Maple hall table

[Mike Gilley]

So LOML started bugging me a couple of weeks ago for a hall table of some kind, to put in our dining room.
After much 'discussion' (her telling me what she wanted and me saying 'yes dear, what ever you want dear':yes::yes, I started on the table.
I decided to use most of the curly Maple I brought with me from up north.
After this project I have to agree with DaveO's assessment of curly Maple; a real pain to machine :BangHead:, but looks awful purdy when finished :icon_thum:icon_thum.
Since I had a design in mind, I started with the top:

Then went to the base:

And the side:

After making several 'corrections' (forgetting to trim stretchers down to final length BEFORE glue up :eusa_doh::eusa_doh, I finally got the finish done this past weekend and moved it in to the house :eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc.

Here's the finished table:

and 2 different views of the top, so you can see the grain of the Maple:

View 1

view 2:

I finished it with a coating of BLO, followed by 3 coats of shellac on the base & sides, and about 6 coats of shellac on the top.

In hindsight, and after much MUCH frustration with the shellac on the top, I probably should have gone with something else :eusa_doh::eusa_doh:. The top was just to big a surface, and the shellac I used wasn't very forgiving of a slow brush.

Oh well, lesson learned, shellac for smaller projects :icon_thum:icon_thum.

Regards,
Mike

 

[DaveO]

Beautiful figure in that Maple. I like the design :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap


Dave

 

[FredP]

thats some awsome wood!:icon_thum I like the design too. nice work:eusa_clap

 

[GregSmith]

Wow Mike, that looks fantastic.:icon_thum Nice design and use of the Maple. The figure really makes it come alive when the light hits it.

 

[TracyP]

Mike, I really like the curly maple. The design is nice too. All around great job as far as I am concerned.:icon_thum

 

[Mike Gilley]

Thanks everyone, I'm quite happy with the way it looks as well. I'm extremely pleased with the maple on the top. I knew there was something special in those boards whenh I picked them up, but it wasn't very obvious, had a hidden beauty that was brought out by the BLO.

Regards,
Mike

 

[jeff...]

Nice Table Mike and look not even one thing round :gar-La;

 

[5Etek-mike]

Wow, what a nice finish, Mike! :icon_thum I'm very impressed with how much the BLO really makes the figure pop in the maple! I like the tone that resulted also! I was heavily considering BLO and shellac on the alder armoire I'm working on, but now have second thoughts as far as going with shellac top coats also, as it's a very large project as well. (Perhaps going with BLO, and a top coat of carnauba wax..:dontknow

Thanks for sharing all the great pics, and way to stick with it thru the six shellac coats on the table top! Came out really nice!! :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

 

[nelsone]

Great looking table! Love the wood and the figure in the maple really came out!

 

[Canuck]

Great design and execution, Mike!!!:icon_thum:icon_thum:icon_thum

Now. Is that walnut tucked into the maple top? If it is, how is captured in the maple sides and front/back?:icon_scra It sure is a nice touch with that fine looking maple!!!:eusa_danc

Wayne

 

[Mike Gilley]

Great design and execution, Mike!!!:icon_thum:icon_thum:icon_thum

Now. Is that walnut tucked into the maple top? If it is, how is captured in the maple sides and front/back?:icon_scra It sure is a nice touch with that fine looking maple!!!:eusa_danc

Wayne

Hi Wayne,
Yep that's walnut, with a 3/4 strip of purpleheart running through the center of the walnut sections.
I agree, the walnut compliments the maple quite nicely :icon_thum. I originally thought about using QS sycamore instead, but I wasn't sure if I had enough or not, and I knew I had plenty of maple. :eusa_danc

Regards,
Mike

 

[Mike Gilley]

Great design and execution, Mike!!!:icon_thum:icon_thum:icon_thum

Now. Is that walnut tucked into the maple top? If it is, how is captured in the maple sides and front/back?:icon_scra It sure is a nice touch with that fine looking maple!!!:eusa_danc

Wayne

Sorry, I just realized I forgot to answer your second question on the table top.
I joined everything together with biscuits, pretty simple & straight forward. :icon_thum:icon_thum

 

[toolferone]

Mike, That is one nice looking table. I think it was worth the effort to work with that maple.

My only .02 cents of concern is the 3 horizontal pieces of maple. I would have turned them 90 degrees so all the grain is running the same way to reduce the chance of would movement causing any problems.

 

[NCPete]

That looks great! have you considered spraying shellac??? no issues with brushing when you don't use one. (I hates brushes! [/yosemite sam voice off])

 

[Mike Gilley]

My only .02 cents of concern is the 3 horizontal pieces of maple. I would have turned them 90 degrees so all the grain is running the same way to reduce the chance of would movement causing any problems.

Yeah I thought about that afterwards as well. If it gives me a problem later on, I guess I'll have to write it up as a learning experience & do it again :icon_scra.

That looks great! have you considered spraying shellac??? no issues with brushing when you don't use one. (I hates brushes! [/yosemite sam voice off])

I agree, I really don't care for brushes either. I tried thinning the shellac with DNA to see if that would make a difference, which it did but still had problems.
I finally went down to the BORG and picked up some cans of spray on shellac, and used those for the final coats.
Spraying made a world of difference, looks like its time to invest in a HVLP sprayer :eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc.

Hmmm, :eusa_thin:eusa_thin:eusa_thin time for a new tool :icon_thum:icon_thum:icon_thum !!!!

 

[sapwood]

That's a great looking table, Mike!
And if LOYL doesn't like it, tell her you will do another if she buys a nice HVLP sprayer :widea:

Now you gotta figure out how to photograph it in portrait mode for the calendar :icon_scra

It's a worthy entry :icon_thum
Roger