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I guess it is a hobby now.
Since I retired 8 years ago I guess my woodworking profession is officially a hobby now.
My current project I started this week is a dining room table. When we sold our last home in 2005 the dining room furniture ended up going with the house as part of the price negotiation.
We purchased a basic table for the dining room in the new house but it's not my taste nor is it big enough for my wife's substantial family.
We finally decided on Walnut with a clear finish on the table. One of the first things that has taken a few months is locating the lumber. I wanted boards as wide as possible but also with similar grain with all of the boards hopefully, coming from the same tree. That turned out to be as big a challenge as I suspected. I finally found Irion Lumber in Wellsboro, Pa that sells matched flitches of boards. I chose 2 different groups and it showed up in Florida 6 days after ordering.
This is the 2 groupings. They are both 1 1/4", one being 11'-12' and the other 7'-8'.
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The first thing was to pick our which combination of the 6 long boards would create the 48" wide top I needed to end up with. Once I laid them out I picked a combination with the best grain match that would give me width need.
I roughly straightened them on the table saw and tried different combinations for the layout. This is where I ended up before jointing the edges to make them straight for gluing.
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Wow, it’s looking awesome. Can’t wait to see it finished. I give you a lot of credit working with your hands like that. Well done!
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The next process took necessary direction I had never thought about before.
The edge along the length of each board needs to be jointed straight so it will have a tight fit to the board beside it for gluing together. Because these boards averaged 11' long and 13"-16" wide and 60+ pounds each the typical approach of standing them on edge and sliding them across a cutter head that would straighten them was not practical.
After toying with purchasing a piece of aluminum that would be long enough and straight enough then going to purchasing 2 circular saw guides that were 5'-6" long and attach them together for the length i needed. I ordered the 2 guides still not convinced it was the right way to go figuring I would just return them if I went another direction.
I did come up with a better idea but unfortunately it was at 4AM laying in bed. That was the end of sleep for that day.
My decision was to glue 2 pieces of 3/4" thick MDF medium density fiberboard together to make an 11' long board. I figured I should be able to get a very straight edge be sending it through the table a few times recutting the opposite edge each time. My only concern was if it wasn't perfectly straight, when I used it as a guide for cutting the edge with a router I would have 2 edges that would not be able to be champed tight.
With that guid made I clamped it to the first walnut board and with a guide bushing in the router base I used a solid carbide spiral cutting bit to make the edge of the board match guide just 1/8" out from the MDF pattern.
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After making the first cut. The idea came to me how to make the next board fit perfectly when routed.
First I left the guide clamped to the original board original board. I clamped the board and the MDF guide to the bench under them. I then slid the next walnut board that needed the same cut on it up to the first board and spaced them apart by 7/16". The cutter I was using in the router was 1/2" diameter so in theory if I ran the router down the MDF guide a second time it would make the same exact cut on the second walnut board. ( I hope that makes some sense.)
It turns out it made a perfect cut that was exactly parallel with the first. When I pushed the 2 boards together I was stunned as I had never gotten that perfect a joint with any piece of equipment.
These pics show the 2 boards in their spaced and clamped position after routing and then the boards just pushed together with virtually no sign of a joint except for the difference in grain pattern.
I will continue this tomorrow.
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Really nicely done. They look great together.
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oh my... i would love to have woodworking skills like you. such a fascinating project and methods.
thanks so much for posting this -- i am really looking forward to seeing the project progress!!
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looking super Brad, what time is dinner ?? !! :congrats:
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Love the shop , now is the time to start making audio racks :wave:
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With the 4 boards straightened I then glued together 2 boards to end up with 2 large pieces 25" x 132". I needed to keep them that width as my sanding machine will only take a 36" wide piece of wood.
The pic shows one of the wide boards feeding into the sander. The boards were resting on temporary tables I set up for in feed and out feed through the sander. They were sanded with 80 grit and 120 grit before being glued into a 50" wide single piece.
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Once both of the boards were sanded I straightened the edges to be glued together using the router and straight edge as before. Once glued together it created the final width of the top.
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I cut the top to length with the circular saw and guide then cut the width using the same method. After cutting I used the router and guide to leave a smooth clean cut on the sides and ends.
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I then had the finished 48" x 120" table top.
Unfortunately that meant it was time to start the never enjoyable but necessary job of sanding the top to make it ready for finish. Starting with 80 grit on a
Dual-Action sander to be sure the center joint was flat with the 2 halves. Then onto 100, 120 and 150.
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After cleaning the shop I was able to spray the first 3 coats of post catalyzed lacquer. That just means that I add the harder just before it goes in the spray gun. Using the post catalyzed means it has a chemical hardening process rather than having the solvents evaporate out to harden. This way I could spray the sealer coats in a matter of a couple of hours rather than days. The catalyzed lacquer will resist damage from most anything it would encounter including mild acid should that somehow happen.
I let that dry 24 hours and with some help flipped the top over and sprayed the bottom to seal it.
This pic shows it this morning before I sanded the topside and sprayed hopefully the final coat on the top. If so I will move the top out of the shop into a storage room while I start working on the base of the table.
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Incredible project. Love the walnut. Well done. I’m not quite as handy, so I had to buy my walnut table! Can’t wait to see what the legs look like.
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Beautiful! You’re all in. Awesome workmanship. Wow.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
MPW
Incredible project. Love the walnut. Well done. I’m not quite as handy, so I had to buy my walnut table! Can’t wait to see what the legs look like.
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Nice table. Walnut not only looks beautiful it smells great when working with it.
I smoke a lot of trout and salmon and was thinking the sweet smell of Walnut would be great for that. I looked up smoking with walnut and found it is very acidic and should only be used on strong meats like wild hog and bear. Oh well I still might try a small piece of fish I'll pass on the wild meat.
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Nice job Brad. You have a wonderful shop!
How do you plan to do the legs?
Got to love Walnut.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
crwilli
Nice job Brad. You have a wonderful shop!
How do you plan to do the legs?
Got to love Walnut.
It's always a work in progress for me designing furniture.
Currently it will have 2 pedestals with 3 structural members, 2 that curve toward the sides of the top and 1 that will curve toward the middle of the table. The Idea is to give a as much as possible out of the way of legs and feet.
Each of the curved members will be made of 5 pieces of wood. I started roughing out the main pieces today.
Cutting up these boards leaves smaller pieces that need be used for something small.
What a coincidence, because as of now, I am also building a table and 2 chairs for our 18 month old grand nephew and his sister to be born in April. I think this one is going to be much more fun to create. I'll work on both at the same time but a tiny chair but a tiny child's chair is much cooler.
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Started the tiny childs chair on Sunday morning. They are much more fun than the dining room table. I will start the table to go with the chairs once he sits in one to get a max height for the table he can use now.
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Wow! Incredible workmanship Brad, as usual! However, I don't recall seeing any pics of a workshop stereo setup! :D
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This is what makes it all worth the effort.
Watching his favorite animation, Trash Truck.
First dinner at a table his size.
The issue with his table is, capturing him when he finally leaves the table before his hands and face covered in food wreak havoc on the house.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
sleepysurf
Wow! Incredible workmanship Brad, as usual! However, I don't recall seeing any pics of a workshop stereo setup! :D
Oldie. Marantz 2245 and Radio Shack Minimus-7.
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Tiny furniture is finished so, it's back to the dining room table.
Started with roughing out lumber to the curve of the pattern for the pedestal parts.
I smooth one face on the jointer then send them through the thickness planer to achieve the final thickness.
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Once the thickness is right I use the template for the shape of the pedestal legs to draw the shape, to cut out on the band saw 1/16" larger than the finished size.
Next the template is attached to the roughed out shape and it is trimmed with the grain on a sharper using a flush cut cutter with a bearing the same diameter as the cutter to follow the pattern.
The end grain needs to be done with a much smaller diameter flush cut spiral router bit with a bearing the size of the cutter. It could all be done with the router bit but is would need to be run much slower than the shaper.
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Once all of the pieces that make up each leg are finished to size there is one more cut to make.
Each leg is made up of 3 pieces. The center piece needed to be cut shorter to accept the structure that supports the top.
The group was then clamped together using clamps in both directions to keep the parts aligned with each other.
Once glued together I stood them in together and temporarily clamped them to see if they worked as designed. To my surprise they actually did. Small adjustments are much more common than not.
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After making bases for each pedestal, I temporarily mounted the leg pieces to each in order to determine the proper spacing under the table top.
After creatively finding a way to move the 200+ lb. top on to the pedestals I could see my original thoughts were not going to work. Drawing it on a small scale doesn't always give a proper visual proportion. I ended moving each pedestal closer to the end of the table than originally planed.
I then created the basic structural pieces that will support the top. Where they cross each other, each piece is notched half way and they locked together.
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Very nice indeed.
But how are you attaching the pedestals to the top plate?
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Thanks Kuoppis & MPW
There will be an apron of walnut that will attach to the lighter wood pieces you see in the pic. All of the horizontal pieces you see will have a dado or groove in them. That will allow for a piece of wood with one matching size edge to fit into the groove. There will be a hole in the center of the block that will allow a screw to secure the table top to the base in many places and allow for the wood to expand and contract as the humidity changes.
I'll post a picture in the next day of so of the process.
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Kouppis this was the sample from the mini kids table I worked out.
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I added blocks to the corners of the base just to break up the plain appearance. I will use a square block at the corners of the apron under the table top to carry the same detail another place.
I finished sanding the base parts today. Sanding is so bor-rrrr-rrrrr-rrrrrrr-rrring but a corner that will always comeback to bite you when the finish goes on.
Washing down the dust with an adult libation and ibuprofen.
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Looks like a nice amp stand! Hmmmmmmm
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Getting close to the end with this project.
I sprayed the final coats of lacquer yesterday afternoon and I will start putting the pedestals together today.
I set up some of my rolling staging with 12' long pipes from clamps to hang the 6 leg pieces.
The base and apron were easy to spray and move.
I am planing to remove the old table and move the base parts to the house over the next couple of days.
I have 3 nephews scheduled to help move the table top on Saturday.
Once the table is in place, I then face, for me a big delema.
I will need to build 14-16 chairs.
I have, over my career, built many sets of chairs but, I have an extreme dislike for repetition. It is painful and boring making the same parts over and over and over. Yes, I know it is mind over matter but I don't do well when it comes to part making.
Maybe a hypnotist might help. You will enjoy making chairs, you will enjoy making chairs .............
Sorry, that chair thing is really for me to come to the realization that I'll never spend that much money on purchasing chairs and need to build them.
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Took the old table apart today and prepped it for its trip to its new home where ever that is.
Moved everything I could carry in and put the bases and apron together. Can't wait for Saturday.
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Table done and installed. It went well except it was raining when we brought the top in. Nothing that a towel couldn't remedy.
We had dinner on it last night the it worked fine. Plates stayed right where the were set.
I am ordering more lumber tomorrow to start the chair process. Sigh. Fortunately I dislike the existing chairs enough it will help me move it along.
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Beautiful work!
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Stunning work Brad! Walnut is one of my favorite woods.
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How I envy those who can do such beautiful work!
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Thank You for all of the supportive comments.
The wood for chairs arrived on Monday.
I am currently building a mock-up of my designs out of Poplar. A number of jigs are being built to make the process faster and saner.
The front legs have a curve on each side. I thought I could do it with one leg pattern but that quickly didn't work. Today I decided to build a different jig for each side of the leg. It will make the process much more accurate and faster.
Part of the decision was doing the math. 16 chairs x 2 front legs = 32 x 4 curves on each leg = 128 that need to be consistent. That is to say nothing of 64 mortices for seat rails.
Oh well, I knew it would challenge my alleged sanity. As long as Ibuprofen and wine don't disappear, I will hopefully be done by,------ Thanksgiving.
I'll post some pictures of the jigs and prototype parts soon.
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Re: I guess it is a hobby now.
In my spare time i built a house for my Grand-Nephew.
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Well it was from the box for his new car seat.
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Finally I have the prototype of the chair put together. It has taken 5 weeks working at least 4-6 hours most every day. Because of the curves in the design it took more jigs than I had first thought.
I guess that is what happens when you let the design develop as you build.
I'll post pictures of all of the jigs I built for the process. All of the mortise and tenon joints in these pictures were put together with screws rather than glue as they went together and came apart numerous times.
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Looks superb Brad ! will the seat be all wood or upholstered ?
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It will have an upholstered seat.
I tried it out with a 1/2" piece of plywood and 1 1/2" piece of Styrofoam and that was less than comfortable. I may make a slight adjustment in the 2 outside pieces of the back. Possibly a bit of shaping for back comfort though I am the only one that has said it was needed. Maybe just my personal chair.
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My nephew is putting together a shop in his garage. We found him a Delta Unisaw at a very good price with the fence system missing.
I convinced him that IF, a 4' x 8' table on wheels, with a 400 lb saw built in was going to last long, he needed a steel base structure.
This is what we came up with this week.
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He found some really nice wheels with pads that unscrew to make it solidly attached to the floor from Castor HQ on Amazon.
The wooden frame will be altered a bit to fit the saw and base structure.
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As for chairs this week. I at least have a pile of walnut with 34 legs drawn on them. I can rough cut these into smaller pieces and mill them flat before a final cut to fit the jigs.
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amazing...........and to think I'm happy if I can pound a nail in straight !