Coffee table in the finishing stage and nearly done!!

[Cato]

A couple of pics of my recent progress on a coffee table for my daughter.

I dyed and shellaced the walnut and mahogany base as well as the table top this week.

The base

Glued the apron end assembly today and this is a dry fit, and will glue the stretchers tomorrow so that the base will be completely finished.

Installed the breadboard ends yesterday on the table top along with their little nerve wracking pegs. Pegs have to be just right or you get tear out on the opposing side. Still I was fairly pleased once they were in.

Here is the table top waiting to be lightly sanded and then it will get 3 coats per side of General Finishes water based top coat.

So the end is in sight for this project, and I even made the little pegs that Greg Paolini called for in his video on making an Arts and Crafts Coffee Table.

I used a 50/50 mixture of Transtint Red Mahogany and Vintage Brown Maple dye on both the Mahogany and the Walnut in this table, followed by 3 coats of dewaxed amber shellac.

Next time I mix that for Mahogany I will go a little less on the Red dye as the Mahogany really wants to pick up the red quick.

I will be glad when the finishing stage is done and I can deliver this to my girl.

I know she will like it better than the Ikea one that is falling apart on her.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

looks great

 

[Timmy]

Great looking table.

 

[Cato]

Thanks Tim and Ron.

Putting the first coats of poly on it today and it is so close to being done!!

 

[zdorsch]

That looks great! The mixture of mahogany and walnut look great.

 

[toolferone]

Nice looking table. The square pegs are a great touch!

 

[Jeff]

Nicely done. I like the wood combo and finish that you chose. :thumbs_up

You survived the breadboard end anxiety attack from your earlier thread. Just curious though. Which of the techniques did you finally go with to fashion them? Any preference in your opinion?

 

[LeftyTom]

Nicely done, Bob. Those pegs in the breadboard ends are a nice complement to the table.

 

[Cato]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments.
None of my projects ever go without little hiccups or a boo boo here or there, so it's always about recovery or living with that it is handmade and not going to be a perfect flawless piece.

Jeff- I went with the consensus of making my breadboard ends flush with the top and sides instead of having them proud as Gregory did in his video of the project.

The attachment joinery was an inch deep mortise and tenon with the walnut pegs and just a touch of glue in the center of the mortise and tenon and center peg.

The outer pegs holes were slightly elongated from side to side only to allow for wood movement.

I fashioned the pegs from some quarter inch walnut I had leftover from some box projects, and I used a hollow chisel punch that I got from Veritas to make the squares in the breadboards.
Next time I do that I will put one of my wooden clamps on either side of the hole where the peg exits to prevent any tearout at the exit point.

At least the couple of spots where I did have minor tearout will be hidden on the bottom, but the pegs have to fit fairly tight to the hole or they will not offer the support they need to give to hold the breadboard end tight the the main top.

Will put my last coat of poly on today and already I am a big fan of this General Finishes water based topcoat. Goes on extremely smooth and dries hard in two hours, so several coats can go on in a day.

Thanks again everybody for your encouragement and advice on this project. It really helps someone like me that is trying to get better skilled in fine woodworking, but has to weather a lot of painful learning curves!!

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

how are you applying the water based topcoat? Are you spraying it?

 

[sawman101]

Nice table Bob!

 

[Cato]

how are you applying the water based topcoat? Are you spraying it?

Ron, I am using a foam brush and since the water based poly is thin by nature it goes on very nicely with no brush marks.

 

[Phil S]

Bob, my experience with this new General Finishes water based finish is the same as yours. Easy to use and quick to dry. Seems as GF is producing a great product