Ash TV Table

[Chems]

Recently finished this off, its Festool at heart with domino been the tool of choice. Un-fortunately I don't have any more festool, but I will be buying more, this was my first and I got it in America cheap whilst on holiday at Christmas. I'm early on in my woodworking so all my tools are cheap first tools but as I replace them they will all be replaced by Festools. Next is a vac and the TS55 or TS75.

Lot of pictures enjoy!

The american ash I picked up was lovely and straight from the start so I just thicknessed it and only needed to cut two boards down to get them through.

?98 for the lot.

Started off with making the end panels.

Changed the cutter in the domino, its so easy it sort of screws onto a screw not like a router at all.

With the larger cutter in it actually seems to be more smooth almost. I guess like using an 8mm shank over a 1/4 inch.

The glued up 4 parts to do make the panels for the frames, wished I had a bandsaw at this point, could have book matched them as the stock was very thick.

I want it finished by next Wednesday, not including the weekend as I probably won't touch it over then. I do so wish I had a drum sander thou I left it this evening having done all the rebates and the 2 end panels in clamps, the nice thing about the panels been made from 2 pieces is it shouldn't need any cleaning up I'm hoping.

Target for tomorrow, completed frame, bottom shelf and uprights, ready then for top, door and drawer next week.

 

[Chems]

Many hours of sanding scraping and planing:

And then some more... . ... .

This one had the start of rippling so I choose it for the shelf, very nice almost like a deep mirror sort of thing, don't know if the photo picks it up.

Got the top ready to be jointed and go on, and a door. Don't have enough material for the drawer or T+G back so will have to get some more!

 

[Chems]

Still left to do, fit the door, make the drawer, T+G the back and do the skirts. Then the accents. So not much!

Got the door panel made, tried to book match it but didn't really work. So can just assemble that tomorrow.

 

[Chems]

Thanks Matty, you are my inspiration

Doesn't look like I've done a lot. But I have.

First off MASSIVE thanks to Riley who gifted me a pair of 270mm blum blue motion runners - the brilliance of this forum is amazing!

I also got gift the sheet of glass by my local supplier as they let me down on my last order.

I used the shelf domino jig I saw, I didn't do it before I assembled as I was worried it wouldn't all line up. Nearly did me in as I could barely fit the domino into the gap, 1mm less and it wouldn't have gone in.

I got all the T+G ran through and ripped to size and also got the router set up so ready to just run through.

Also got the shelf made. I picked up the extra materials, but still might not have enough!

I tried to pick up some less white ash for the back panels, I wanted the contrast. The glass is rebated in, I wouldn't have done this if I hadn't changed my mind on a solid panel last night and the groove was done. The glass will be beaded in by the walnut the same as the wood panel was going to be.

Thanks for reading. Hoping to have the back on and made a start/finish on the drawer and will be close to finishing for tuesday the finish day.

 

[Chems]

Stack to be T+G:

Got round to putting in the drop box below the router left attachment is router, right is table saw.

I did all of the grooves and tongues using my biscuit bit, much better than a straight bit for this sort of thing. Heres a rare action shot!

I need more wood. . . . .  which is excellent as the guy at goodtimber said I could put a few bits through his drum sander. So I'm going to take the top and one of the shelves with me on tuesday. I only need enough to make the drawer body, I have the base and the front just not the slip!

 

[Chems]

Back on it today. I'm very nearly done, just the skirt to do with some fun arched routing to do. Hopefully the walnut veneer will arrive tomorrow.

I totally cheated and had the top and a few other bits put through the wide belt sander at good timber, I gotta get one of those.

Thanks,

Made lots of progress today, had my first go at veneering. Got to tweak the drawer fit tomorrow and fit the top, do the skirts and get to finishing it.

 

[Chems]

The Blum runners were fun to fit but I think once you've done a pair its not so bad. Next pair will be quicker!

Almost there, didn't get long on it today. Just the top to fit and and its done. Plus a few plug holes.

 

[Chems]

All done, in its new home. I was very happy with this, my favourite piece to date, enjoyed making it and I can't understand why Ash is the cheapest hardwood, its lovely.

Thanks for reading, your advice and support as always

 

[nickao]

This is proof it is more the woodworker and less the fancy tools that make nice projects.

Nice!

 

[DavidCBaker]

Nice! As much work as you put into that, I'd say you'll never be able to buy a TV that doesn't fit that beautiful piece of furniture!  [tongue]

 

[AlexThePalex]

Very nicely done, Chems!  [thumbs up]

..... and I can't understand why Ash is the cheapest hardwood, its lovely.

The price of wood is not determined by how it looks but more by factors like availability, demand and ease of production.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Nice, Ash is one of my favorites.

I bet that thing weighs a ton!!

Ash is cheap here but, that is because of the borror beetle thing, no one wants Ash, most goes to firewood around here.

 

[Jay Knoll]

Great job, thanks for the pics!

Jay

 

[John Stevens]

I can't understand why Ash is the cheapest hardwood, its lovely.

I'm with you.  I think ash is totally underrated as a furniture wood.  Nice wood, nice design, nice execution.  Hope it gives you many years of enjoyment.

Regards,

John

 

[honeydoman]

yep nice job!  ash is a beautiful wood.

 

[jvsteenb]

I can't understand why Ash is the cheapest hardwood, its lovely.

Lovely it is - and so is you piece!
Ash is very economical to grow and harvest, since the sapwood is used. Most ash species (Fraxinus spec.) won't even begin to make heartwood under the age of 60.
So if you harvest an ash tree younger then that, you won't have any spillage (other then the bark) and a nice, predictable wood.
In contrary to much other woods ( especially softwoods ) the quality of ash increases with fast growth - at least the mechanical quality does.
The strongest ash is harvested from trees that are grown fast and as steadily as possible. 
On top of that, it's easy to prune, so straight growth is easily achieveable.
I think it may also be the most easily bendable wood, and the mechanical qualities of a bended ash laminate are simply stunning.

If ash was in any way resistant to rot and decay and/or very stable , it would be a very important wood.
Sadly enough, the resistance to decay is rather minimal, and the stability is such, that even laminates are unsuited to large constructions where the movement would be an issue.
Too bad - if only......

Can you tell that I like ash ?

Regards,

Job

 

[Chems]

Thanks all, very kind. Glad you like it.

Thanks for the ash info, this is American ash not european, I preferred the straighter less knotty grain. It also comes fairly straight from the saw mill to save shipping container space. I hope after you said it moves alot it doesn't!

 

[jvsteenb]

this is American ash not european

I guessed as much. From the looks of it ( although it's always hard to determine by picture alone ) I'd say it's White Ash, Fraxinus americana. All of the above applies. It's usually a bit straighter grained and a tiny bit stronger then European ash (  Fraxinus excelsior ) though somewhat less elastic.

I hope after you said it moves alot it doesn't!

It probably will. That needn't be a big issue, if you have somehow factored in the movement in the design. In the panels, there should be some room for the panel to move, and since the rails are long grain, either the front or the back of the top should be mounted with a little expansion/contraction room front-to-back. To make the top more dimensionally stable, its best to glue pieces in a way that the arc of the growth rings are in an opposite direction on each adjoining board. I noticed that in your top you have the front two pieces oriented the same way. Flat sawn wood will tend to counteract the arc of the growth rings, so the backmost  piece will tend to cup a bit with movement, the two front pieces will tend to bow up, and that movement can be exxagerated when boards are joined in the same orientation. From a technical point of view, it's better to join narrower pieces, but that's not as easthetically pleasing.

If the relative humidity is stable in the room the piece is in, there probably won't be a problem. You may want to be careful with high-power equipment, as the dissipated heat tends to cause rather large RH swings.

Designing for wood movement isn't rocket science. As long as you keep in mind that most woods will swell/shrink about 10 times as much in the cross-grain direction versus the direction along the grain, and that flat sawn wood tends to "counteract" or straighten the growth rings, you've got the bases covered. That, a slight grasp on the concept of the wood moisture equilibrium curve and a basic understanding of mechanics is all you need.

As much as I like Kreg's beadboard designs, they're somehow fakeing it, because beads originated from the desire to camouflage the expanding and contracting grooves in loose tongue and groove paneled backboards. These were necessary to account for the wood movement. Your design has a paneled backing, I hope you didn't glue it up?

Regards,

Job

 

[Chems]

With the top I used a tight domino in the middle and two loose dominos on the outside and only glued the middle one. So It should be able to expand. The only area I didn't do anything for expansion is the base. Its been Kiln and air dried so it shouldn't move, I've never had any adverse movement before.

 

[jvsteenb]

Its been Kiln and air dried so it shouldn't move

I'm afraid that's a wide-spread misconception. Wood WILL move with moisture swings. Some woods hardly move, or have less difference between axial / radial / tangential movement. These woods are considered stable.
Yellow poplar ( Liriodendron tulipifera ) and African padauk ( Pterocarpus soyauxii ) are examples of stable woods.
Some woods move heavily and/or unprdedictably or with a large difference between axial / radial / and tangential movement. You guessed it, these woods are considered unstable.
Examples are Black locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia ) and ash species ( Fraxinus spec. )
Probably the worst I've encoutered is Ramin ( Gonystylus bancanus ) - it's used over here for small profiles and such. Very easy to work, but extremely unstable and not rotresistant at all. Pretty bland-looking as well, about as interesting as yesterday's paper. Splits ridiculously easy.

If wood is dried properly, this should minimize the tendency to warp, split or crack during the drying process. "Odd" movements due to uneven moisture distribution will be minimized.  It will however have negligable effect on wood movement once it's dried - it yields straighter timber with less cracking and/or other hidden pressure related defects but the wood still moves.

Usually, a bit of movement in the base of a piece is not a big problem. All that can really happen is that the base may restrict the bottom to swell - it'll probaly either break ( a part of ) the glue-joint eventually or tend to bow / cup the bottom somewhat, counteracted by the weight of the piece. The front of the base is in the same orientation as the bottom so no problems there. 

Regards,

Job