Dining room table finish, knot filler???

[Pete McMahon]

[

There's nothing wrong with coffee grounds or wooddust mixed in with epoxy or ca.

Where did I say there was anything wrong with it? It was one I wasn't aware of.
There's nothing wrong with, depending on color, chalk, extracts of logwood or brazilwood, cochineal,carbon, wood ash, iron oxides, colocothar,gallnut or dragons blood either.

[Prashun Patel]

Where did I say there was anything wrong with it? It was one I wasn't aware of.

Sorry, Pete . I wasn't saying you said it was a bad idea; I was just posting in response to the general surprise at its use here. No offense intended.

[Pete McMahon]

Sorry, Pete . I wasn't saying you said it was a bad idea; I was just posting in response to the general surprise at its use here. No offense intended.

Prashun,
Absolutely no offense taken. I just thought I'd give you a few that may get your wheels turning. As much as we know it just shows you there's always more to learn.
Now, I wonder if they meant espresso grind or simple drip grind? Columbian or French roast?

[Lyle W. Kerr]

Jim is a wood turner and coffee grounds mixed with CA glue is a great trick to fill dark voids in burl. Personally, I question why you want to fill the knots. They are natural to the wood and will add character to the finished top. My choice would be spray lacquer but you may not be equipped to apply it. I will recommend you pick a finish with good tolerance to alcohol (that leaves out shellac), good water resistance and something that will get hard. Pure oil finishes are easy to apply, easy to renew but take forever to dry and harden. Waterlox original has an oil base (tung oil) but also has a hardener. It is easy to apply and can be re-coated without stripping. It will give you a soft look with a durable finish. Try it on some scrap. Meanwhile, your biggest problem will be moving that monster without killing yourself. Happy Turkey day.
fmr

That's are really good idea on not filling them. I spent some time in the barn tonight to finish the hand chiseled mortises in the legs and was trying to think of what makes the most sense for the table finish. I have been reading a book Understanding Wood Finishing by Bob Flexner and I like the idea of what I am seeing with shellac, but this will be our dining room table, hot plates and alcohol will be an issue. Again the idea with the table is to not look perfect and new, the way things are coming together there will be no issue there.

I do not have the area to spray in and do prefer to do finishes by hand. There was a section on the Waterlox in the book, so I am going to read up on it. I am going to not fill the knots, that is going to look awesome!

Weight, oh there is some serious weight in just the top alone.

[Jim Becker]

Lyle, Waterlox wiped on would be a wonderful finish for this project...it's a tough finish, looks good and...contains none of the evil polyurethane resins that are best reserved for floors.

[Chris Padilla]

If you go for a colored epoxy fill, be sure to experiment first to see the color you'll end up with. Believe it or not, maple wood dust/flour turn a very chocolate brown when mixed with clear epoxy. Try it! Pine flour give a much lighter brown.

Either way, I'd use WOOD in my epoxy so that when you sand...you might actually expose a bit of the wood within the epoxy and that seems like a good thing to me.

Warm the epoxy in a bath of warm water and it'll flow a bit better for you...you can also warm the knot where the epoxy will go (hairdryer, incandescent bulb, etc.) All this is to aid getting the epoxy in deep and to soak.

As always EXPERIMENT ahead of time so you see how everything will react.

Looks like a great table...lottsa character.

[Lyle W. Kerr]

Not sure if anyone will be back to see these, but I have found some time to get some knot pictures and updated progress.

[Lyle W. Kerr]

Additional pics on the base

[George Armstrong]

Private Message Sent.

[Mark Duksta]

Lyle,

Here are a few pics of some boards that have been epoxied.

The problem you might have is getting the epoxy leveled out. Also look out for bubbles. I generally use epoxy before the wood has been surfaced.

Mark

[Gordon Eyre]

I have been pretty set in my ways as it relates to finish application. I use what works for me and what I have found easiest to apply by wiping on. I was pretty happy with that until I joined this forum and joined in some discussions about the vagaries of Polyurethane. I could actually get a good finish by using gloss poly, wiped on, sanded lightly between coats and then with 0000 steel wool I lightly burnished the final coat and then applied some minwax furniture polish. It did not look like plastic, on the contrary my projects had a nice warm glow about them and people complimented my on my finish.

OK, I listened to the input and decided to go to shellac as a wash or sealer coat, light sanding, one more coat of shellac and then a good varnish such as Pratt and Lambert #38. When I finished with the shellac I set out to find the P&L #38 or a good Valspar varnish. I spent and entire afternoon and either called or visited most stores in my hometown (St. George, Utah - population around 125,000). I could not find one can of varnish anyplace. Everyone sold Polyurethane or Urethane. I gave up in frustration and finished my project with MinWax Polyurethane as I always have.

Here is a project I did just a month or so ago. It was finished with poly:




To Scott Holmes who was nice enough to Email me and give me some great information about various types of varnish, I tried, I really did. Perhaps it was not meant to be. Next time I am in Salt Lake or Las Vegas I will try to find a good varnish.

[Pat Barry]

If its a dining room table top then it would be a huge mistake to not fill in the cracks and knothole IMO. The surface will just become polluted with food scraps and such. There will be spilled liquids (such as coffee and colored drinks) and they will stain the wood for you if its not sealed. If you want water rings to show thru then by all means go with shellac. If you want something to look good and be functional then wipe on poly is a great choice.

[Lyle W. Kerr]

It has been a while, but nice bench. I like the very tight joints you have. A little too precise for me at this point. Great work.

[Lyle W. Kerr]

Not sure what happened to the pictures I posted before but the table has been finished.

[Lyle W. Kerr]

I am extremely pleased with the results. Thank you to all for the help.

The Waterlox brand WILL be a staple in my work for now on. As for the knots in the table not filled it makes the table exactly what I wanted, not perfect sterilized store bought product.

Now I am almost finished with the door I am making for my house. I wanted to match what was here from 1869. Full mortise and tenon door. It is together and it was a serious learning experience for a beginner like my self.

Seriously, 5-4.75" long tenons per stile and they all need to match perfectly and square with the mortises? It really makes you think of the most basic things from the past we see and they made them by hand! No machines!