The Next Walnut table with painted legs

firefighter ontheside · September 30, 2021, 09:09:55 PM

I'm well into building the next table. This one has a live edge top that's about 5/4 thick. It has plain aprons made from cypress and turned legs that I bought off of Amazon. The customer is a paramedic I worked alongside occasionally. She will be painting the legs and aprons white. The outer 2 slabs in the top are bookmatched. I hope to get this finished up this weekend.

firefighter ontheside · October 01, 2021, 02:49:14 PM

2 Coats of minwax satin poly on the top. I love walnut, especially with some figure.

doc henderson · October 01, 2021, 07:10:42 PM

very nice.

Dan_Shade · October 01, 2021, 09:38:16 PM

Nice, did you make the base?

firefighter ontheside · October 01, 2021, 11:45:02 PM

Thanks.
I bought the legs from Amazon. I built the stretchers and used furniture bolts to attach the legs to the top.

Dan_Shade · October 02, 2021, 06:07:20 AM

What's a furniture bolt?

firefighter ontheside · October 02, 2021, 08:14:13 AM

I'm sorry, a furniture bolt is something else. These are actually hanger bolts. Machine thread on one end and wood thread on other end. The ones I used are 5/16 and about 7" long.

kantuckid · October 04, 2021, 09:36:35 AM

Making tables: FWIW, I use glued wood blocks with slots for flat head screws over washers thus allowing top movement w/o buying hardware other than hanger bolts. Been doing that for many years. Also I never buy a leg, just turn them but I do get it for a painted leg.
To "pop" the color on walnut I use WATCO Danish oil, wait 72 hrs then poly wipe. Poly does pop color better than regular varnish. For the best wood colors you've ever seen try some old time style Waterlox varnish! I used it on my timberframe L.room homemade oak floors and then on my large chestnut dining table. It colors up chestnut similar to WATCO but even darker. Pricey so shop around.

firefighter ontheside · October 04, 2021, 05:24:57 PM

I use boiled linseed oil on walnut often, which I believe is whats in Watco. The only problem I have with it is waiting for it to dry. I made a wipe on mix of BLO and poly to finish the rocking chair I built. I just used a piece of rag and wiped it on and I liked the result. I tried making a wipe on mix of oil based poly and mineral spirits for this table, but I didn't like the result, so I ended up brushing another coat over it. My priority with dining tables that I'm making for customers is to have them be impervious to water stains.

I don't have a lathe nor do I have room for one right now. This set of legs on Amazon was $105.

doc henderson · October 04, 2021, 05:38:08 PM

general finish has a brush on wipe off poly, that is nearly clear and does not add the amber. I use Watco on projects but is goes bad before i use the whole gallon. I use Boos block oil for food safe, or reg. mineral oil for bulk food safe. I think Danish oil also has some additional driers in it

WDH · October 05, 2021, 09:21:16 AM

Love the sapwood streaks.

kantuckid · October 05, 2021, 06:39:26 PM

Quote from: doc henderson on October 04, 2021, 05:38:08 PM
general finish has a brush on wipe off poly, that is nearly clear and does not add the amber. I use Watco on projects but is goes bad before i use the whole gallon. I use Boos block oil for food safe, or reg. mineral oil for bulk food safe. I think Danish oil also has some additional driers in it

Doc-I have used Watco Danish for over 40 years and buy when the price is right in bulk and I've never seen it go bad? Varnishes-yes! I've tried the gas sprays to preserve pricey varnishes and moisture cure paints like used on vehicle frames from POR, etc and very tough iussue but Watco never went bad yet. AB products yes-especially hardeners for clears and some special solvents and top coats.
There are many, many recipes for the various types of danish oils. Boiled linseed oil looks OK but has a drying issue as it comes from the can. Honestly, boiled linseed oil is certainly in many finish products but using it from the can is dated back to the 1940's/50's or such. When I was about a 12 year old gun nut I used a product on gunstocks called Linspeed. It was in widespread use but I know now it was simply boiled linseed oil with solvents and hardeners in it to speed up drying. Watco the window is only 72 hours-linseed takes much longer. Poly wipes dry in as little as a half day first few coats. When I've mentioned Watco here before the comments are"it's only watered down varnish" well I can tell you that some commercial cabinet makers use it and even in some high end factory settings. Most any danish oil is watered down varnish and I've tried most all of them or the mixes.

doc henderson · October 05, 2021, 07:29:55 PM

i have about an eighth of a gallon that was amber, and now dark brown and smells bad, and imparts a darker less appealing color to the wood. so that is what i call bad. I always use the natural color, not the walnut.

firefighter ontheside · October 05, 2021, 11:12:56 PM

Quote from: WDH on October 05, 2021, 09:21:16 AM
Love the sapwood streaks.

Thanks Danny. I do too. I contacted the customer to make sure she would like the sapwood in the
glue-up. She said she would really like it, so I included it.

firefighter ontheside · October 06, 2021, 10:30:19 PM

I delivered the table. The customer will be painting the legs and aprons of the table.

doc henderson · October 07, 2021, 10:11:57 AM

very beautiful. I hope she does a good job on the painting. will she remove the top to do it? fantastic!

WDH · October 07, 2021, 01:55:32 PM

Yes, I was wondering how the top was attached?

firefighter ontheside · October 07, 2021, 04:23:57 PM

The legs are bolted on with hanger bolts. She will remove them to paint. The stretchers are attached with the little clips that allow the top to expand and contract. She cannot remove them, so she will flip it upside down and just have to mask the underside of the table to avoid getting paint on it. Even if she gets paint on the underside, the only one who will see it is someone laying on the ground under the table.
If you scroll up to the upside down table pic, you can see the clips about every 16". I just use my biscuit cutter to make slots for the clips to go into.

WDH · October 08, 2021, 08:13:23 AM

Bill,

I do it the exact same way as you do.

firefighter ontheside · October 08, 2021, 09:50:09 AM

Well, that's because its THE right way to do it.

21incher · October 08, 2021, 06:11:24 PM

Another great job. All these pictures of walnut tables make me want to get started on mine. I brought the wood into my shop last winter to make it but life got in the way so I still have a stack of (6) 6/4" x 18" x 10 ft all clear walnut boards cluttering up the place

I was going to do a live edge table like yours but my wife wants a machined edge with no sapwood so it's going to break my heart to cut that off and wind up with 12 inch boards that look alike. I cut this about 8 years ago from my back yard. Now I have to get going after seeing yours but mine won't have character.