# Fresh Off the Saws...



## Tommy_Joe (Nov 1, 2006)

I know I posted a Curio recently, but this one was started while waiting on the glass and it went together pretty quick. 










This will be topcoated with an Oil Base Urethane starting tonight. Hope to get 6 coats on it before the 24th.  

OK... This is Norm's (New Yankee Workshop) Irish Table made from clear yellow pine. It's 36" in diameter and 29" high. The legs are Mortise & Tenoned into the rails and are also tapered to 1" square on the two inside sections. It's called an Irish Table cause of it's basic Celtic design.

Our Church is having a Auction for the school, and it's starting to be a tradition (about 4 years now) that I build something to be auction off. This year instead of the auction being in April, it's this saturday. This table was perfect cause most of the construction was stuff I already done before. Well... Except for the round table top. 

The finish has gone thru allot of prep... Sand sand sand... Both with an ROS and by hand. I also used warm distilled water to raise the grain and then knock it down again with 220. Now I performed a sanding sealer process with a 2# cut of blond shellac after 320 sanding. Then sanded again at 320 and then used a 1# cut of Orange Shellac to give it some depth. (It's like adding 10 years to its age.) Then after 320 sanding, I used an Oil Base Warm Cherry stain and worked it evenly as best as I could. (Some of the saw marks are showing on one leg, but I'll work to make that go away.) It's ready now for the urethane and on the top I'll use a Deluxing Compound to polish and smooth the top. I'm doing what I can to keep the grain from raising up over time. 

Construction Pics (Includig the Circle Cutting Jig for the Router and the TS Tapering Jig.)
http://www.rhodeswoodsmith.com/current_project.htm

Tom


----------



## C&D Woodcraft (Dec 1, 2006)

Tommy,
That's some nice looking Pine, and craftsmanship. 
Did you use biscuits on the top? I guess with Pine it's not too difficult to sand down any variation in the boards. 

I use biscuits a good bit and it seems I usually get a little variation between boards that need to be sanded out--and I've got a good biscuit joiner, go figure.

Again, nice work!


----------



## alexfranke (Dec 4, 2006)

Wow, that turned out beautifully! I think I'm going to have to try that design, too. :thumbsup:


----------



## SawDustJack (Nov 6, 2006)

NICE TJ :thumbsup:


----------



## Tommy_Joe (Nov 1, 2006)

C&D Woodcraft said:


> Tommy,
> That's some nice looking Pine, and craftsmanship.
> Did you use biscuits on the top? I guess with Pine it's not too difficult to sand down any variation in the boards.
> 
> ...


I did use biscuits. I used #20 down the center and #10 where I would get close to the ends of the circle. I would lay them out, put a witness mark on the end of the #10 biscuit, then run the tape measure from about the center 18" (half of the 36" diameter) around simulating the circle to make sure the biscuit would not blow out when cutting the circle. 

I also set the plate jointer a little lower than 3/8" so there more wood on the top side of the biscuit. The wood can shrink overtime (forming a divit) on a 3/4" thick or less top, so I set them down a bit to stablize the top. If the bottom of the table divits, that's OK cause it won't be seen. Little trick I learned from the late JohnV. 

Sanding.... Yeah... It did sand well. However there are areas where the grain gives it a wavy feel. Instead of fighting the wave (which is not really that noticable) I focus on locking the grain so it would not leaf up over time creating a splinter hazard. That's been my big worry with this table. Started with 80 grit on the belt sander then 80 grit and 120 grit with the ROS on both sides. Then I cut the circle, sanded the end grain and finish sanded the rest of the top. (150, 180, and 220 with the ROS, then 220 and 320 hand sanding.)

Tom


----------



## kingsix (Mar 8, 2007)

That's great work. Have you built any Arts and Crafts pieces?


----------

