12 foot Wenge dining table

[John Miliunas]

John,
The only short coming of my Aggazzani Band saw is the shallow miter slot and like most bandsaws sometimes the table is not big enough....short for cross cutting with no leading table forward of the blade. The table extension adds 8" in front and 24" on the right. Which gives a lot of support when added to the existing table. 2 calmps secure it.....it really only taks a couple of minutes to install and less to remove. There is a built up edge that drops into the gap between the fence rail and the table and another on the side...a clamp secures the droped edge to the cast iron table . My outfeed stand levels the edge to the right

Thanks for your nice coments... I am just using things I learned mostly by doing and once in a while I come up with a new thing that actually works....keep in mind the thousands of things that don't work mever get posted

Simple, yet quite effective, by the looks of it! Thanks for the super idea. I can see one of those in my future.

[Chris Mire]

Mark,

The table is looking great, I absolutely love the design. very clean and very inventive. The top appears to be in two sections with a small gap between. Is there a reason for this other than a design aspect of the piece.

Your attention to detail is top notch. Thanks for sharing your techniques and the great pics with us. keep up the great work.

chris

[Mark Singer]

Mark,

The table is looking great, I absolutely love the design. very clean and very inventive. The top appears to be in two sections with a small gap between. Is there a reason for this other than a design aspect of the piece.

Your attention to detail is top notch. Thanks for sharing your techniques and the great pics with us. keep up the great work.

chris

Chris,
The reveal and actual 2 piece top is for several design reasons. It reduces the lateral wood movement in half. In makes the size and weight more manageable. Each half weighs 180 pounds! Wenge weighs 60 lbs per cubic foot which is 10 lbs per sf of 2" thick material. This way 2 people can carry half and it is easier to build. The other design aspct is the split defines the seating layout....there are 5 people on each side ...each one has approx 29" of 18" wide area ....see my previous table and chair link....the table was similar , only 10 ft long...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ht=wenge+table

[Chris Mire]

WOW!

I had no idea it was so heavy. That makes total sense then. I also like your reason of defining each persons space, very well thought out.

Can't wait to see more pics

Thanks
Chris

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey Mark,
See, we do read your how-to posts, even without pics of Selma.

I read your thread on inserting a mitered dado over laminations with interest and, I have to confess, some skepticism - at least of my own ability to make it work.

Well, I tried it on poplar and it came out pretty darn good. Next step, dining table legs out of 8/4 walnut.

Thanks for your posts, they are very helpful!

[Mark Singer]

Hey Mark,
See, we do read your how-to posts, even without pics of Selma.

I read your thread on inserting a mitered dado over laminations with interest and, I have to confess, some skepticism - at least of my own ability to make it work.

Well, I tried it on poplar and it came out pretty darn good. Next step, dining table legs out of 8/4 walnut.

Thanks for your posts, they are very helpful!

Jesse ,
excellent work on the tablesaw! As you can see the bottom dimension of te dado is most important!

[Joe Blankshain]

Mark,

Just ran accross this thread and all I can say is thanks for some more great instruction/sharing of your wisdom. These threads are why more folks should spend time in the Creek.

[Mark Singer]

Mark,

Just ran accross this thread and all I can say is thanks for some more great instruction/sharing of your wisdom. These threads are why more folks should spend time in the Creek.

Joe,
Thanks! I enjoy posting techniques and little tricks I have learned....things things make woodworking fun and many are very easy.....the best thing for me is the reward of seeing someone use the techniques in making a piece, like Jesse!

[Scott Thornton]

Mark:

Is there any downside to using your trick and putting different woods in the middle? i.e. a cheaper wood?

[Mark Singer]

Mark:

Is there any downside to using your trick and putting different woods in the middle? i.e. a cheaper wood?

That is ok too! You are just veneering the exteriror then with a miter

[Mark Singer]

I have been making some progress. I am using General Finishes on the top for durability...Arm R Seal satin. The base is finished with Daly's Ben Matte and once I wax it , it will matt the sheen a little. I intentionally coopered the top about 1/8" to soften the appearance. A single screw to the frame can remove about half of that. Convex is a much better look then concave and under span tops tend to go concave. It was risky to try to get the 2 halves equal in camber...but it came out good . It is vey subtle and unconventional...but adds character. We always try to get tops flat, I know

The boards were planned by hand since they were too big to run through the jointer. The top hand scraped and sanded to 320...then #0000 steel wool between coats. I limited the Arm R Seal to about 1lin foot of top and then rubbed out with a seperate rag ....it dries fast! I still think Daly's is easier...this is my 3rd piece with Arm R Seal and I am learning to deal with it a little.

[Jim Becker]

That looks great, Mark! I see you may have gone a little darker with this one...am I remembering things clearly?

[Mark Singer]

That looks great, Mark! I see you may have gone a little darker with this one...am I remembering things clearly?

Jim,
The sunlight really lightens Wenge ....there is no stain in what your seeing just clear. A couple of months in the dining room under the skylight and it will change a lot!

[Jim Becker]

Thanks, Mark. I've never worked with this species, so it's properties are not familiar to me.

[Mark Singer]

Here is a pic of the old one....the character and figure is enhanced with ultraviolet

http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.p...8&d=1071772879