Just finished my first project. Edited this to add pics in addition to links (internet wasn't working well the first go-round), but had to post some pics in a second post due to certain SMC limits.
It's a live edge dining table. We needed a table and didn't like what we saw out there. The wood is spalted maple purchased from Berkshire Products.
3395a7-f (1).jpg https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing
Dimensions as finished are 90" x 44-34-44" and 1 7/8" thick; just about 29 7/8” tall. It was 2 feet longer; I lopped that off for a related project. Legs are distressed steel that I coated with a Deft spray Lacquer to (hopefully) prevent or delay oxidation (and I may put a rough-hewn 4x4 in as a stretcher for aesthetics—no racking apparent, however). The aesthetic goal was to mix the rough of the live edge with the smooth of an even finish and the industrial feel of the steel. Links to general images as assembled and in the house: (1) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing (2) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing (3) with our soon-to-be replaced chairs for sizing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing and (4) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3OewcC540fkRW50WmdLakIzUGM/view?usp=sharing
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I placed the legs with a 17 inch overhang to let end chairs slide under (and I'm tall). So, 6 can sit comfortably daily; 8 with the legs a little in the way, but that's fine. Need chairs and maybe a bench for one side; I'll buy those. With special thanks to Kent Bathurst for this suggestion (and many, many others), I screwed the bases into the center of the slab and then used stainless steel mending braces (6”x3/4”) across the 3 inch wide bar on the top of the bases so that the mending braces are tight but can slide with lateral expansion of the wood (I have humidity changes here—humid summer and burn wood in the winter).
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing
I filled cracks and checks with West Epoxy 105/207 (clear) and used a heat gun and, alternatingly, a card scraper and blade from a plane to scrape off the over-pour.
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing
In a few spots, I used tape to build forms to maintain the natural shape of the edge where some spalting rot had deteriorated it. That worked well. For example, here I actually reattached a piece of the side that had fallen off after some spongy stuff was hollowed out an inch deep. [See next post for remaining pics due to limits on pics per post.] https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing Then, I sanded the wood with my ROS to 150 and then 180 by hand with the grain; next time I’ll probably sand it most of the way there first, or use some wax on the surrounding area, to reduce side-ways absorption. (Tape doesn’t really do much.) The bark sloughed off easily with some gentle prying with a chisel, but a couple of spots got soft and had to be filed and stabilized with products. The edge (unfinished): https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing (but with a form added on the bottom). Had to work this edge a bit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing
I used P&L 30 Clear Gloss as my finish; anyone who wandered through the finishing forum may have seen my travails (and a hearty thanks here to those who responded to the posts or PMs). Orange peel, for example: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing Ended up using a Redtree brush and brushing on three coats (cut about 15ish% with MS) with some sanding back; wiped on 6 coats (cut 50% with MS) with the bus boy method. I then let the finish cure for a month or so and went at it with 3M's Trizact P2500, P3000, P5000 wet sanded with MS. Then I used 3M's Perfect It Step 1 compound (by hand, don't have a polisher). I used 3M's Perfect It Step 2 polish next but it left a slight haze so I went back to the Step 1 compound. The finish: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing and also https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing and also https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing
Now that it is in the space and after all the effort at a gloss finish, I'm not sure I like the gloss on a dining table (looks odd to me) and may knock it down with some paper or Scotch Brite to more of a semi or satin. Maybe I’m just getting used to the table . . . My game plan from the get-go was to start with gloss thinking I could knock it back. I’d be curious to know what gloss level some of you customarily leave dining tables.
Here's that gloss I mentioned: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing and https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3O...ew?usp=sharing
Critiques generally welcome (as are questions), and especially on the point of the gloss (which may diminish over time with use?).
So, with that, let me also say thanks to SMC for being such a great resource and thanks for making it through this long post for those who were interested in the play-by-play.
Andrew
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Originally Posted by Yonak Hawkins
