Chestnut oak table top

[Greyhound]

Here's a sneak peak at a table top I'm working on after a first coat of Waterlox.  The lumber came from the "leftovers" from some chestnut oaks I had milled a while ago.  I sold off all the primo clear and quartersawn lumber from that whack.  I have several dozen more dead standing chestnut oaks on my property.  I look forward to felling and milling them in the near future.  Much better than using them for firewood. 

 

[Greyhound]

Here's the base with it's first coat of finish.

 

 

 

[trimguy]

Very nice! Curious, what's the groove around the inside for ? Some way to attach the top ?

[Dan_Shade]

Very nice.  I have a coffee table that I made from chestnut oak.

One of my favorite woods. 

[btulloh]

Very nice! Curious, what's the groove around the inside for ? Some way to attach the top ?

That groove is for standard clips made specifically for table tops. They screw to the underside of the top and the other end is offset and goes in the groove. Easy way to accommodate seasonal wood movement in a table top. They are readily available and in pretty wide use.  Z clips

There's also a figure 8 type clip that's pretty popular but they don't use a groove, just a shallow counterbore with a forstner bit.  

[trimguy]

Thanks for the link.

[KenMac]

Very nice work Greyhound!! I like the character imperfect wood gives a piece.

[WDH]

Beautiful table.  Nice job on the breadboard.  Is it tongue and grooved and pinned?

[Greyhound]

Very nice! Curious, what's the groove around the inside for ? Some way to attach the top ?

 
As above for clips hold the table top to the base and allow plenty of movement. They are quick, easy and work great.

[Ianab]

You can also make wooden "buttons" that work the same as the Z clips.Same idea, holds the table top in place but allows for some wood movement. 

[samandothers]

Do you use Waterlox a lot for your furniture?  I have used it on some smaller pieces.  It  seems pretty easy to use, it does leave a bit of an amber tone it seems on some of the items I've done. 

[Greyhound]

Do you use Waterlox a lot for your furniture?  I have used it on some smaller pieces.  It  seems pretty easy to use, it does leave a bit of an amber tone it seems on some of the items I've done.

Yes, it has a little amber tone.  Looks really good on this oak.  I've used it on a couple table tops before but those were closed grain cherry or maple.  This is my first time using it on oak. It's super waterproof but doesn't have the same "build" as polyurethane... I tried something new (recommended on the waterlox site) and wet sanded the first couple coats to try to fill some of the pores with slurry.  We'll see how it turns out eventually.

[WDH]

Wet sanding when using pure tung oil works great to fill pores and get a glass smooth finish too. 

[Greyhound]

Beautiful table.  Nice job on the breadboard.  Is it tongue and grooved and pinned?

Yes it is. 

[Greyhound]

Here's the final product delivered to FIL's place.  Also included a picture of the underside with the clips.

 

 

 

[samandothers]

Very elegant!  Did the wet sanding help smooth the finish? 

[Greyhound]

Yes.  I wasn't going for a completely flat surface, but it did even out quite a bit.  You can see the difference in the texture of the top and bottom.  No wet sand on bottom.