Completed hall table!

[Tom Pritchard]

Tonight I carried the hall table that I've been working on up from the shop and into the hall where it will reside. I have posted several questions on how best to finish the table, and I ended up taking Jim Becker's advice to not use the "evil poly", and finished the table with 2 coats of BLO, and then 2 coats of a wipe on tung oil varnish instead. I liked the look of the finish after 2 coats so I stopped there and declared the table officially done! The top is cherry, the aprons are figured maple (found in the rack at Lowe's with the regular maple-same price), and the legs are 50+ year old maple from bumper boards that were being scrapped out at Kodak! My wife LOVES the table, and told me how much she liked the finish as well as the design! She told me that I should go out and buy all the tools that I ever wanted so that I could make a set of end tables and a coffee table for the living room! (OK, OK, I made up the part about buying all the tools I ever wanted for dramatic emphasis ). I made about 374 mistakes on the table, covered up about 237, repaired about 83, and will learn to live with the other 54!!! I'm starting my next project now which will be a bookcase for my oldest son, who is graduating from Le Moyne College on 5/22/05 as an English Teacher (High School)!!

My thanks to everyone for their advice and support!

[lou sansone]

congratulations on the finished piece. It looks great from my computer screen. I think that you are on to something with the happy wife.

lou

[John Miliunas]

Well done, Tom! I just love Cherry and the combination with Maple is always a good selection. (I know...That's what LOML's sewing station ended up being! ). Anyhow, that curly really sets it off beautifully. BTW, how did you do the tapers on the legs? They came out really nice! Good job, Tom!

[Tom Pritchard]

Well done, Tom! I just love Cherry and the combination with Maple is always a good selection. (I know...That's what LOML's sewing station ended up being! ). Anyhow, that curly really sets it off beautifully. BTW, how did you do the tapers on the legs? They came out really nice! Good job, Tom!

Thanks John! Let's see, you asked about the tapers, well, after I completely botched them on my bandsaw, and then botched them again with a cheap aluminum taper jig on my tablesaw, I made my own taper jig out of maple and recut them on my tablesaw! I learned so much about making tapers with this project. They are really hard to do, and I think I'm going to make up a sled to cut them in the future. Even with my new taper jig, cutting those tapers is a scary proposition! Woodhaven carries a nice one too....

Woodhaven Taper Sled

[Tom Pritchard]

congratulations on the finished piece. It looks great from my computer screen. I think that you are on to something with the happy wife.

lou

Thanks Lou! Yes, the happy wife syndrome (HWS for short) is very important in the pursuit of new tools, time in the shop, and the endless search for more wood! She is very supportive, and I am very lucky!

[Corey Hallagan]

Tom, that is a beauty! Awsome work and the finish is primo. I don't even see one mistake! It looks like my wife decorated the table, the doiley is my wifes signature

Corey

[Tom Pritchard]

Tom, that is a beauty! Awsome work and the finish is primo. I don't even see one mistake! It looks like my wife decorated the table, the doiley is my wifes signature

Corey

Thanks for the kind words Corey, how have you been?

My wife loves the doileys, but my Mom makes them for her! My Mom is 83 and the arthritis is making it hard for her to keep making them. I wish my wife could learn how to carry on the tradition.

[Corey Hallagan]

Hey Tom, been busy travelling for work. It's the "Audit" season for us. Anyway, plan on staying out of the airports for a month or so. Got a week off and I will be building a new set of shop cabinets, redoing a simple workbench into a rolling work/supply table and lastly, assembling and setting up my delta contractors saw and all the cool new tools I have been stock piling. My living room remodel will have a computer desk and cabinets built in and a also a little dinette nook in one corner. Time to put them to use!
Again, the table is a beauty, you should be proud, now go out there and buy that new tool you lied about
Corey

[Mark Stutz]

Tom,
Very nice job on the table. I'm sure the end tables and coffee table will look great with that! Don't forget the matching bookcases!

And about those tapers...they can be done on the jointer! I've made lots of tapered boards without really even trying! Seriuosly, I have seen it demonstrated but have never tried it.

Mark

[Martin Shupe]

Tom,

Very nice table, I like the interplay of the various woods.

Can you name the brand of finish that you put on top of the BLO?

Did you rub it out? Or does it just naturally have that medium sheen?

I really like your table.

[Warren White]

Tom,
Your post and pictures are just what I am looking for. I am in the final stages of a cherry and curly maple project and I REALLY like your finish. It shows the difference without shouting at you (if you understand what I mean).

I am completely unexperienced at BLO, so I would appreciate all of the details you would care to share. What surface preparation, what grit did you sand to; what brand of BLO, and how was it applied; any tricks when you applied it; what brand of wipe on tung oil varnish, and any suggestions there as well.

As you can see, I am very green in the finishing department. I was going to just put some Deft laquer on the project (it is a blanket chest) since I put that finish on a mirror I made out of the curly maple and it really did a great job emphasizing the grain.

Thanks again. The table is excellent! Congratulations (and thanks to Jim for sharing his finish with you).

Warren

[Tom Pritchard]

Tom,
Your post and pictures are just what I am looking for. I am in the final stages of a cherry and curly maple project and I REALLY like your finish. It shows the difference without shouting at you (if you understand what I mean).

I am completely unexperienced at BLO, so I would appreciate all of the details you would care to share. What surface preparation, what grit did you sand to; what brand of BLO, and how was it applied; any tricks when you applied it; what brand of wipe on tung oil varnish, and any suggestions there as well.

As you can see, I am very green in the finishing department. I was going to just put some Deft laquer on the project (it is a blanket chest) since I put that finish on a mirror I made out of the curly maple and it really did a great job emphasizing the grain.

Thanks again. The table is excellent! Congratulations (and thanks to Jim for sharing his finish with you).

Warren

Warren, thanks so much for the great reply! Yes, I do know what you mean about the different woods complimenting each other. I was worried how the final look would blend when I started the table, but it all seemed to work after the finish was applied. As far as the details, here's what I did:
1) sanded all pieces using 150 grit first, then 220 grit, then finished with #000 grit steel wool. I used a PC model 330 sander.
2) applied a coat of boiled linseed oil made by Klean-Strip (bought it at Lowe's-only one they carry) with a rag from an old bedsheet. Waited 3 days for it to dry and then applied a second coat the same way. I let the BLO sit on the wood for about 15 minutes each time before wiping the excess off with a clean terry cloth rag. *Important*-BLO soaked rags will cause spontaneous combustion if not layed out neatly to dry! If you wad up the rags and leave them, they will heat up and catch fire. I always lay my rags flat until they are dry (2-3 days min.). Thanks to Jim Becker for teaching me this.
3) let the BLO dry for 7 days until I could no longer smell it on the wood.
4) applied the first coat of Formby's Traditional Tung Oil Finish-High Gloss (bought at Lowe's) using a Formby's finishing pad (Lowe's again). This is a varnish based finish that is easy to apply.
5) after 24 hours, I went over the table with the #000 steel wool lightly, wiped the table clean, and then applied the second coat of the tung oil finish using the pad. When that dried, I decided it was just the right finish for me, and declared the table done!

Don't let the "High Gloss" rating on the finish scare you. You need about 4 coats of it to get something really glossy. The first 2 end up looking almost like a satin-natural finish.

Hope this was enough information for you without totally putting you to sleep Warren!! Good luck, and I can't wait to see your table!

[Karl Laustrup]

Tom, that table is a beauty. Not going to show it to LOML just yet. Already have enough projects in queue to keep me going for a while.

To my eye the finish is just right and the wood selection is excellent.

[scott spencer]

Nice job Tom! It looks terrific sitting in the hall and ought to make quite a statement when people come to the house.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Looks great Tom! I like the CM aprons!