An unintended table

[Ron B]

I tried with some Apple, many years ago, it was a disaster. That and the fact that the grain is boring (non-distinct) make it not worth the effort.

Some antique clock repairman may appreciate that apple wood.  I think apple is the wood they used for wood gears in clocks. 
Like persimmon for antique golf clubs. 

Someone should start a FOG list of what different types of wood were used for by past generations.  I don't know how to set it up so it would be usable-i.e. I would like to search Osage Orange to see its uses, not just scan down through random entries. 

 

[rmwarren]

A neighbor helped me move the slab upstairs, moving on to the legs. I rooted through the lumber boneyard and found some maple I'd purchased ~35 years ago in Nevada. It was used (ironically) for my first tabletop attempt, hauled back cross county, then salvaged and stored in our crawl space through Sandy & 15 years of moisture cycles. It was a mite scruffy looking but cleaned up nicely.

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The TSO shorty FS rail and guide rail square combine to make a nifty chop saw. Set the TS55 to max depth, get it up to speed before plunging and it makes flawless full depth cuts.

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Clamped up the leg blanks, the thinner piece ripped slightly proud of the thicker section and used a piloted bit to flush them.

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A while back I saw someone on YT using India ink for black stain, so I had some on hand for another project. Also had a can of traditional black stain on hand, the ink won out hands-down on hard maple.

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Sanded to 320 to knock off nibs and slightly distress some areas of the finish, then paste wax and calling it done.

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So far 100% of everything was material I had lying around, but I think I'm going with steel stretchers with these 3/4" studs welded into ~1.25" pipe which I'll need to buy, unless I can figure out an alternative from something else in the steel rack.

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The table is already in use with a temp base, it's been great to have room to spread out plans and paper to work on as currently my standing desk is too cluttered with computer stuff to have room. I also get to sit down sometimes during the day, bonus!

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Something tells me this project is leading to some stools next, but there is plenty of material still in the boneyard...

RMW

 

[Crazyraceguy]

After a week, lacquer should "powder" up nicely. If not, it may have gone bad, but I've never seen that happen. (heard of it, never experienced it)
Sometimes you can get past the clogging by stepping up a grit or two. (coarse)
Coated paper (Stearated) can help with that too. It is sometimes marketed as "free-cutting"

Yeah, India Ink is fantastic. It goes on better, no blotching, and just looks "richer" overall.
That top is great, with those beefy black legs, the whole thing will be special.

 

[Michael Kellough]

India ink works even better on oak, in my opinion, because it doesn’t fill the grain.
Oak permits other kinds of staining too (tannin) but nothing is as efficient and effective as India ink.

 

[rmwarren]

Yea the effect on the Inda ink on hard maple is overall underwhelming but I'm trying to not overthink the project and just get it done. I've got some ash I originally bought the II for and like oak, I think it'll be a better end result. That'll be a frame for an old vanity plate.

I suspect the lacquer may have been too old, in the past I recall it drying quick and I'd get a fine white powder when sanding.

RMW

 

[BigDan]

That Table looks awesome!  Nice figure in there for sure.

An old skool Master Craftsman who ran a full-blown custom furniture shop from the 1920's - 1970's once told me when I was a kid that Sycamore is "very brittle" and you must pre-drill everything.  That and it's availability was also why he avoided using it.  I think it's beautiful wood and Im not a production shop at all so I take the time to predrill everything with Sycamore and have had great success.   

Cheers
Dan