Getting the finish on the table

I started putting finish on the table Sunday. I am using Minwax wipe-on polyurethane wood finish. What's really nice about it is that there are no brush marks, the finish levels itself quite nicely. And it dries fast, you can re-coat within 3-4 hours. I've worked the finish with 400 grit sandpaper between coats, and have since moved on to 600 grit. Results in a very smooth surface. Probably one more coat of finish, with a 1200 grit sanding before. Then I can wrap it up and deliver to the customer in CT!

Table Fully Assembed

Yesterday I glued the four legs together with the stretchers. Today, I glued the top to the leg assembly.

Once the leg assembly was released from the clamps, I drilled 1/4" holes in the legs. The hole was deep enough to pierce the tenon. I then inserted a short piece of 1/4" dowel to pin the stretcher into the leg. No way this table will come apart!





Next step is to sand the entire table with 220 grit paper, then start applying the Watco dark walnut danish oil.

Table Frame Comes Together

I've been working on the legs alot, they required much hand sanding and filing. First I filed and rasped the legs to their final form, then starting with 60 grit sandpaper, sanded the legs until I got to 150 grit. The final sanding with 220 ans 440 paper will happen once the table is fully assembled. After getting the legs done, I then went about cutting the stretchers -- those horizontal pieces used to connect the legs and provide support and attachment for the table top.


I clamped the pieces together, just to get a sense of how tight the joints were, and whether the table is fairly square and level. To my surprise, it was both. The stretchers have tenons on each end, and from the previous images you can see the legs have mortises in them. I'll unclamp everything, apply glue to the joints and re-clamp it overnight.

Cabriole Leg Making

Well I started with 3" x 3" x 19" pieces of black walnut for making the table legs. The first step is to cut the mortises into them, while they are still square. If I were to cut the curved part of the leg first, then it would be very difficult to hold the leg square to the mortise chisel later. In this photo you can see the pattern I traced onto the two adjacent sides:



Even though I really only need four legs for the table, I cut out enough blanks for six legs:



Here is how the mortises are cut into the leg: with a mortise chisel. A mortise chisel is a chisel made from a square piece of steel tubing. Inside the tube is a drill bit. So as you push the chisel into the wood, the drill removes the majority of the wood, while the chisel insures that the sides of the hole are square:


Here is what the completed mortise looks like:


There needs to be a mortise on two adjacent edges of the legs, to accept the tenons that will be cut into the stretchers that connect the legs:


The next step is to cut the top of the legs to size. To do this, a table saw tenoning jig is used. The jig holds the leg firmly in place, and more importantly keeps your hands away from the blade. In this operation, the blade is raised to a level of 3", which can be dangerous:


Looking from the back of the saw, you can see how the blade will first come into contact with the leg:



Still looking from the back of the saw, after the cut:



Two total cuts are made to set the leg of the upper portion of the leg:


Next, the leg is put on the table saw sled and the unwanted pieces fall away:


Here is what the leg looks like at the end of this operation:


Now the curved cuts are made on the bandsaw. The thing with cabriole legs is that as you cut one curved piece, you need to tape it back onto the blank. There are two reasons for this: first, you want to keep the piece square and as you cut the curves, the piece becomes unsquare. Second, if you don't tape the cut off pieces back on, you lose the lines you are supposed to follow!



After all the curves are cut, the blanks look like this:



I'll "unwrap" each layer of wood and expose the leg:



Almost there...



ALMOST THERE....


When the cutting's all done, here's your leg!





In the next post, I will describe how you take this rough leg and get it smoothed out!

Table Re-design

Well the idea of making a table based on an elliptical frame proved to be more a project than my current tools will support. So after talking with Gary Jr., we decided to go with a rectangular table top for the coffee table. We also decided that the first set of legs would not look right with the rectangular top. The original design called for the legs to be at the north, south, east and west sides of the ellipse. The new table design calls for the legs to be placed one in each corner. So I used the same leg design template, but made the cuts in two dimensions on the bandsaw. I'll post some more text and pictures to describe the process. But for now, here are some pictures of the prototype leg I made this evening:

Jr's Coffee Table - Started

Today I officially started on Gary Jr's walnut coffee table. I decided to build the legs first. I made a template of the leg, and transferred it to a 2" thick slab of walnut.


Once the four legs were traced out, I rough cut them on the bandsaw. You can see the actual outline of the leg on the wood:


Next, I cut the legs using my father's old Delta bandsaw. I cut right up, but not over, the pencil line I drew from the template:



Here's what the leg looks like after bandsawing:


After bandsawing, there is sanding to do in order to remove the marks made by the sawing action:



Next, the legs are tapered using a jig I built for just such an operation:



A view from the other side of the jig:


After giving them a quick machine sanding, it's time for hand sanding and a little filing to make the curves smooth:


Next task: making the frame for the top of the table.

Workshop Organization

Every once in a while, I force myself to stop building furniture, and put some time into workshop infrastructure projects. First, I realized I had too many horizontal surfaces, which served no other purpose other than to attract clutter. This was due to three six-foot long workbenches I had been using. I moved two of the benches to my mom's camp (where they were needed) and the third bench I moved into my finishing room. This freed up a bunch of space for my stationary tools. To store some of the tools which were part of the clutter problem, I built a cabinet which consisted of an array of roughly 12-inch by 12-inch "cubbies". I even put levelers on the bottom so I could adjust for any unevenness in the concrete floor. I used biscuits to join the horizontal shelves to the sides.

Before installing the shelves, I dadoed slots into them. The slots accept the vertical partitions which go between the shelves. The dado cuts are 1/4" deep. Once the vertical partitions were glued and in place, I flipped the piece over and attached a 5/16" thick plywood back. The back was glued and nailed to the sides and shelves. Then I flipped the unit over again, and attached a simple face frame I had made from pine. I don't think the face frame adds any more strength to the unit, but it does make it look a little more finished. It would seem out of place, for someone who makes cabinets, to have a set of falling down shelves in his workshop.