Just finished a project for my own house. I would call this simple in design and construction. It did not take a long time to build even. But after I put the top on and flipped it back over and then started putting in the drawers, I wondered how this could have possibly been made by my hand.
I salvaged the trunks from a tree crew doing removals where I work. Chainsaw milled them in half to be able to transport them to my house in the back of my truck and then milled them where they sat in the bed because they were too dang heavy to put them anywhere else. That was last April.
The result is a quartersawn red oak coffee table. There is no build along. Just a before and after.
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When something has to be done, no one knows how to do it. When they "pay" you to do it, they become "experts".
Great looking table. There's a real sense of accomplishment to take a tree and turn it into a piece of furniture. You should be justifiably proud of that table and saving some nice wood from becoming firewood or landfill.
Warning - it's a slippery slope once you start milling lumber. I was just checking a load in my solar kiln today.
(02-22-2020, 07:50 AM)jppierson Wrote: How did you get it to dry so quickly? I am no sawyer but always read it takes a year or more per inch?
Inch per year is pretty much a worst case scenario. Slow drying wood in a damp climate etc. Most 1" thick hardwoods will dry down to about 15% (air dry) in maybe 3 months if the weather is warm. Then a couple more months of inside drying should have it down below 10% and good to go.
If you leave it a year, you know you will be safe, but those last 6 months might have done nothing. The real test is to start poking it with a moisture meter.
And yes it's a good job on the whole tree to table thing.
Here are some better shots of the top. Finish is 3-2-1 oil/varnish blend hand rubbed. With a final coat of gloss Watco wipe on poly. Came out in a nice satin. That Watco doesn’t get glossy too quickly.
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When something has to be done, no one knows how to do it. When they "pay" you to do it, they become "experts".
Yes indeed. Those last pics show how nice the subtle fleck in QS red oak can be. Many are enamored with white oak, but QS red oak has a quiet elegance of its own.
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