simple (or so I thought) conference table

[Bill Carey]

Finished the table from hell. Sounded simple enough - thin top floating on an X base. Nothing simple about it. Had to add the diagonal braces for stability, the base is mortise and loose tenons, and after I had 2 or 3 coats of wipe on poly on the top, she called and said she wanted the corners curved. And this after I had to cut off one of the boards I used for the top because it started to split. It took up all the space in my shop, and I hit my head on those dam diagonal braces about 200 times while it was on my bench for finishing. I've never been so glad to get something out of the shop.
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[Christian Hawkshaw]

Very nice. At least the frustration ended in a nice outcome.

[Mark Rainey]

You have a good story to tell when you relax with others at your beautiful new table Bill!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I like the design and the wood is gorgeous! What brand of wipe-on poly did you use? Nicely done Bill!

[Bill Carey]

I like the design and the wood is gorgeous! What brand of wipe-on poly did you use? Nicely done Bill!

Minwax dark walnut stain, and then about 12 coats of Minwax wipe on poly, satin. I was fortunate that she wanted a thin top because I had a fat 8/4 board that I was able to resaw for that center book match section. That's the only part of that table I still like. But it
is going to be used by a divorce mediator, so the table should get a serious amount of payback for the trouble it gave me.

[Jim Becker]

Just remember with a smile..."not so simple" builds skills and the kind of joinery in your base is really kewel!

[David Utterback]

The base looks anything other than simple. Perseverance paid off. Great project. Thanks for sharing.

[Alex Atkinson]

What kind of materials did you use? I'm planning to do a project soon and I'm collecting the info about materials.

[Bill Carey]

What kind of materials did you use? I'm planning to do a project soon and I'm collecting the info about materials.

The table and base are made from walnut. All the material I bought was rough sawn 8/4 wood, which I milled and re-sawed as needed. The finish was dark walnut stain 2x, then about 10 - 12 coats of Minwax wipe on poly. It was the first project I've used the wipe on poly on that looked a bit plastic-y. I've used the wipe on poly on all sorts of oak and cherry projects and liked the results, but for some reason it didn't really look great on the walnut. Might be time to expand my finishing to a lacquer and see how that works on the walnut. I have 4 walnut plant stands (gotta use up the scraps, right?) that I'm going to use a water based lacquer on, once I find a brushable version. If I can. No spray equipment.