same bentwood and leather chair sitting in my living room (?).

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Nice table! Nice design!
-Jeff :)