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From logs to table and chair set

Started by Carpenter, December 02, 2015, 01:27:17 AM

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Carpenter

     This is referral business for one thing which I am very happy about.  I made a table and chair set for a guy a few years back who just happened to find my website.  That gentleman wanted a bar height table and chairs to match to set on the covered deck for his cabin so he and his friends could drink beer.  Those were my only instructions, so I worked with what I had available, which was cedar and pine and came up with this.




There are 8 chairs with the set but, I can't find a picture of all 8 at the moment.  Evidently he liked what he got and that led to this.  This man had to remove some oak trees and some walnut trees and wanted me to build two table and chair sets one for his house and one for his hunting cabin.  I told him upfront that it would be a long process.  I did not have a kiln at this time and all I had to work in was a very crowded small shop.  Frankly my tool set was less than ideal as well.  I may be crazy for even taking this job now that I think about it.  But, *DanG the torpedoes full speed ahead!

The only clear instructions I was given were a dining room table approximately 4' x 8' to seat 6 or 8 people.  The hunting lodge set will be in a different post.  I haven't built it yet, but from my mental image it will be unlike anything I have ever built before.

His oak logs were large enough to quarter, I can't find a picture of the full logs either.  Actually, I told him to leave them as long as he could fit on the trailer and I'd just cut them to length.  Well, he did he left them tree length and the big ones were over 3' at the base.  Actually I expected a flatbed trailer pulled by a pickup, but they were delivered by a semi with a side dump trailer, which was for the best.  I had to quarter the big logs to fit them on the mill and had to cut them to 8' to lift them with the forklift.  So that's what I did.



Three quarters are pictured because I already had the first one on the mill when I thought to snap a picture.  Then, I quarter sawed it and stacked and stickered the lumber to dry.  I milled some of it 1", some 2" and some 4" random widths because at this time the idea for the tables and chairs was still forming in my mind. 

And then of course to make this possible I had to build a solar kiln.  This also had been on the to do list for a while, but this project is what pushed it from the to do list to the done list. 



And here it is pictured with one of the loads of oak in it.  By the time I got all of that done, working around my other irons in the fire, it was fall.  I found out that oak dries very slowly in a solar kiln in the winter, so I waited.....  I had some other issues with the kiln as well, but, after a few modifications I've got it working pretty well. 

These yard trees had a lot of hidden defects.  The logs looked pretty clear, but under the surface there were knots that had been pruned and healed over.  There were a few ant colonies in the logs as well.  And, I still don't know what species of oak these were.  I do know that he brought two different species of oak, one I liked and the other ended up being mostly firewood.  So, anyway back to the story.  The wood did dry eventually, however around all of the knots it warped terribly, to the point of being not use able.  So, I had to cut out all of the knots before the wood went through the planer, which left me with a lot of short, small pieces.  The only way that I could see to make this work was to make a butcher block top.



So, I did.  Here it is dry fitted on my workbench.  A gallon of glue and several hundred biscuits later I had a top glued up in the rough.  I built a router sled to true it up.  And I built the base of the table. 




I really didn't have a specific plan in mind when I started the table I just let the wood dictate how it turned out, to a point.  But, it turned out very craftsman like.  So, a set of arts and crafts style chairs were built to compliment it. 






Complete with upholstered leather seats, (that was my first time doing upholstery, I got fairly good at it by the 6th one or so) hand cut dovetailed cross stretchers, and ebony pegs for the crest rail.  Everything has a hand rubbed satin finish on it.  Which if you've never tried, you should.  I found that it is very difficult to get a perfect finish on a piece of wood as big as this table top.  It's not any where near perfect, I finally had to just call it pretty good and stop.  Maybe next time I can get it perfect.

But, this is the final product.




Looks a little different than the logs that he dropped off.  There are very few screws in this project as well.  The only screws hold the seats on the chairs and the table top to the table, everything else is wood to wood joinery.  I had a lot of fun with this project.  I hope you enjoyed reading it as well!

Thanks,
Jeff Carpenter

beenthere

Looks mighty perfect to me... good workmanship and stick-to-it to getRdun.  smiley_thumbsup
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

sandsawmill14

hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

sandsawmill14

one question  were you able to get the 4" stock for the legs to the same moisture as the rest of the lumber ??? and again i say wonderful job!!!  smiley_thumbsup
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

69bronco

Great job!! I've always said that chair building is a test of skills, yours are shining!

Jemclimber

Very, very nice.  The chairs and the joinery in the table look great!!  Thanks for showing.
lt15

Magicman

Yes, I did enjoy and admire your craftsmanship.  I would say that your customer does/will too.

I also liked the Cedar set.   :)
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mesquite buckeye

Good stuff. ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) :snowball:

Thanks for posting. ;D
Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

kettlekorn

It never ceases to amaze me the degree of craftsmanship that is displayed by the forum members.  Just an outstanding feat. great job.
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samandothers

Both the cedar and the oak set look fantastic.  For someone with a small shop and limited tools you did an outstanding job, well really if you had a big shop and many tools you did an outstanding job.  Really like your design, joinery and the finish.

What did you finish it with?

Dodgy Loner

Excellent work. The table and chairs are very classy 8)
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

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Bruno of NH

Great job you are a can do craftsmen .
Jim /Bruno
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

Rando

Reminds me of a cross between Gustav Stickley and Greene and Greene brothers. Absolutely wonderful.

Carpenter

Thanks for the compliments guys. 

I'll try to answer a few questions.

Quote from: sandsawmill14 on December 02, 2015, 07:36:32 AM
one question  were you able to get the 4" stock for the legs to the same moisture as the rest of the lumber ??? and again i say wonderful job!!!  smiley_thumbsup

The moisture tester I was using was an old Delmhorst contractor model.  It was only designed to read down to 10% moisture content.  So, what I did was adjust it so that it read some kiln dried oak that I had from the lumber yard at around 15%.  So, I'm not exactly sure what moisture content my lumber actually was.  But, it was comparable to the kiln dried sample.  So, I'm assuming 6-8%.  The big pieces probably did not get that dry.  They were also in and out of the kiln a few times, because they tested dry as far as the pins would reach, but, when I planed them I could tell they really weren't dry.  So, they ended up spending several months in the kiln.  In the end everywhere I tested read dry, and the wood worked like dry wood.  What I do know for sure though is that the base has been glued up in the house, (I had to glue it up in the house because the shop is un-insulated and it was way below freezing last winter that I glued it up and finished the table).  So, it's been in a heated air conditioned space for 10 months now with no sign of movement, the room even has a wood stove in it. 

As for the finish.  I'm still learning as I go.  I used a Trans Fast dye. Filled the grain. Followed by Waterlox, original, then satin.  That's all I did for the table base, but I did put the waterlox on with a rag, it takes more coats but there aren't brush marks or runs in it.  For the top I started with this method except put it on with a brush.  Then I rubbed the finish.  Which, is basically sanding the finish to get the brush marks and other imperfections out and then polishing the finish to whatever sheen you want.  I didn't get it as good as I wanted with the waterlox, so I used Behlans rock hard table top varnish over the waterlox.  Then I rubbed that.  I managed to rub through the finish a few times and had to start over, (not the whole thing, just where I rubbed through).  In the end I went over it with steel wool and waxed it. 
     For the chairs I used Formby's tongue oil varnish, which I've used for years with good results.  It's similar to Waterlox, perhaps thinner.  I usually put it on with a rag, but I found that you can apply it with a foam brush with good results.  Several coats of that and then I went over them with steel wool and wax, which really gave them a satin sheen instead of being real shiny and it made the finish feel so smooth. 
     I've been experimenting with rubbed finishes for a while now, I like the way they look.  I still haven't found the perfect varnish for a rubbed finish.  But really, the Behlans is the best I've tried so far.  I think I'd have gotten better results on the top if I'd have just used that from the beginning and thinned it.  All finishes say not to thin, that is because of EPA regulations regarding fumes from the thinner.  But, you can get most finishes, if not all finishes to lay more evenly with some thinner.  The Formby's may be the exception to that as it is already pretty thin.  It is much easier to do a rubbed finish with lacquer. 

Kbeitz

A moisture meter simply passes current through a material and measure the resistance.
A simple multi meter can aslo read a resistance.
This measurement will depend on the distance the probes are separated, so you will need to be accurate with that distance using. You can easily use a 1.5V battery in series with the multimeter to make it a lot more sensitive.
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

sandsawmill14

thanks for the info those tables are amazing :)
hudson 228, lucky knuckleboom,stihl 038 064 441 magnum

isawlogs

Really nice looking chairs and table, I like the leather seat on them, how much padding and what did you use? Someday I will make some chairs, they intiminate me, this style of chair you made is what I would do.
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

yukon cornelius

Those look great! You did a great job!
It seems I am a coarse thread bolt in a world of fine threaded nuts!

Making a living with a manual mill can be done!

flatrock58

I like the table and chairs.  My neighbor built the exact same chairs.
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OffGrid973

I love this project.  Any plans used for the chairs or did you make up the design yourself?  Very impressive. Any more details on the satin rub (coats, top coats, grit) ?  The final 10% is still where I struggle so any help is appreciated.
-Chris
Your Fellow Woodworker,
- Off Grid

Carpenter

Quote from: isawlogs on December 04, 2015, 08:22:15 AM
Really nice looking chairs and table, I like the leather seat on them, how much padding and what did you use? Someday I will make some chairs, they intiminate me, this style of chair you made is what I would do.

Thanks, I love this style of chair as well.  Don't be intimidated by chairs. 
The chairs are not an original design of mine. I got the idea from one of my books just called Tables and Chairs from fine woodworking, I bought it from Woodcraft, and I also bought Chairmaking and Design by Jeff Miller.  These chairs were designed by Kevin Rodel.  I really couldn't come up with a way to improve on the design, so I hope I'm not in violation of a patent.  But, since they were printed in a book so that people could build what they were building, and I have read through the book several times and there is no mention of patents, I think I'm ok.  It's not easy, it's not simple.  There are a lot of pieces of wood to fit together.  But it's not very difficult either if you break the process down into steps.  As I was building a set of 8 I went ahead and built patterns and jigs.  Of course my Wife loves this set of chairs as well, and as I've got another table and chair set on order so, I might use the same pattern, I felt it was well worth making the patterns.  Most of the mortise and tenon joints are straight, even though the pieces are curved, for example the crest rail and the lower rail.  Then, the backsplat is in the same plane as them, so the mortise and tenon joints are straight.  You have to get the angle for the back correct for a comfortable seat.  And the seat is splayed so it is wider at the front than the back 4.5 degrees.  The way that it was done in the book, and the way that I did it was to cut the angle on the side rails and side stretchers and use slip tenons.  They were actually pretty easy once I built a jig to cut the mortises with the router.  I should post pictures of the jig.  There's enough adjustment with it I'll be able to use it for a lot of different projects and it was pretty simple to build.  I still squared up the mortises with a chisel.  If you or anybody else wants to build a set of chairs like this I highly recommend getting Tables and Chairs from Fine Woodworking.  It's a collection of articles from the Fine Woodworking magazine over the years. 

The seats are a 5/8" oak frame with upholstery webbing stretched and woven over it.  Followed by 1" high density foam, then a layer of batting then muslin, then the leather.  I found that there is a fine line between the frames being too loose or too tight.  Some people skip the frame and the webbing and just use a piece of plywood, but after building a set with the webbing I really like the way they feel.  So, I don't think I would personally skip that step. 
     

Carpenter

Quote from: cwimer973 on December 05, 2015, 10:20:46 AM
I love this project.  Any plans used for the chairs or did you make up the design yourself?  Very impressive. Any more details on the satin rub (coats, top coats, grit) ?  The final 10% is still where I struggle so any help is appreciated.
-Chris

It's challenging to do a rubbed finish on a surface this big.  I ended up using Rock Hard Table Top Varnish, made by Behlans.  I get it from woodcraft.  And, I used the gloss. 

Apply the varnish and let it cure.  Apply extra coats just in case you rub through.  Varnish has to cure at least a few weeks before it can be rubbed.  It shouldn't corn the sand paper when sanding. 

The first step is to level the finish.  Use 320 grit if it's really bad, or higher.  I found that dry sanding is easier at this point and you can see if it's level.  Then wet sanding, I've been using a soapy water mix for the lubricant, but there are other commercially available lubricants that probably do work better.  Work your way up in grit to about 1200, at which case you may want to stop, or go higher.  You don't want the top too shiny, or too dull for that matter it just depends on the look you are going for.  But, if it's too shiny scratches show up easily, and since it is a table designed to be used I tried to strike a happy medium.  I think I had it too shiny at one point, so I went over it with 0000 steel wool in the direction of the grain.  That made it too dull, in my opinion.  So, it got a coat of Tree Wax.  It's a hard wax that comes in a can, I can get it from the local lumber yard is why I started using it.  I'm sure you'd get similar results with other types of furniture waxes as well.  But, the wax fills in the little scratches left by the steel wool and just gives the piece a nice glow. 

My experience with hand rubbed finishes started by doing a set of rustic bar stools with a lacquer finish.  I used lacquer because other people were using lacquer with good results.  But I didn't have a spray rig, so I brushed it on.  Had to work quickly because lacquer dries so fast.  They turned out okay, but in certain light you could see all of the imperfections in the finish.  So, I came back to the house to watch several you tube videos to improve the finish.  I found that just a quick sanding and then steel wool and wax really improved that rather bad finish. 

I also bought Bob Flexner's book on wood finishes.  I'm still in the learning phases of this myself, even though I have been practicing for two years now.  One of these days I want to do a French Polish on something, probably something small like a coffee table or end table. 

jamesamd

All that is gold does not glitter,not all those that wander are lost.....

isawlogs

 I would like to thank you for answering and taking time to explaine the hows to. I will look into getting the books. Good references on books is always welcomed, I am of the book generation, they only need to have lots of pictures !!!!    :P     :D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

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