A friendly contest!

Slow times call for desperate, but fun measures.  I get restless when I am not creating, and I am not alone.  My dad is the same.  We miss the dust, the feel of the wood under our skin and the smell, each species of wood is unique.  So I proposed that we have a contest.  We each build a version of our sofa table and see who can sell it the fastest.

I decided to build mine using only wood I could find in the shop.  We have a lot of scrap wood from previous projects that sometimes never get used, some of it quite beautiful, but odd sized.  I also don’t really like to have a strict plan when I begin, of how a project is going to turn out.  I can do this when it is not a custom piece for a client!  So after picking endlessly through our wood stock, I decided I had enough to build a multi-wood top.  I cut pieces 3″ wide and between 7-13″ long, of mostly mahogany, cherry and birch.  I then glued them onto a piece of plywood and trimmed that out with some thick cherry.  For the base, we had some really long thick boards of oak left over from the cupping tables.  I planed those down to 1″ and used them for the legs, and skirt.

I also decided at some point, that I would make this table with a more unique, artsy flair.  I wanted to be more expressive and creative, and go out of my comfort zone a little.  To express this, I cut a really jagged edge aroundthe entire top, freeform with a jigsaw (it took a long time).  While I was doing this, the thought of mountains kept coursing through my brain, which gave me the idea of having sort of an earthy theme for the table.  So on the skirt and shelf supports I cut some curvy lines to represent the feel of water.  I then painted the base black to offset the color of the top, and also, because I am not a huge fan of oak.  While it is a very stable and strong wood, the grain and color does not appeal to me.  I also decided to add some color, so I painted the edge of the top black, and added a couple shades of purple to high points of the edge.

Adding a bottom shelf occurred to me to make the table a bit more stable and more functional.  Back to the scap pile I went.  Luckily I was able to find some more cherry, mahogany, birch and maple.  I have added these pieces to the shelf support by placing them perpendicular to the top and spaced about 1/8″ apart.

I will add a pictures later, when the table is complete.

Delivery of the cupping tables!

We finally delivered the tables on a beautiful, sunny Friday.  We loaded up a Uhaul truck, strapped the tables down and we were off to Lincoln, Ca.  We had a bit of a surprise, and scare when we arrived; the guy we had been dealing with was no longer with the company, and they didn’t even know we were delivering the tables!  But they accepted and we unloaded the tables with the help of some workers and forklifts.  Here are some pictures of us unloading.

They looked really good once we got them all in and the owners were really happy with them.  We mocked up some tasting stations and here are come pictures of that.

This is the Quality Control room where they do tastings many times a day, hence the need for 3 of these tables.

All in all it was a great experience making these tables.  We would love to do more, so give us a call if you need any or know of anyone  who needs any

The middle post with ball bearings top and bottom

To ensure that the top did not spin itself off of the skateboard wheels over time, we added a 1″ diameter pipe into two ball bearing pieces of hardware to center of the top and to the base.  This not only located the top, but provided extra support and security.

The under side of the top

The bearing in the base

Staining!

Yuck.  That is my word for staining.  It stinks, its messy, and it makes me feel terrible.  On this particular job we used minwax, special walnut.  It is a very nice, warm brown color.

brushing on the stain

the final color

For the top coat I am using a product called bioshield. http://www.bioshieldpaint.com/.  It is a non-toxic finish made up Tung Oil, Linseed Oil and some other additives which makes it dry faster than just oil.  It offers superior protection against water, and other liquids because it is a penetrating product that protects from the inside out.  And best of all it does not smell bad or make you feel bad.  This company also has stain and other great green products that I will loook into using for the future.

Building and cutting a 6 foot round solid oak top.

We started with 5/4 solid oak we hand-picked at Auburn Hardwoods in Auburn, CA.  Next we made a pattern on the floor of half of the 6 foot circle.  We joined the edges of the boards, cut them to the desired width on the table saw and then built half circles using the pattern.  We started in the middle with boards a little over 6 ft. and then made each consecutive board a little bit smaller so as not to waste too much material.

One challenge we had at this stage was how to get the top sanded once it was all glued up.  There is a shop in town that has a time saver (a big sander with a conveyer belt which sands pieces flat) that is only 48″ wide.  So we glued up 6 half circles, had them sanded, brought them back to the shop and glued two halves together to make 3 tops big enough to get a 6 ft. round out of.

How to cut a 6 ft. circle?  I was going to use a router mounted onto an extension board attached to the top in the center with a pin.  But as we all know, routers can produce hideous tear out as it enters and exits the end grain, especially on Oak.   So a fellow woodworker suggested we use the bandsaw.  It

Cutting the circle

turned out to be a wonderful suggestion.  Instead of building an out-feed table for the bandsaw, it turned out that the table bases were almost the right height.  So we leveled the bases (which actually have a pipe resting in a bearing in both the center of the base and top allowing a pivot point for the top) with the bandsaw, and made sure it was perpendicular to the blade.  This was a little tricky and took some time on the first top, but after that it was smooth sailing.  The cut produced by the 5/8″ bandsaw blade was awesome.  It took very little sanding to get it smooth, no tear out!!

Here are some pictures showing us cutting.

Peter cutting one.

Monica cutting one.

The set up!

Our latest Commission!

We were recently commissioned by a large coffee roasting company outside of Sacramento to build three 6 foot round tables.  The catch and challenge was that the entire top needed to turn.  Finding lazy susan hardware strong enough to support such a top was a challenge.  After noodling around on the internet I came across a picture of a table that had 3 skateboard wheels which not only support the top, but allowed the entire top to spin freely.  This design appealed to our client and we subsequently got the go ahead to build the tables.  Following are some pictures of one of the tables and I will describe how we built and cut such a large circle out of oak hardwood.

Monica and table in the shop.

The making of a 6 foot round lazy susan table.

support with wheels by bandsaw

A walnut sofa table-one of my favorites

A solid walnut “floating top” sofa table.  The top has the raw edge of the tree which keeps the natural feel of the where the wood came from intact!

Hello world!

Yeah!! I have a blog.  This blog is intended for me to share my latest woodworking adventures, new techniques I have learned, and to share and get ideas from other designers, woodworkers, and hobbyists.  So stay tuned!