A Tale of Two Tables - final pics!

Rennie Heuer

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Table #1 Well, not so much a tale as just the ending. This was done for a customer and it really challenged me as there were lots of things I had not done before.Hand chisel work, fitting angles, and spraying lacquer are counted among my new skills. Much thanks to Dave Hawksford and Ambassador Larry for their guidance on the finishing steps. The wood is jotoba (Brazillion cherry). Finish is 2 coats of dewaxed shellac followed by Magna Max satin. 3 coats on the base, 4 on the top. The top was wet sanded from 600 through 2000, then I cut the sheen back just a bit with an ultra-fine Miralon pad. Then three coats of paste wax. Personally, I prefer a little less finish on the wood, but the customer will be using this in their eat-in kitchen and she has 3 boys. I'm guessing this will see a lot of use and many homework projects. So, a tougher, smoother finish was in order. Table two, also of jotoba, will post next week.
 

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Rennie, I have always been impressed with your work but this is just plain over the top, FANTASTIC, those joints are perfect:thumb: well done does not begin to cover the table:)
 
As has been said Rennie, you knocked this one out of the park. Wonderful craftsmanship. I hope the buyer realizes what a gem she has.
Do you know about how many hours you've got in it?
 
attah boy rennie:) you done right fine job!!!! how is the top anchored to the frame work rennie?

I use my biscuit joiner to place slots around the inside of the apron and then use those "S" shaped metal clips. There are 16 of them under this top.

As has been said Rennie, you knocked this one out of the park. Wonderful craftsmanship. I hope the buyer realizes what a gem she has.
Do you know about how many hours you've got in it?

Many hours - I had the do the entire stretcher system twice because I could not get the joints to close properly the first time. I skipped a step and it was a losing battle from that point on. The stretchers alone took me about 16 hours. I guess I have about 60 or 70 honest (that means I deduct the time I spent looking for the last tool I put down) hours in the table. Too many for the money I made! BUT - I got to build something I wanted to build and learned a few new skills along the way.
 
Terrific. How was that jatoba to work with? I really like the emphasized details on the wedged tenons. The stopped chamfers on the hay-rake stretchers really adds some pizzazz to the undercarriage. So, no colorant? Just shellac and let the jatoba shine through? The finish came out great. What kind of spray rig do you use?
 
Woe Rennie that table is beautiful. I bet it weighs a TON! Very nice

Just a guess, but I think the top alone is over 100 lbs

Terrific. How was that jatoba to work with? I really like the emphasized details on the wedged tenons. The stopped chamfers on the hay-rake stretchers really adds some pizzazz to the undercarriage. So, no colorant? Just shellac and let the jatoba shine through? The finish came out great. What kind of spray rig do you use?

I have a Fuji 4 stage turbine. The stopped chamfers were challenging as you machine rout up to the last 1/2" and then finish them by hand. I had to buy a new carving chisel for them. :D Bench chisels are too fat to do the job right.


I think ya done a fine job Rennie :thumb::thumb::thumb:
How's that stuff to work with :dunno:

It's dense, heavy, and can give you some nasty splinters. However, it sands and scrapes well. Caution when planing - either hand or machine - you can get tear out. It can burn easily when sawing or running through a wide belt sander. It seems very stable and you can get wide board (14") that are mostly defect free.
 
My experience with jatoba is using carbide tooling that has a fresh grind on it. Duller tooling will force it to burn very easily and as Rennie said the wide belt will to. I have milled at least 50,000 lf of jatoba from arches, door jambs, trim, exterior doors, paneling, flooring, and mantels ect. I love to mill it but I am also using 6000-12000 rpm moulders. It is very heavy but very beautiful I love that wood and still have alittle left
 
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Beautiful Barnsley Hay Rake Table, Rennie. It is something I have wanted to build ever since I saw Don Weber's version in Popular Woodworking.
 
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