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designing and building with wood channels my creativity and challenges my mind.
This blog is a record of my life in my studio.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Laminated scrap table project

The Wine on Deck shop creates very little scrap these days.  But this wasn't always true, and so there was a box full of laminated off-cuts in the corner of the shop for months.  I decided to make some table tops out of the scraps.  i got three tops out of the scraps, and decided to tackle each on individually, in order to learn as much as I could about apron & leg design while making three different tables. 

Each top was made from long strips of laminated off-cuts (Wine Wing fans may recognize some familiar pinstripe patterns) turned on their sides and glued together.  I then took to the rough panels with my scrub plane, then the jack, then my huge 1950's wooden jointer plane, then my cabinet scraper.  Finally, I sanded with 220-grit with my Festool rotex.

To get a super-smooth look from the glued-up top, I first sealed the pores will Crystal-lac grain filler. 
Then, in a fit of overkill, I rubbed in pumice and shellac.  After that dried, I sanded lightly and rubbed on some oil/urethane topcoat, which sweated for a week.  Stumped, I decided to build the base (at right).

The legs on this table seem impossibly long and thin.  they taper from 3/4" at the top to 5/8" at the bottom, and are around 18" tall.  too tall, perhaps?  but the table is remarkably sturdy.  Still, this is no table for a house with kids.  I am going to think about it for a bit, then perhaps shorten the legs.

So far, the learning is proceeding as expected, and I'm getting some nice looking results!

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