Project: Hall Table

[Jim Becker]

Well, it was back to work on the hall table this weekend and although I had limited time in the shop (it was my week for swimming and karate duty), much progress was made. In fact, by the end of the next five posts, the table will be at a nearly ready to finish state!

We start off this "episode" with a shot of the form that will be used to make the bent lamination for the front apron. You will recall that I made an exact duplicate of the top out of MDF last weekend to do layouts on and that piece, in turn, becomes the form with the addition of some clamping blocks arranged along a line that represents the back side of the apron. Some wax was applied to the surface of the MDF where the lamination would "live" during glue-up to insure it would not stick to the form.

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The lamination was made from 5 plys of poplar re-sawed and planed to some thickness or another that coincidentally ended up with a 3/4" thick apron. (Yes, I really did guess at this...frankly the exact thickness didn't matter so why measure or do math? ) Titebond III was dribbled onto the pieces and spread quickly with a stick of wood, getting the best coverage I could muster. This was repeated on each layer as needed. Please note that this is not the best way or glue to do laminations, but I was using what I had on-hand. Finally the stacked layers were put on the form, arranged so they were centered, tamped down so they were all at about the same height and then clamped to dry.

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While that assembly was set aside to dry overnight, I did some final sizing of components...the first being the rear apron cut to "precisely" 31 1/2".

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All four 1 1/8" square legs required two tapered faces. After measuring one up to determine the start point for the taper and the end point that would result in a 3/4" square bottom, I tacked some 1/4" MDF scrap to my "slider sled" with a pinner. This makes it easy to remove the strips with no damage to the sled after the project is completed. (I plan on making an adjustable tapering jig someday in my copious free time... )

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And, of course, I finished out the night cutting the tapers on all five legs. (Yes, that was not a typo...umm....'had to make another leg due to, umm...well...operator error? )

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[Jim Becker]

Well...it's morning already! (And it wasn't a fun morning due to, umm...some child behavior...so it was very nice to get back out in the shop)

The first task of the day was to un-clamp the lamination and see if it worked or if I had to punt. He scores. Very minor spring-back and not material to the project. The edges were pretty even and only required a single very light pass over the jointer to clean them up.

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I made a little change to the clamping jig to provide cut lines for the ends of the apron so they could be cut flush. (This is another pocket screw project...time is of the essence and I just don't have enough of it to play around with mortise and tenon, etc.) My original intention was for these cuts to be the final cuts, but after the fact, I have to re-brand them as rough cuts.

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Honestly, I don't own an appropriate saw to make a 3 1/2" cut like this accurately. My Adria dovetail saw will not cut that deep and the flush cutting saw I used wiggles more than jello on a plate on the patio in a major earthquake. A little paring got things close, but not at all to my liking for a clean joint at the apron. We'll revisit the ends in a moment.

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After un-clamping, I put the apron between some dogs with a little support in the center and gave it a good sanding to clean things up. There was a little glue and a few minor marks from the glue-up process...they went away.

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As I mentioned, I wasn't happy with the clean-cut of the ends and with that slight amount of relaxing after the clamps were removed, I had a little bit of material to work with. So I constructed a jig to hold the apron in the proper orientation for trimming the ends cleanly and completely square at the table saw. Screws from the "back" are holding the workpiece to the center support and scrap plywood provides the base.

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[Jim Becker]

With the apron/jig combination held tight to the miter gage, one end is cut and then the other after flipping the jig around.

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The end result, before releasing from the jig looks like this.

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At this point, all the components, excepting one center brace that needs to be sized during assembly, are cut and ready to go. Each of them was sanded with fresh 220 paper...by hand and quickly as this base will be painted.

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As part of the sanding process, all the edges were "broke" with some quick strokes of 320. This is actually an important pre-finishing step as any edges that are "sharp" can cause problems with finish flow and integrity.

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And then we move on to assembly. Here, I'm putting the rear apron between the two back legs. The apron is supported by 1/8" thick strips to hold it off the table and provide a shadow line.

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[Jim Becker]

As you can see from this picture, I should have assembled the short sides first...

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The front apron was installed with glue and pocket screws just like the other three apron pieces. The curve is so gentle, that there was no problem putting it into the pocket screw drilling jig (Kreg K2 in my case) as long as the pressure on the clamp wasn't cranked.

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At this point, a center stretcher was installed (after measuring between the back and front aprons and cutting it to size) and two blocks were installed to provide a way to mount the table top after finishing. The latter were cut at the band saw after making a paper template using the assembled base as the pattern. This is the end result.

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With the base assembled, some final considerations needed to be paid to the table top. After a lot of thought, I felt that this piece demanded an edge treatment. I don't normally do that, preferring simple straight edges with just the corners broken for "comfort". But this table just wasn't working for me with the blunt edge. So I decided a simple ogee would be the right change after playing with some MDF scrap at the router table. Once the setup was assured, the top was profiled.

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Of course, once you do an edge treatment like this, you kick up the sanding work quite a bit. And this is absolutely a hand sanding job...you need the contour smooth (especially on the end-grain) and also need to break the sharp corners. Here, I'm working on one end with some fresh abrasives.

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[Jim Becker]

The contour on the front edge was a little easier to sand, but still tedious. I also needed to blend in a very slight "slip" at the end made while routing the edge treatment.

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So...here, you can see the form of the base including the bow-front on the apron.

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Here again from the same angle with the top set in place.

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And this is the table nearly ready for finishing. I have a little remediation to do at the base of one back leg and a little touch-up sanding. Otherwise...it's good to go. And you know what? I like it. I think it will be very happy when its new home gets built this year...and it will be the perfect place to set some keys or the mail when you come in the new front door.

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Speaking of finishing...remember that off-cut from the top? Here it is again being used as planned to test out some finishing ideas. There are two areas dyed with my "brew that keeps on living in the finishing cabinet) and two areas that are color-free. One area of each also got an application of BLO. All were top coated with de-waxed blond shellac. The back side of the piece has just water borne acrylic. Although I originally thought that I'd add color to the top, based on my experimentation, the top will just get the shellac and then be further clear-coated with the water borne acrylic. The oil had exactly zero affect on this oak. (which by the way, turns out to be a light toned red oak, rather than white as I originally thought it to be) The oak with the shellac has a very nice tone that will go well with the painted base...which I still need to pick a color for...but that's for another day.

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[Neil Clemmons]

Great progress, Jim.

On the finish, will you use 1 # shellac and then a sprayed poly acrylic? What are you planning for the base?

Thanks for the detailed step-by-step.

Nice work -

Neil

[Jim Becker]

Neil, I'll likely brush the shellac as I plan on doing a few coats, sanding back between them to fill the pores before moving on to the top coats. #2 cut. I may do the same on the base to provide a better surface for the paint. I haven't decided on what paint, but may try the SW Pro Classic product that several of our resident pros have given kudos too.

[John Miliunas]

Lookin' real good, Jim! Don't know exactly what it is but, I enjoy doing bent laminations, even as big of a pain as they are! Weird, I guess. You done good on that. As far as squaring up the ends on your apron, you were just looking for another excuse to use the slider! Nice job, Jim.

[Nick Clayton]

Jim that is a great looking table. One question, considering the shaker style did you consider using milk paint on the base? Can't wait to see the final product.

[Ron Brese]

Jim, I used the SW Proc Classic on my own kitchen cabinets and I was quite pleased with it. I thinned it about 10% with bottled water and it sprayed quite well with a conversion gun. I bought the semi-gloss sheen and it flattened even a bit more after being thinned with water, so you may want to consider that when you buy the paint.

Ron

[Jim Becker]

One question, considering the shaker style did you consider using milk paint on the base?

Yes, it's under consideration.

I used the SW Proc Classic on my own kitchen cabinets and I was quite pleased with it. I thinned it about 10% with bottled water and it sprayed quite well with a conversion gun. I bought the semi-gloss sheen and it flattened even a bit more after being thinned with water, so you may want to consider that when you buy the paint.

Thanks for the tip...good to know as I suspect this product may get some use over time, even if not on this project. But I'm thinking seriously about trying it on this table. I need to do a field trip to the SW store during my daily lunch foraging and check it out.

I enjoy doing bent laminations,

But we know all about you, John...you're unique!

[Matt Meiser]

Looks good. Reminds me of one from Thos. Moser.

[Jim Becker]

It's been a few weeks since I got to work on this project due to business travel, family needs and the cold...but after wrapping up another project today (coming soon to a thread near you... ), I got started on the finishing process for the hall table...and the parts from the cherry mirror that have also been patiently waiting for a good shellac-ing...

I'm using Sealcoat as a primer/sealer for the base prior to the acrylic color coats and the shellac is also being used to add a little tone to the oak top prior to top coating with water borne acrylic.

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And here I do a little sanding with 320 to smooth things out on the base before a second coat of shellac goes on.

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So, ok...this wasn't all that exciting, but it's at least some progress! It would have been nice to get more done this weekend, but snow/ice removal got a bit of my time as did visiting a prospective summer camp for the younger. And, of course, that "other" project...something for the shop.

[Charles Jackson III]

nice table.

[Joe Mioux]

There is no way that you have had your new saw for an entire month!?

Where does time go?

Joe