Elm Vanity Top

[Rob-GB]

I am back to working on that quirky farmhouse I made three flights of stairs for and I got supplied with these bits of Elm.

I had to Festool them into submission. ;D
I made a template from plywood using the tick stick method we discussed here with more useful info added on page two.

Then I had to straight edge the boards without the use of a jointer so the TS55 and rails were used, the cuts were so good I did not need to do anything else before bringing the Domino's into play. Glued them up with Titebond2 and carried on installing some window boards.
Next morning I drew around the template and tweaked the lines a touch before giving it the good news with my Trion and the belt sanding to the line on what will be the front curved edge. The faces got Rotex'd with 80grit in rotary mode then random mode to flatten out the boards before filling any shakes in the knots. Front edge was rounded over and hand sanded to 120 grit.
Before oiling the underside it was sanded to 120 to clean up any filler.

The oil takes a few days to dry in the cold and draughty farmhouse so I finished sanded the top and front edge to 240 grit this morning and oiled it.

Cheers for looking in,
Rob.

 

[woodguy7]

Don't you just love that wood.  I have 2 boards of spalted sycamore i have been saving for just the right project.  Still not found it  ;D
Is the curved wall getting plastered ?  If so, any concern with moisture ?

 

[greg mann]

Beautiful grain, and nice execution.

 

[Rob-GB]

Don't you just love that wood.  I have 2 boards of spalted sycamore i have been saving for just the right project.  Still not found it  ;D
Is the curved wall getting plastered ?  If so, any concern with moisture ?

yep curved wall will be lime and goats hair plastered, I am hoping that when we do that the top will have had at least another full coat and that will be okay...might have to experiment a bit on an offcut first though. Brickwork chimney is to be left as is hence the effort to get the wood as close to it as possible. First time I have ever used Elm and happily surprised at its ease of work and beauty.
The plan is to insert a round basin into it which is why I cut the boards so the more interesting grain/knots etc are where they will remain seen. My next mission is to make the cupboard front and door from a bunch of short ends, leaning towards a coopered kind of idea  [eek]

Greg, yeah the figure in the wood is very nice and the oil makes it pop, thanks for your comment too.

Rob.

 

[Rob Z]

Hi there Rob

I love the look of that elm!  Nice fit in the opening, too.

Speaking of tick-sticking.....I read an article about this method in Fine Homebuilding (or maybe it was Fine Wood Working) about 15-20 years ago.  I've used the method many times to make pieces of stone fit in weird openings, or countertops or whatever. It usually works at least as well as those $10,000 computers with the articulating arms that the countertop fabricators use.  [big grin]

 

[Rob-GB]

Hi back at yer Rob,
I suspect the method pre-dates wooden boat building (which was the story I was told, when I learnt it) but unless someone can find a record of it we will have to keep pondering the minutiae  ;D
Just worked out I have just enough short ends of elm to make a coopered'ish vanity front and door if I make no mistakes....the pressure is on  [big grin]

Rob.

 

[tiralie]

Very nice.
The curved wall will set it off well.
Always look forward to seeing your work Rob.
Tim

 

[Rob-GB]

Very nice.
The curved wall will set it off well.
Always look forward to seeing your work Rob.
Tim

You are very kind Tim, not had much worth posting for a while due to being poorly and the bitty jobs I had to make do with when I could work, but the phone call from this client has boosted moral and got me scratching my head again  [big grin]
Rob

 

[mike_aa]

Thanks for sharing.  What is amazing to me in this case is to see the transformation from the pile of boards into a very creative and beautifully done top!

Please show us more as you progress.

Mike A. 

 

[woodguy7]

Meant to ask Rob, did you use a trammel with the router for the curve ?

 

[Rob-GB]

Cut with the Trion cleaned up with the Elu 3" belt sander to the line.

Rob.