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Thread: Re-purposed Wood Dinning Table

  1. #1
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    Re-purposed Wood Dinning Table

    New dinner table for my Sister. Delivered for a 4th of July Family get-together. The wood materials are 100% re-purposed and 90-95% re-claimed. The reclaimed wood is mostly Oak with a little bit of Pine(the table feet). The Oak and Pine are reclaimed from the renovation of a covered bridge located in Otway, Ohio. For details of the construction check out J&J WoodSmithing on Facebook. The back banding around the top and the legs is 1-1/2" steel angle iron around the table and 1-1/2" steel banding on the legs.

    IMG_1179.jpg IMG_1162.jpg OtwayBridgeLumbr (1).jpg
    Last edited by James Combs; 08-19-2015 at 2:06 PM.
    ____________________________________________
    JD at J&J WoodSmithing
    Owingsville, Kentucky

    "The best things in life are not things."

  2. #2
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    The table looks great & so does your shop....What's the fan in the ceiling for.....Does it exit out side?

  3. #3
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    That sure looks nice, massive, too. I'd be interested to hear how it fairs over the next year. It looks like you neglected to consider seasonal wood movement with the breadboard ends and angle iron banding; same with the cleats underneath. I hope I'm wrong and you did something clever to let the center panel in the top expand and contract.

    John

  4. #4
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    Wood Stability

    Quote Originally Posted by Jay Jolliffe View Post
    The table looks great & so does your shop....What's the fan in the ceiling for.....Does it exit out side?
    Thanks Jay, appreciate the comment. As to the fan, It is a 20 inch box fan I had previously used as then blower in a downdraft paint/sanding booth. I replaced it with a furnace squirrel cage blower so stuck it up at the ceiling blowing down with a 20 inch filter on top of it as a shop filtration system. It is plugged into the light circuits so comes on with the lights. Seems to work good, at least the filter gets dirty pretty fast.
    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    That sure looks nice, massive, too. I'd be interested to hear how it fairs over the next year. It looks like you neglected to consider seasonal wood movement with the breadboard ends and angle iron banding; same with the cleats underneath. I hope I'm wrong and you did something clever to let the center panel in the top expand and contract.
    John
    John, thanks for the heads up. You are not the first to mention that potential problem. Hope all the glue and screws I used in it keeps it stable but as I posted in another forum about it, "nope, didn't even consider shrinkage/expansion for this old lumber. Sure hope that wasn't a mistake, my Sister will kill me."
    The wood has been in the old bridge at least 50 years, I never even though about its stability.
    ____________________________________________
    JD at J&J WoodSmithing
    Owingsville, Kentucky

    "The best things in life are not things."

  5. #5
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    Your wife should take out more insurance on you for when your Sister comes looking for you! Just kidding. Old wood often seems more stable than younger stuff, but all wood moves, and it will move however much it wants regardless of screws and/or glue. She can minimize how much it moves be keeping the humidity as constant as possible. If, like you, she lives in Kentucky and her house has no AC, well, tell your wife to get a really large policy.

    John

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Your wife should take out more insurance on you for when your Sister comes looking for you! Just kidding. Old wood often seems more stable than younger stuff, but all wood moves, and it will move however much it wants regardless of screws and/or glue. She can minimize how much it moves be keeping the humidity as constant as possible. If, like you, she lives in Kentucky and her house has no AC, well, tell your wife to get a really large policy.

    John
    Sis lives a half dozen miles or so north of Portsmouth, Ohio, about 80miles from me. If anything happens I am hopping the distance will give me a chance to hide or take a long vacation to unknown parts.

    Thanks for the comments.
    ____________________________________________
    JD at J&J WoodSmithing
    Owingsville, Kentucky

    "The best things in life are not things."

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Your wife should take out more insurance on you for when your Sister comes looking for you! Just kidding. Old wood often seems more stable than younger stuff, but all wood moves, and it will move however much it wants regardless of screws and/or glue. She can minimize how much it moves be keeping the humidity as constant as possible. If, like you, she lives in Kentucky and her house has no AC, well, tell your wife to get a really large policy.

    John
    BTW, John(or anyone else) just for future reference, looking at how I have the table constructed what should/could I have done to mediate swelling/shrinking of the wood? I would appreciate any and all thoughts on the subject.
    ____________________________________________
    JD at J&J WoodSmithing
    Owingsville, Kentucky

    "The best things in life are not things."

  8. #8
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    The iron banding will constrict the wood from expanding so it may buckle, causing the center to raise. It may not though. If it was built in a high humidity environment, it may, instead, shrink when the humidity falls and the shrinkage will be hidden by the banding. In the future, it would be a good idea to leave room for expansion.

    Regarding the support brace underneath, when it's oriented across the grain, it's normally firmly attached on one spot (usually in the center) and fasteners that can slide (such as in oblong holes) to allow for movement. You can still do that, next time you see the table, so it doesn't split when it contracts.
    Last edited by Yonak Hawkins; 08-27-2015 at 11:00 PM.

  9. #9
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    Besides what Yonak said, the breadboards ends present a problem for the center panel. Those boards all will want to expand/contract, but the bread board ends don't allow for those in the center panel to do so. Of course, they will, regardless. For long term survival that center panel has to be made to float in the frame, just like a raised panel door. Then it is free to expand/contract without splitting or breaking off the breadboard ends.

    John

    Edit:

    OK, another thought. The floating center panel approach certainly would work, but leaving gaps on the two ends for the required expansion looks ugly and catches crumbs, etc. That's why most tables you see with a center panel like that are made with plywood. You could do the same thing with your lumber by cutting some shop sawn veneer from a couple of boards and make your own veneered plywood center panel. Just make sure to veneer both sides. With that panel you could build your table just like it looks with no danger of it self destructing. You also could screw the under structure to it with no concerns of expansion/contraction.

    John
    Last edited by John TenEyck; 08-28-2015 at 8:53 PM.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    ....For long term survival that center panel has to be made to float in the frame, just like a raised panel door. Then it is free to expand/contract without splitting or breaking off the breadboard ends....
    ^^^^ this ^^^^

    Will last forever, it built this way..............
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yonak Hawkins View Post
    The iron banding will constrict the wood from expanding so it may buckle, causing the center to raise. It may not though. If it was built in a high humidity environment, it may, instead, shrink when the humidity falls and the shrinkage will be hidden by the banding. In the future, it would be a good idea to leave room for expansion.

    Regarding the support brace underneath, when it's oriented across the grain, it's normally firmly attached on one spot (usually in the center) and fasteners that can slide (such as in oblong holes) to allow for movement. You can still do that, next time you see the table, so it doesn't split when it contracts.
    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Besides what Yonak said, the breadboards ends present a problem for the center panel. Those boards all will want to expand/contract, but the bread board ends don't allow for those in the center panel to do so. Of course, they will, regardless. For long term survival that center panel has to be made to float in the frame, just like a raised panel door. Then it is free to expand/contract without splitting or breaking off the breadboard ends.

    John

    Edit:

    OK, another thought. The floating center panel approach certainly would work, but leaving gaps on the two ends for the required expansion looks ugly and catches crumbs, etc. That's why most tables you see with a center panel like that are made with plywood. You could do the same thing with your lumber by cutting some shop sawn veneer from a couple of boards and make your own veneered plywood center panel. Just make sure to veneer both sides. With that panel you could build your table just like it looks with no danger of it self destructing. You also could screw the under structure to it with no concerns of expansion/contraction.

    John
    Quote Originally Posted by Kent A Bathurst View Post
    ^^^^ this ^^^^

    Will last forever, it built this way..............
    Thanks guys, I will try and use all or some of your suggestions if and when I make another large flat surface like the table. I am not really into flat work but how do you tell your sister no when she pulls up in the drive with a truck load of timber and wants a dinning room table.
    ____________________________________________
    JD at J&J WoodSmithing
    Owingsville, Kentucky

    "The best things in life are not things."

  12. #12
    Nice looking table....

    But I really like that shower curtain to make a dust barrier to separate the lathes from everything else... good idea.

  13. #13
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    [QUOTE=James Combs;2460805]...... how do you tell your sister no when she pulls up in the drive with a truck load of timber and wants a dinning room table......../QUOTE]

    You don't.

    The issue is the design, not the purpose. Allow for wood expansion and contraction - you cannot stop it form happening.
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

  14. #14
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    EXCELLENT results!!! Well done!
    Jerry

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