12 foot Wenge dining table

[Mark Singer]

I have been working on this 12' long wenge dining table. The wood is beautiful! Real nasty to work with though...

Most of the work I have done on the table is pretty typical. So I will only mention a few points...

For joining boards this size it is better to straight line with a router and a straight edge or a guided saw...I used the Festool saw and I only have 2 - 4 foot rails so I had to move them and align them.. Picking up the boards and running them through a jointer is not an option.....too heavy and too long....a jointer plane and a power hand planer using an 8 foot aluminium straight edge and reading the edge. When joining clamp tap together....clamp in another spot ...tap together....etc...the better job you do the less work latter....I don't have a machine that will plane or drum sand a 12 foot x 18" wenge plank....so hand work is a requirement and if you are careful will yeild a much better job....

The legs are doubled 8/4 so essentially 16/4 . I didn't want to see the seam so I mitered out a 3/8" dado and filled with a solid wenge fascia on the rip miter. This is real handy to know and most woods are not available in 16/4 especially exotics like wenge. This solution is invisible and pretty easy to do. Trim the fascias on a jointer with the fence at 45 degrees...I haven't seen this one in books and I have found it a valuable trick for many years...The oak coffee table I made used similar details...

I recently bought the set of Lie Neilsen hand scrapers....they are terrific! Better than Sandvik never thought I woud say that... The steel is really good! They come jointed and have a mini burr right from the maker! Really a great tool and as good as their planes ..!


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...t=coffee+table

[Dennis Peacock]

Thanks Mark. I was wondering about the difference in the scrapers from LN vs the Sandvik that I have now. May have to give those a try.

It's going to be a nice table. Can't say it's one of my favorite woods to work with, but beautiful still the same.

[jonathan snyder]

Mark,

That looks like a useful trick to hide the gluelines on the legs, but I'm not following how you cut the mitered 3/8" dado? Would you please elaborate?

By the way, thanks for taking the time to share your wealth of knowledge us!!

Jonathan

[Mark Singer]

Mark,

That looks like a useful trick to hide the gluelines on the legs, but I'm not following how you cut the mitered 3/8" dado? Would you please elaborate?

By the way, thanks for taking the time to share your wealth of knowledge us!!

Jonathan

Jonathan,
Before the 2, 8/4 boards are face laminated , I rip miter right on the edge about 3/8" deep. Then remove the 3/8 thick piece to the miter cut you just made. Now when they are laminated it leaves a mitered dado chanel. This end right on the corner of the board...see photo... Now I cut solid pieces to fill the void and hide the lamination....they are glued in place and held with clamps...other photo. Then sand or plane the corners...see the link to the dining table that was all 4/4 and it looks like 16/4 with continuous grain... I use a digital caliper to set depths on the table saw and try the cuts on a scrap first....The table saw is a great tool if you really get into it...not physically though

[jonathan snyder]

Mark,

I understand. That is a great idea. I will try it. One of the disadvanteges to being a woodworker in Alaska is that lumber is expensive and not readily available. We have one store here in Anchorage which sells hardwood, but mostly has 4/4 stuff. Sometimes they have 6/4 in certain species. You trick will come in handy.

Thanks
Again

[Mike Cutler]

You're shop floor looks like mine right now with all of the wenge "hairs" on the floor.
That's going to be a beautiful table if all of the wenge boards are that clear in grain Mark. That's some nice material.

[Alan Turner]

Mark,
Neat trick on the legs. I have not seen that before, but will file it away for future reference.

[Richard Wolf]

Nice work, nice wood. I bet that scraper got some heat building up on it!

Richard

[Kelly C. Hanna]

That's a fantastic solution to a big problem you have there Mark. I love the idea. Can't wait to see the table finished!

[Doug Shepard]

...
Trim the fascias on a jointer with the fence at 45 degrees......

Mark - cool trick, but is there a secret to keeping the edges parallel when doing this on the jointer? Are you just roughing the 45 on the jointer then sneaking up on the seamless fit with handplanes or is your jointer and technique just way better than mine?

That's going to be a great looking table but I'm sure glad I won't have to lift it.

[Mark Singer]

Mark - cool trick, but is there a secret to keeping the edges parallel when doing this on the jointer? Are you just roughing the 45 on the jointer then sneaking up on the seamless fit with handplanes or is your jointer and technique just way better than mine?

That's going to be a great looking table but I'm sure glad I won't have to lift it.

Doug,
First of all care needs to be taken to make sure the legs and fascias are square in both directions. Then on the table saw with a Board Buddy front and back to apply downward pressure, I cut the rip miters . If your table saw technique is good the fit off the tablesaw is real good to start with. I left them a bit fat so I could trim them to fit at the jointer. I make the Fascias about 1/16 thicker also. This allows you to roundover down to the miter useing a scraper slightly inclined . At the jointer use 2 push blocks , one front and one back and push into the 45 ...so the pressure is down and also against the fence. When you hear the cut move the push blocks on the second pass....try it in a leg ...until you have a good fit. Since I resawed these from the same stock I can match the grain patterns on each leg....this is a big advantage over solid stock...just look at any of Krenov's door pairs....the bookmatching is from " real veneer" resawn from the same piece...It is a detail that elevates the quality to the next level.....and on a 3 1/2" by 6" leg pair it is not an obvious solution as with door pairs. You can use hand planes on the miters and there is enough surface to support the plane or you can rip a pair of MDF runners at a 45 and shoot the edges with a plane....the jointer works fine and the grain of this coarse wood is an advantage here.

[Martin Lutz]

I love the technique for the legs. Wish I would have thought of it. thanks for sharing.

[Don Baer]

Always the teacher, Mark. Thats for shareing. Thats going to be a great table.

[Ed Kowaski]

Neat trick on the legs Mark, hopefully filled away for a rainy day, thanks!

Though it's a little labor intensive. I'd probably take the easy way and resaw matching veneers to cover the join instead. One could run that over a jointer or planer if needed to get the required thinness. Once the edge is broken the joint would dissappear. I'm sure I would have better luck getting a tight seam that way but then I'm a miter hater from way back.

[Mark Singer]

Ed,
The mitered fascias are essentially like corks going in a bottle. As long as all the angles are 45 degrees then the surfaces at the joint are in contact. Then you can plane or sand or round slightly to remove the excess and make a perfect joint. It reall is pretty easy...and you don't have to be carefull in dealing with a delicate veneer