Has Anybody Built an Extension Table

firefighter ontheside · May 16, 2022, 09:33:32 PM

I have to stain it and then spray with lacquer

btulloh · May 16, 2022, 11:23:54 PM

Hard or soft maple? If it's hard maple you might need to use some toning lacquer to get it to take any color.

firefighter ontheside · May 17, 2022, 07:14:04 AM

It is soft maple, I don't remember which one perhaps red maple. I already did some samples with a few different stains and it seemed to take the stain well. I'm gonna use gun stock color as it matches what they wanted pretty well.

WDH · May 17, 2022, 07:40:49 AM

I have pretty good luck with maple using transtint dye. It comes in a variety of colors and if you spray it on evenly and do not touch it, let it dry, does not seem to splotch as bad. Mixed with denatured alcohol it I remember correctly. Oil stains are more blotch prone in my opinion.

firefighter ontheside · May 17, 2022, 07:53:31 AM

Danny, if you're familiar with the late Charles Neil, he was of the same opinion and had a video on the subject. I just watched it yesterday. My problem with using dye is that its over an hour drive to get somewhere that sells it. I do have one little bottle of transtint dye that I bought years ago. Maybe I will make a little sample to try it on and see if the color is good for this project.

firefighter ontheside · May 21, 2022, 05:46:09 PM

The table is done. Other than it drying fast, I'm not sure I will do another big project with lacquer. There are downsides that go along with drying fast. Also it really needs to be sprayed and not brushed. Trying to brush on a second coat is problematic, since the second coat burns into the first. They wanted glossy and I almost never do glossy finishes. It shows blemishes too much. I'm happy with the extension function. The table is very solid. I would not hesitate to build another.

Crusarius · May 21, 2022, 08:31:21 PM

That looks really nice

WDH · May 22, 2022, 07:55:23 AM

That curl in the maple really pops!

samandothers · May 23, 2022, 11:56:39 AM

Really a nice finish with the curl, great job!

It appears the slides are mounted to 1x or so strips that are connected to the tabletop via slots, I assume to allow for movement. Below that in the bottom edge of your slide 'beam' what are the 3 holes bored vertical for?

firefighter ontheside · May 23, 2022, 05:43:55 PM

The slotted holes that you see are indeed glued to the slides and then screwed to the table top. The other holes are also attachment points. On one end they are screwed tight. In the middle and other end there is an oversized bore to also allow for movement. I wanted to over-do the attachment to ensure it was strong.