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Thread: Walnut dining table

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    624

    Walnut dining table

    Just a simple table built for a friend. A special project for him and me, as he planted the tree with his father in 1957, in Jackson, Missouri. The tree was cut about 10 years ago and sawn into lumber. He took half of it and kept it dry for years. A few years ago, he had someone rough plane the wood to just a bit less than 13/16ths. Unfortunately, it was not very flat to start with and most of the boards had a bit of twist.

    I was lucky to find five boards that looked well together and made up a top of about 39". I was able to get one side planed smoothly enough to glue up for a flat surface. It was challenging in that the middle board was quite twisted. Fortunately, it was the only board that was left at a full 1" thickness. I ripped it in half and jointed it relatively flat, but it was still twisted some. A lot of stress later, I finally got a square edge all the way along both sides.

    The solid 3" square legs used up a lot of lumber as they were made from a total of 7 pieces of wood, all jointed and planed flat to glue up perfectly. A carefully placed chamfer hides the glue joint where the edges were faced with a thin piece. All of the aprons were doubled up as well, spanning 84 inches at 3" deep.

    I filled the knots and cracks in the top with several applications of West Systems epoxy tinted dark. Lots of lessons learned in leveling these areas, but I think I have it down now.

    It is finished with Waterlox satin everywhere except the top. I tried three times to get the final finish to dry properly, but when I finally did, I think the flattening agent separated out leaving a weird pattern in the finish when dry. I decided to go to my favorite finish for cabinets. I ended up sanding the finish off entirely four times...the last after I sprayed the 3rd coat of ML Campbell's Envirovar Satin conversion varnish and left a couple of dry spots. I finally did what I should have done the first time and built a temporary spray booth and laid down a very nice coat of finish. I did have to tint the first coat with Transtint Golden Brown to match the rich color imparted by the Waterlox.

    Very happy with how this came out especially with the challenge of using thin lumber. Sorry for the less than professional photography. It is amazing to me how sunlight brings out every color in air dried walnut.

    Thanks for looking. Any suggestions or criticisms are welcome.

    Thanks, Dan

    IMG_0808.jpg IMG_0810.jpg IMG_0815.jpg IMG_0816.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    3,222
    Very well done, Dan. What a beautiful table from an heirloom tree. Your execution of the legs is great...appears to be a solid piece of lumber. Certainly no criticisms here.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Carrollton, Georgia
    Posts
    1,815
    That's a beauty, Dan. I can appreciate the challenge of getting a flat top using thin, twisted lumber. You did a remarkable job. It looks great. I'm sure your friend is in awe of your skills. They are prodigious.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Lewiston, Idaho
    Posts
    28,504
    Well done Sir! I am sure your friend when you friend looks at the table in the future he will think of your fondly and with appreciation! Well done Sir!
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    2,151
    Nicely done. Heirloom for sure.
    Jim

  6. #6
    +1. I agree with all the comments above, especially leg execution.
    Your friend will appreciate this for the rest of his life!
    Fred
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Clarks Summit PA
    Posts
    1,733
    Nice table Dan, the walnut really shines. Is that drawbored mortise & tenon work on the legs and apron?

  8. #8
    Dan- it’s beautiful! Just a fabulous looking piece you can be very proud of!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    624
    Thanks for the nice words, everyone.

    Mark, the tenons are 2" long and epoxied in the mortises. I cross doweled them with 3/8" shop-made dowels of straight grained walnut, and then plugged the ends with square plugs. I was going to draw-bore them, but I thought that it might make it harder to keep the joints perfectly aligned. I've used draw-boring before, but only in more substantial tenons.

    I wound up with a bit of twist in each of the long aprons after milling them to size. I knew that the short aprons would pull them square, but it sure made for a stressful glue-up.

    Thanks again for the comments!
    Dan

  10. #10
    Very nice table. I have had a few final coats of Waterlox that had issues, but I learned to let the next to last coat cure for a few weeks and then light sand, tack cloth and final coat works well.

    Very nice job!

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    South West Ontario
    Posts
    1,502
    Dan you clearly enjoyed the arranging the grain, something I can relate to. Gazing at the top is very involving. Working with what’s available is half the challenge these days. Tables do get appreciated more than most pieces given their use. They will enjoy your craftsmanship!
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Saratoga NY
    Posts
    64
    Very nice table you have created. The top looks fantastic and I really like the look the square plugs give the legs in the corners. Hope to make one that looks that good in the future!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Location
    New Boston, Michigan
    Posts
    247
    It is always good when your furniture making has meaning. Besides a very nice execution of sound woodworking techniques, this one has a spirit!
    Ask a woodworker to "make your bed" and he/she makes a bed.

  14. #14
    I really like the bead in the rail. That’s the sort of detail that’s missing from my projects now. How did you do it?

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    624
    I used a 3/16” b axing bit in the router. It came with the Kreg beaded face frame jig I used for our cabinets. I like how it softens the corner and leaves a nice crisp detail above it.

    Dan

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