2011 state fair table...... finished!!!

Dan Noren

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falcon heights, minnesota
well, made a start on it today. the design is pretty much done, and picked up the lumber today. pop and i went to the lumber guy and picked up 2 13" wide by 10' long, and 2 16" wide, by 8' long boards of walnut. also picked up 2 7" wide, by 8' long boards of hickory. pics tomorrow.
 
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ok, ok, rob, simmer down, here's the design.... lol

it's a dropleaf table, 46" wide, and with the leaves up, 47" across. i plan on using the 16" wide boards for the leaves, and trim down the 13" wide boards a touch to use 2 boards for the center. the center is 18". i forgot to mention, that all 4 walnut boards are bookmatched as well as big.:D:thumb:

i realize that there are some parts and details missing, such as the leaf supports, but i'm still working on those. there will be a bit of a greene & greene to this table, and i still have not made up my mind as to whether or not to use blacker indents in the legs.

now for the pics....
 

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i knew there was something missing, the stretchers....:doh: they will be on the finished table. in the previous pics, i posted the ones of the one with the top stretched out another 4 inches, but i didn't notice the stretchers were missing....
 

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Dan how will you prevent cupping on those wide boards. I used to think it was great to have a wide board then came unstuck with just a piece of maple.

When i look at the boards they look flatsawn aint that prone to cupping.:dunno::dunno:

I have no clue which is why i am asking.

I got a table from my mother that has drop sides and they put two little draws in the ends along with a wooden bar that slides out under each leave to hold em up. Whats your thoughts on this.

Last picture has me thinking the proportions of your frame to the total width of the table when panels are up looks off. ??? Overhang looks too wide for the width of the table structure?
 
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rob,

when i picked them up from the lumber guy, he stated that all 4 of the boards were cut, kiln dried (by him), and that was 2-3 years ago. he said that if they were going to move in any way, they would have done it long ago.

the center part of the table top is 18" by 46", the frame underneath it is 15" by 30", so that should be more than enough support, that is if you don't have some lout sitting on the edge of the table.:D:thumb:

with the leaves up, it is almost square, 46" by 47". the supports for the leaves aren't in the pic because i haven't put them there, as mentioned in the prior post. i have a few ideas, and really don't want to use the usual rectangle of wood.
 
it's my brother's 69 barracuda that he's working on. he has it in pop's garage while he's working on his pickup.

i got almost to work tonight, when i realized that i cannot keep the leaves at a solid 16", as my planer is only 13" :doh:

now i'll have to hit the pixels to redesign the leaves. i'm planning on using the 13" boards, knock them to 12.5", then use 2 boards from the 13" boards for the top, since they are bookmatched. have to wait and see how that looks.
 
ok, after getting over the shock of not quite enough planer capacity, i did a bit of a redesign of the leaves. i took 3.5" off, and transplanted the stretchers to this model. here's how it looks now.
 

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with only 3 days off, i got right to it today. slept most of the morning:zzz:, took the wife :blah: to school, worked with cutlist on the layout, slept a little more :zzz:, then off to my dad's to get started on the table. :D i laid out the parts roughly in chalk, then crosscut them with a circular saw. then i cut them to width and length, and if that weren't fun enough, planed them to thickness. :thud: the walnut didn't look very promising before running it through the planer, but it turned out really nice, and i took advantage of the bookmatching for the top. now for the pics, parts laid out, parts cut to size, and parts planed.

oh, and the other boards you see in the third pic are the preplanned leftovers for other projects.
 

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another busy day of working on projects. for the fair table, i tested out a finish. mineral oil with several coats of rattle can lacquer. at least it gives me an idea of how dark it will be going.
 

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Dan, I'd highly recommend not using lacquer over mineral oil. Mineral oil is a non-drying oil, and a poor base for a hard finish like lacquer. It may look OK for a little while, but eventually the finish will most likely fail. I'd recommend a drying oil like BLO or tung oil under the lacquer. (And even then you should wait until the oil is fully cured before topping it with lacquer.)

Bob Flexner's Understanding Wood Finishes is a good reference for finish ideas.
 
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