An unintended table

[rmwarren]

An aborted project left me with 3 planks of skip-planed 8/4 sycamore just under 12" wide. They've been clogging up precious cubic inches of the shop for over a year, I finally got fed up and decided I needed a new worktable in my office/workroom.

Setting up a flat workstation/glue up table, screwed down and leveled:

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I used the TS55 to rip glue joints, then dominoed and ready for the Keystone Cops glue-up:

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The new grill cart added "planer table" to its repertoire:

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After minor hand planing & sanding the result was

 

[Kev]

Why is it that I always picture you with a whisky, cigar and some ribs cooking while you work eh? [big grin]

 

[rmwarren]

Why is it that I always picture you with a whisky, cigar and some ribs cooking while you work eh? [big grin]

Flashbacks to the old days Kev. It's so great to have you back.

PS Cribfest (crabs & ribs) coming in September, I'll make it worth your while...  [poke]

RMW

 

[Cheese]

Love that Bailey Richard...I checked mine and they're all too new (they were my grandfathers) to have any patent numbers.  [sad]

The sycamore grain is also beautiful, perfect for a desk where you can enjoy it daily & up close.  [smile]

 

[Michael Kellough]

You often get that nice figure in sycamore. Underrated species.

Really clever the way you leveled and secured the workbench.

 

[rmwarren]

Thanks guys. I didn't get out there today due to adult pursuits interfering with my fun. Was hoping to finish sanding and move it inside.

Thinking about finishes, anyone have experience with sycamore? The last table I did was stained using golden oak then coated in poly, added some nice yellow-brown tones. Leaning more towards an oil or wax, really want to keep things simple.

RMW

 

[Crazyraceguy]

That's mighty nice for an unintended table.

 

[rmwarren]

Thanks CRG, started out as a king bed frame before the project was abandoned. A tabletop was the fastest way to get the lumber out of the shop, and I have space and a use for it for indoor projects.

RMW

 

[Scott in San Diego]

OSMO 3054 Polyx Hard Wax Oil Clear Satin. This is a Siberian Elm coffee table I built seven years ago and how it looks today.

OSMO is stupid simple to apply.  Sand to P180 or P220. Apply very sparingly with a green Scotch Brite pad to flatten any raised grain and burnish in the oil. Cloth wipe any surface excess oil residue.  Let dry for 24 hours and apply a second coat just like the first coat, except with a white Scotch Brite pad.

 

[Cheese]

OSMO 3054 Polyx Hard Wax Oil Clear Satin. This is a Siberian Elm coffee table I built seven years ago and how it looks today.

OSMO is stupid simple to apply.  Sand to P180 or P220. Apply very sparingly with a green Scotch Brite pad to flatten any raised grain and burnish in the oil. Cloth wipe any surface excess oil residue.  Let dry for 24 hours and apply a second coat just like the first coat, except with a white Scotch Brite pad.

Interesting...that was basically the same method as Surfix recommended for their outdoor oil with no sanding steps in between coats.

 

[rmwarren]

OSMO 3054 Polyx Hard Wax Oil Clear Satin. This is a Siberian Elm coffee table I built seven years ago and how it looks today.

OSMO is stupid simple to apply.  Sand to P180 or P220. Apply very sparingly with a green Scotch Brite pad to flatten any raised grain and burnish in the oil. Cloth wipe any surface excess oil residue.  Let dry for 24 hours and apply a second coat just like the first coat, except with a white Scotch Brite pad.

Beautiful chunk of wood Scott. Osmo is a possibility, stupid/simple is right in my sweet spot.

Did any of the yellow tone come from the finish? Siberian Elm is foreign to me.

Thanks,

RMW

 

[Scott in San Diego]

The soft white ceiling LEDs make it look yellow, but when in natural light it is more of an orange tone.  Anyway, initially the OSMO did start to color the wood and it has age darkened over the years.  From looking at your pictures, of the bare sycamore, it looks similar to my chunk of elm when it was freshly sanded.

Good luck with your project and I think some brand of hard wax oil will be the way to go.  Rubio two-part HWO is another choice.

 

[rvieceli]

Richard I love Osmo Polyx I use on every lamp I make. It’s easy and a great finish I use clear satin.

Having said that, I would not use it on a table that might see the occasional spill or water ring from a glass. It’s a great finish but in my experience it does not like water sitting on it.

Osmo has a newer finish called Osmo 2K which is a two part finish with an added hardener that holds up better. I understand that it is as easy to apply but the hardener gives you a finite pot life.

Another option would be Rubio monocoat a similar 2 part finish. But I find it too dead flat, I like a bit of sheen.

Or get someone to spray it with a catalyzed lacquer.

Ron

 

[rmwarren]

I'd used either Osmo or Surfix on our countertops in the utility area and it didn't hold up, stripped that off & IIRC we refinished with General Finishes and it's been bulletproof but plastic appearing.

Along the line of using what I have on hand, there is a full quart of Deft satin lacquer. Just tested it on an offcut and the appearance is good. I spent the past couple evenings getting it dead flat down to 120, I'm calling it done enough. I expect it to get dinged & cut up as it's going to be used for leather work and misc. indoor projects in addition to a place to roll out plans and spread out stuff for my day job.

Also, Osmo is now $60 bucks a quart. Can't get myself to pull the trigger given all the cans of finish I have sitting around.

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RMW

 

[rmwarren]

Dr. Frankenstein's MFT...

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I forgot how much I enjoy using lacquer. Sanded to 120, water pop then 150 RO followed by hand sanding and a coat of lacquer sanding sealer.

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Boggles me that sycamore isn't more commonly used, there is fire in some of the grain, like around knots.

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I'll probably give it 4-5 coats of satin lacquer and call it done, then on to some welded steel for the frame.

RMW

 

[Crazyraceguy]

That looks great Richard. I have often wondered the same thing. Is there some scarcity or something? Is it difficult to dry?
Some folks don't like it for firewood, but that isn't relevant to us. It grows to decent size, unlike Mesquite, so big pieces are possible.
It looks great and isn't hard to work with, so why?

 

[rmwarren]

CRG it's a common tree in PA and Jersey, you see them planted along the roads dating back to colonial times, in older towns and boroughs. I think we get a fair amount milled due to wind damage.

There's a enormous tree in Chadds Ford near Washington's HQ that's around 300 years old.

There does seem to be a lot of splitting and internal tension, so perhaps it's an issue when drying. You are right, it's also a nice wood to work. Do wish we had mesquite too.

Well keep it as our little secret...

RMW

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Mesquite is not so hard to get, you just can't get big pieces. It grows much more like a bush, low and scraggly, so no real trunk, like our common northern hardwoods.
Osage Orange kind of fits that description too. It gets much bigger, but the main branches start very low, so the trunk is short (in comparison to total height) It's somewhat of a ditch weed around here. You don't see it available as "lumber" though, and when you do it's seen as an exotic.

I mentioned drying, because so many fruit trees are notoriously hard to dry. 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.

 

[rmwarren]

Calling it done enough after 5 coats, sanded to 400 and rubbed out with pumice and rottenstone (because I had them), the final results:

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I don't do enough finishing to develop much skill, so each time it's a new learning experience. Started by brushing on a coat of lacquer sealer followed by 2 coats of brushing lacquer and then sanding with 320. That left some obvious brush marks, so I switched over to the Critter for 2 more coats, thinned 10% and flooded it pretty good.

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Running the Critter @40# from a 2HP compressor I'm amazed by the results. The spray pattern is only ~2" wide. Each coat caused the compressor to cycle perhaps 5-6 times in the 5 minutes it took to lay it down.

Even after curing for a week the "sand in 1 hour" lacquer gummed up paper in 60 seconds. Does lacquer start going bad after a couple years, or does it just need to cure longer?

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In any case, given it's meant to be a work table, once again I'm overdoing things. Just too hard to stop short once it started turning out so nicely.

Now to get it up the stairs...

RMW

 

[rvieceli]

That look very nice Richard. Good job.

Process is like most stuff, by the time you get done you’ve got it figured out but when you need to do it again you forget everything you learned.  [eek]

Ron