Shaker Inspired Dining Table w/pics

[Jason Tuinstra]

Well, it's been a bit since I've been able to post anything here lately. I guess the main reason is because the shop's been pretty silent of late - church life has been very busy. Anyway, I found some time and got this done today.

My neighbor requested a table similar to the one I built for my family which I posted a year or so ago. I made some changes for him per his request. The table top is not expandable like ours and this version has removable legs - why I didn't do that with mine I don't no clue

The table is meant to be more delicate than some of the more beefy dining tables that are out there. It's roughly 57" square and utilizes 4/4 cherry for the top and aprons with 8/4 stock for the legs. It's a bit smaller than I wanted but it's fine for a 6 person table and occasionally 8.

I oiled the piece with BLO and right now it's in the sun getting it's tan before I spray it with lacquer.

All in all, a pretty basic and straight forward piece of furniture. It didn't take long to make and it will finally replace my neighbors old "bachelor" style table he presently has.

Regards,

Jason

PS I should note that the walnut pegs are just for looks - to give it that mortise and tenon feel.

[Jim Becker]

As usual...we are blessed with pictures of your wonderful work! Nice!!!

[Martin Shupe]

Beautiful wood, beautiful table, beautiful execution. I expected nothing less.

Another fine creation by the master Tuinstra graces our humble forum.

Ok, now for the question...

How did you do the removeable legs? It looks like the screw has wood threads on one side and nut threads on the other. Where did you find those?

I imagine holding everything in place while you screwed it together was frustrating.

[Jim Becker]

Martin...they are studs with lag threads on one end and machine threads on the other as you surmise. I think I've even seen them in the 'borg, but I don't know about in that length.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Martin...they are studs with lag threads on one end and machine threads on the other as you surmise. I think I've even seen them in the 'borg, but I don't know about in that length.

Martin, Jim is spot on. I ended up buying them from the Depot. I predrilled the holes and screwed the lag side in. After that I just lined up the bolts with the braces and drilled into them. Just as easy as that. It makes for a nice and tight connection.

[Dennis Peacock]

Very pretty table Jason.!!! Most well done sir. I like the design and the craftsmanship is a perfect as always.

[Jerry Strojny]

Very nice. Great execution. I like the touch of the walnut pegs.

[Ron Robinson]

Jason,

Beautiful lines, beautiful wood. Well executed. Your neighbor is very lucky.

Ron

[John Fry]

Beautiful work Jason,

The top is stunning.

If the "legs are removable" it appears that the aprons are also KD loose components too, is that correct?

I have tanned cherry before, but I never BLO'ed it first. What is your "suntan" progam, how long, how many times.

Awesome work,

[Hans Braul]

Jason, very nice - beautifully executed. Interesting to have a square dining room table. I love the shaker feel.

Thanks for showing it!

Hans

[Jim W. White]

Jason,

I was so psyched just to see your name on the posting side. I just love looking at your work! I "tan" my cherry after hitting it with the blo also; you got to love that high-desert sun!

Jim in Idaho

[joseph j shields]

Jason,

Really nice work.....

The top looks like you used some nice wide cherry boards. How wide are they???

Here is Cheeshead land its hard to find any decent cherry over 5-6" wide.

-jj

[John Michaels]

Very nice!! I purchased a Dansk dining room table that looks very much like yours. I really like the grain in that cherry.

[Bruce Page]

Another example of shoddy craftsmanship & cheap materials!

Seriously, That is beautiful work, as always! I always enjoy seeing your posts, especially when there’s a paperclip attached.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Thanks everyone for the encouragment!

John, the 4 aprons are connected via the 4 cornor blocks which are glued and screwed to the aprons. Regarding the BLO and the sun, I just follow my wife's summer ritual: first you oil and then you sun. It works for her so why not for cherry? Seriously, I have no scientifc evidence that this is the way to get a deeper "tan" to the cherry. I guess I just figured that the oli would magnify the intensity of the sun. Somone else can weigh in on this. Regardless, once the piece is oiled you need to keep an eye on things for the first hour or so becuase the oil will bleed out of the pores and bake on the wood and leave a gummy mess. So you need to keep rubbing it out for a bit. I let it sit out in the sun for as long as I can. Today it was in direct sunlight for about 7 hours or so. That's good enough for me.

JJ - The wood that I used here wasn't as wide as I wanted. I'm used to finding 8"-9" regularly at my supplier. I wasn't too impressed with the wood. It goes in spurts. I guess these boards are somewhere between 5"-7". Last time I found some awesome 13" clear heartwood cherry with some pretty good figure. I'm sitting on these for something special. So not only do we have wider cherry here, we have happier cows.... or some I'm told. They all smell about the same to this city boy