A Project from the Past

Dave Hoskins

Member
Messages
5,252
Location
Parker County, Texas
I am only bringing this up because an old customer of mine from my furniture building days stopped in. I hadn't seen him in years and thought he had lost me or me him. Anyway, we sat around in the hot shop drinking bottle water from the fridge and talking about the old days when I made furniture. I thought he was going to try and talk me into building him something but that was luckily not the case. I just can't handle building pieces like he likes by myself anymore. But, instead he did order some bowls from me which made me feel good. It was simply good seeing him again and I go invited back out to the horse ranch any time I desire. So I thought I would show you some photos of the last thing I built for him. The table has a 2" thick pecan top with mesquite legs. The table is 10' long and about 42" wide. The benches are all pecan. I used General Finishes Outdoor Oil on it and it worked out very well. He re-oils everything about every 8 months. I have no idea how much it weighed, but it was heavy.

 
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Thanks, guys! Ryan, after I made sure everything was going to fit like I wanted it to I marked the spots on the legs and bored 1 1/2" holes almost all the way through. Then I shaved the ends of the crosspieces to fit those holes. Then I fit everything back into place using good ol' Tightbond glue. After that dried for 24 hours, I then turned on a borrowed lathe some 1/2" mesquite dowels and bored the appropriate holes for them and drove them with glue. I figgered nothing was going to go anywhere that way. You're right about not blowing away, Vaughn. After I thought about it last night, it took 4 men using a door dolly to move that table. Even with the dolly it was a chore.
 
Apparently it worked. He said the table is still rock solid with no rocking at all. I'd not mind still doing that kind of stuff as it was a lot of fun, but it was getting to wear me down doing it all by myself. But, that's alright. I discovered turning and I ain't gonna go back! :D
 
Well as long as you don't get into turning really BIG stuff.. That can be a challenge to get on/off the lathe. An overhead hoist would be kind of handy :D :rolleyes:

For the rest you just need a helper.. with a forklift... :rofl:
 
I once saw a video of a guy named Blair Davis who uses a Oneway 2426. He was turning this big drum that was probably guessing about 3' diameter and 5' tall. Had a huge steady rest and super long gouges. He used a chain hoist to the the walnut log up there to mount. I don't think the world has to worry about me turning anything that big. uhuh Not me. :D
 
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