Brown oak coffee table.

[MarkR]

Been a while since I posted a project, mainly from renovating my house(will update that thread this year at some point), anyways here is one I'm doing at present...

I have had this board of oak for some time, always with a mind to making a coffee table when I moved into my house. Anyway here's a few wip pics.

Start with a rough board, and cut to length for the top, legs, and rails.

I did toy with the idea of leaving the wane on but would be left with rough edges, so with my 2yr old running about I thought not.

This board still has plenty of character, with some large splits to deal with.

Better start stiching...

Now to stablise the splits using west's system epoxy resin.

And pour..

I need to stand over this and prick all the air bubbles coming up, and then re-pour the voids left behind.

You have a window of about 20 mins so make sure you have enough to re-fill any voids.

All done..

Onto the base..

Thats about as far as I've got so far, thanks for looking.

 

[woodguy7]

Hey Mark, good to see another project from you.  I did wonder last week where you disappeared to , had a look at your blog & realised you were renovating.  Kitchen looks good by the way.

What type of wood did you use for the keys & did you make up a jig for the router ?

Seen norm on new Yankee workshop doing something similar on some muskeet (excuse the spelling) & he mixed the epoxy with graphite dust to make it jet black.  Turned out lovely.  Interested to see how yours turns out with clear.

How's that new planer working out for ya ?  Do you have to lubricate frequently with super gleit to get wood to go through the thicknesser ?

Cheers, Woodguy.

 

[Rob Z]

Hi Mark.   

That's a nice project.  Seeing the slab of oak with the split in it reminds me that I have a large slab of redwood that my Grandfather had since some time in the 1950's.....it would be perfect for a similar project. 

Once the epoxy has cured, what do you do to remove the excess?  Does it sand and finish smoothly?

Like Alan mentioned, if you used a jig for the keys I would enjoy seeing how you did it.

Oh, BTW, in the first picture....the tool laying across the slab of oak....what is that? 

 

[tiralie]

Mark:
Beautiful slab of wood. The color of Brown oak when finished is amazing.
I have only found Brown oak or European oak (which is even more confusing) in veneer here.
I bet that was a bit of a slog cutting it with that "old" Disston eh? [big grin]
Tim

 

[CDM]

What method did you use to joint the faces - router sled, hand plane, wide-belt sander, something else?

Also, be careful never to store this table in your attic.  If a bolt of lightning strikes through a conveniently left-open window, this table may rise up and wander about until a mob of angry locals shows up with pitchforks and torches.

Seriously, that's a lot of stitching, and the thus-far work looks like it was a lot of fun.

 

[woodguy7]

CDM, I would be surprised if Mark didn't use his new 410mm Hammer planer/thicknesser  [big grin]

 

[Deansocial]

me like very muchy [big grin]

 

[Rob Z]

CDM, I would be surprised if Mark didn't use his new 410mm Hammer planer/thicknesser  [big grin]

Alan

A quickie conversion with the calculator:  16" planer!!  Nice !!

 

[Georg]

cooooool  [tongue]

 

[GhostFist]

Can't wait to see tis finished! That butterfly stitching is gonna look awesome!

 

[MarkR]

Kitchen looks good by the way.

What type of wood did you use for the keys & did you make up a jig for the router ?

How's that new planer working out for ya ?  Do you have to lubricate frequently with super gleit to get wood to go through the thicknesser ?

Cheers, Woodguy.

I used Ebony, and just marked them with a knife, then roughed out with a router, and then chiseled to the knife lines. They are all different which is how I wanted them, so had to be done individually.

The planer is great, and I just use a little candle wax to lube the bed.

Hi Mark.   

 

Once the epoxy has cured, what do you do to remove the excess?  Does it sand and finish smoothly?

Oh, BTW, in the first picture....the tool laying across the slab of oak....what is that? 

Yes it sands off fine, it is only glorified car filler after all. The tool laying across the timber is called a saw....sorry couldn't resist.

 

[MarkR]

Need to sand off all the excess resin now, so started with a 40g brilliant.

Then worked up to 240g Granat.

Then on to polishing, hard wax oil...of course.

The resin looks a bit cloudy here, but is quite clear in the flesh.

Close up of the hand-cut butterfly key.

Side view.

Finished.

I think I will get some studio shots done at some point then get these pic's up on my website. Thanks for looking.

 

[mouppe]

Well done, sir! The proportions are excellent.

P.S. Just noticed that this is my leet post. Alan, took me a while in the home straight but I got there in the end!

 

[duburban]

whats the trick to hand cutting such beautiful butterflies?

 

[MarkR]

Thanks guys, my wife likes it too  .

As for cutting the keys, just a steady hand at the bandsaw.

 

[honeydoman]

Very nice coffee table. And rustic looking I love it !

 

[nclemmons]

Mark - that looks fantastic.

Is that for you or a client? 

neil

 

[Kristian]

Beautiful work on closing up those splits, Mark!

- Kristian

 

[Pete Pedisich]

Wonderful work, Mark. Thanks for taking the time to share the details.
You truly did justice to the fantastic slab of Oak!

 

[ictusbrucks]

Gorgeous!
I do have a question though. You said you used the bandsaw to cut out the holes for the butterfly keys... does that mean you actually fully had the board in two pieces at one point? Confused me since it looks like there's still a few areas that connect across the split.

Nice work.

*edit*, doh, you obviously meant you used the bandsaw for the butterflies themselves, not the holes in the oak   so for the holes they slot into, just hand chisel and patience then?