Wood choice made - what do you know about Brazillian Cherry?

Rennie Heuer

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My youngest daughter got married nearly 3 years ago an I promised her a piece of furniture as a gift. She hemmed and hawed a bit, but finally decided on a dining room table. Originally she had wanted something in a Greene & Greene style, but she just purchased a home and the style will not fit. So, she has sent me a picture of what she wants. Not my taste, but hey, it's not for me. I'm not sure what wood might work best. The top and legs are very thick, so it needs to be something that's pretty stable. I was thinking a soft maple.:huh: Birch? (The original is birch) Anyone have any suggestions? Also, anyone have any idea where I might find the hardware? Zoe's Table 2.jpg
  • Overall Unextended: 86" long x 42" wide x 30" high
  • Overall Extended (1 leaf): 104" long x 42" wide x 30" high
  • Overall Extended (2 leaves): 122" long x 42" wide x 30" high
  • Leaf (2): 18" long x 42" wide
  • Tabletop: 3" thick
  • Overhang (at side): 2.5" wide
  • Overhang (at head): 6.5" for unextended table; 24.5" for extended table
  • Legs: 4.5" square, 27.5" high
  • Distance Between Legs: 64.5" at sides; 28" at head
  • Clearance Under Tabletop: 27.5"
  • Weight: 253 pounds
 
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Hi Rennie, I believe that the hardware is rather easy to find/make. The threaded tensor you can find it in any hardware store or ironmonger, remove the hook and the loop and use the central part. Then make the long parts out of an iron bar, with a 1/2" long thread at each end. Then fix one of those threaded loops (see image) on each side of it.
I personally do not like the way this guy has attached the tensor bar to the leg stretcher, it makes it look too farfetched to me even if the original was like that.
I would use an open loop hook screwed onto the stretcher and after puting the loop in close it.

You can use a chain instead of a bar, or make an striking contrast using a polished stainless steel rod, try to find suitable parts at carwrecks or shipyards that do not necessarily need to be or resemble like the original ones, feel free to change those things to your liking, be flexible enough to accept that.

loop.jpg

As per the wood choice, why not use salvaged rail sleepers? they are hard, and treated with creosota, so wear a mask when working them if you use those.
 
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Rennie, have you considered pine? I think birch would be my first choice, though.

...As per the wood choice, why not use salvaged rail sleepers? they are hard, and treated with creosota, so wear a mask when working them if you use those.

I suspect the creosote would make working with the wood very difficult. In my limited experience working with rail ties, I saw they dulled a chainsaw pretty quickly and thoroughly. Also, would it inhibit proper adhesion of the finish?
 
Rennie, have you considered pine? I think birch would be my first choice, though.



I suspect the creosote would make working with the wood very difficult. In my limited experience working with rail ties, I saw they dulled a chainsaw pretty quickly and thoroughly. Also, would it inhibit proper adhesion of the finish?

Ties, around hear at least, are pretty rough and usually softwood. I recently went shopping for some to use outside around a flower bed and could not find any suitable even for that. The creosote scares me both for finishing properties and for food contact.

Hi Rennie, I believe that the hardware is rather easy to find/make. The threaded tensor you can find it in any hardware store or ironmonger, remove the hook and the loop and use the central part. Then make the long parts out of an iron bar, with a 1/2" long thread at each end. Then fix one of those threaded loops (see image) on each side of it.
I personally do not like the way this guy has attached the tensor bar to the leg stretcher, it makes it look too farfetched to me even if the original was like that.
I would use an open loop hook screwed onto the stretcher and after puting the loop in close it.

You can use a chain instead of a bar, or make an striking contrast using a polished stainless steel rod, try to find suitable parts at carwrecks or shipyards that do not necessarily need to be or resemble like the original ones, feel free to change those things to your liking, be flexible enough to accept that.

View attachment 65585

As per the wood choice, why not use salvaged rail sleepers? they are hard, and treated with creosota, so wear a mask when working them if you use those.
Another suggestion that came to me via PM was to seek out hardware meant for farm use, such as silos. However, I like some of your ideas as well. Had not thought of chain, but that would not offer any compression resistance and would have to be tensioned against the leg connection. This might loosen up over time.

As for the ties, for a more rustic table perhaps, but this will be indoors and used as a dining table.
 
Tractor Supply probably has the type of hardware you're looking for, but it'll likely be galnanized finish.

Probably not in Boise, :D but a ship chandlery would also have the deadeyes and turnbuckles. They'd likely beither chromed brass or stainless steel, though, and would be very pricey.

As for the wood - what are they using for shipping pallets there in the PNW? I'd try a pallet sawmill. It'll all be rough stock, but then, so is that table, so it ought to work well. BTW, back here, pallets are often white oak, but sometimes poplar, too. It's also not uncommon to see several different species in one pallet.
 
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Rob, from the looks of that site, rail sleepers in SA are quite different from those in the US. For one, they are hardwood (teak and ironwood). Ours are usually softwood (pine and fir are common) and chemically treated with creosote. Have you worked with any of the creosote-treated ones from the US? It ain't fun. ;)
 
Unless your daughter married a weight lifter, you might want to take the design and see how you can fake it... for example a hollow box construction rather than a 3 inch thick top (which may be unstable for warp and cracks as well). I can't imagine a 3 inch thick table top weighing over 250 pounds - how many people will it take to add a leaf or vacuum under the table.
 
Unless your daughter married a weight lifter, you might want to take the design and see how you can fake it... for example a hollow box construction rather than a 3 inch thick top (which may be unstable for warp and cracks as well). I can't imagine a 3 inch thick table top weighing over 250 pounds - how many people will it take to add a leaf or vacuum under the table.

The description says 253 lbs. Don't know if that includes the leaves. I had thought to use 3" thick at the sides and 3/4" in the field. Just a thought.
 
...how many people will it take to add a leaf or vacuum under the table.

Kind of off-topic, but last year when I was installing artwork, we had a client with a concrete-topped round table in the foyer of their house. The tabletop was about 3" thick and 9' in diameter (large foyer in a house costing tens of millions of dollars). By my calculations, the tabletop alone weighed about 2300 pounds. The lady of the house told us it was such a project getting the table moved into the house, it would be staying right where it was if they ever sold the house. Needless to say, they vacuumed around the table base. :D
 
Yeah Vaughn i guess you absolutely right about those sleepers. Rennie you could always ship some in. ;) Vaughn its good to see you around been missing you.

I saw some cut offs (6"x6"x1') a fellow had down the street (this is in Oregon) that were maple - turns out they were from the local RR tie plant (also had more Doug Fir). I'm with everyone else on the chemicals though, the stuff they use here is scary.
 
Rennie, I'm with you, it's not to my style either. :eek:

I have not seen this table in the flesh, however, I have been at a cottage that had a long table with an almost identical mechanism for adding leaves at either end. In that table, the mechanism slides in and out of a wooden slot in the end and over the years they wear. The leaves on that table were loose, and had a tendency to pop up if you lean on them the wrong way. I really did not like them.

If you go with this design, find a way to latch the leaves in place!
 
I looked at the weight of Birch and found depending on species and moisture content the wood when dried weighs between 38 and 44 lbs/cu.ft. I calculate the top alone with no leaves as be 6.27 cu.ft. (86x42x3). I get between 238 lbs and 275 lbs just for the top. :huh: hmm what about the legs, stretchers and hardware ? :dunno:
 
I agree with the creosote business. I wouldn't have a creosote treated anything anywhere near my house, and definitely not indoors.

You know, what seems to be popular for workbenches, especially the Roubo style, is southern yellow pine, which can be found frequently at one of the big box stores. The stuff is relatively hard for a soft wood, can be found in big dimensions and finishes well. It also comes in the thicker dimensions.
 
It seems that each country uses different wood for rail sleepers, here in Spain they are from oak. And yes, creosote has been proved to be carcinogenic, specially for those that were working on industries that were treating sleepers, telephone poles and so forth, but so are solvents, certain glues, varnishes, epoxy glues and paints and so forth, and we use them don't we?

I made a garden bench out of a sleeper that I peeled off with an axe, no dust only big chips, rather pleasant smell I must admit ( although I may be a freak), when I finished the bench was still about 3 inches thick of beatiful oak.

Don't get me wrong I'm neither selling the idea nor pushing anybody to do it, but from my experience, faking rough or used/abused furniture, scratches and so forth is not an easy task if you want them to look right. There are other ways to make something look used or rustic.
 
Well, appearances, and descriptions, can be very misleading. I went to the local Pottery Barn today to check out the table.

Here's their description from the website:

  • Tabletop: 3" thick
  • Legs: 4.5" square, 27.5" high
Here's the facts:
The tabletop is 3/4" thick with an apron down the sides to make it appear 3" thick. The only part of the table that is actually 3" thick are the breadboard ends.
The legs might be 4" square, but they are hollow.

IMG_0404a.jpgIMG_0407a.jpgIMG_0408a.jpg

This is going to be a lot cheaper to build than I first thought. I will also try and convince my daughter that that it should look a little less distressed and more refined as I agree with Toni - it's hard to make something really look old and not just beat up..
 
(snip) .... I agree with Toni - it's hard to make something really look old and not just beat up..

A master carver I know, made a lot of romanic (not roman) virgins imitations, to start with he used salvaged old pine beams with worm holes, then he carved the virgin copying it from pictures of the original one, policromated it following the original color pattern, and the final touch was beating the figure with a chain. The result was pretty impressive, however he had been doing and refining the technique for years, I think he made about 500 of them, he was very fast, he could make one each 4-5 days with no copying machine at all. True worm holes give a lot of autenthicity to a carving or piece of furniture. I've seen simulated worm holes that are so clearly made with a spike made out of nail that they are square.
 
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