Making Bar Tables from solid oak

I recently began taking work for a finish carpenter based in Brighton.  He has a lot of experience and a complete wood shop, but when I offered to take any "overflow" work, he immediately offered up the task of gluing up six bar room table tops.


These tables were to be 2" thick, 28" square, and made from solid white oak.

Making these tables involved a few "firsts" for me:

Dye another day: Hardwood table tops get pop with trans-tint dye

Last week I was asked to make a companion table for a piece commissioned by Five Horses Tavern in Davis Square, Somerville.  Rather than try and make an exact copy (which wasn't a paragon of table top design, anyway), we decided to re-interpret the existing table's themes and wood species.  I saw it as a chance to