Finished four maple examination tables

[adowden]

When I went to pick up the vacuum press in late January I was asked to quote making four examination tables that would match some stock cabinets from Lowes. I finished those back in March. Here is a picture of the finished tables.

Things I learned from this project:

The best way I could find to match the Lowes finish was to buy oops paint and thin it 50/50 with distilled water. I wiped it on, and quickly wiped it back off. I then used spray shellac and three coats of water based poly. I raised the grain before I started and that made a huge difference. Instead of steel wool(which could rust), I used the 0000 nylon pad to smooth between coats.

Upholstery stinks. This was my first upholstery project, and hopefully my last. The materials alone (2" foam, poly wrap, and vinyl were about as expensive as the 8/4 maple).

Even soft maple is really hard. It ruined my freud ripping blade. Luckily the people at Raleigh Saw did a great job sharpening it for me. For the large dadoes, I rough cut them on the band saw to remove most of the material and finished cutting them on the table saw with my dado set.

I love the tapered drill bit countersink sets. I used it for the first time with this project and it did great in the maple.

I didn't want to add leg levelers because the legs were so substantial and I wanted the full cross section touching. Instead after I delivered them and placed them, I used iron on edge banding to fix any wobbles.

Amy

 

[nelsone]

Those look good and solid. Good job on an interesting project!

 

[JimmyC]

Great job Amy, and using iron on veneer for shims is a great idea.

Jimmy

 

[Bas]

Great looking tables, and very nice job on the upholstery. Very creative on the use of oops paint, never would have thought of that.

So, did you build the tables all at once, or one at a time? I'm always torn between efficiency (setting up the machines ones) and going crazy with all the parts, or finishing each one completely but taking twice as long to do it. Maybe my shop is just too small for mass production work.

 

[Trent Mason]

Very nice work Amy!!! :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap I still have a lot to learn about the things that you mentioned, so I'll leave it at that. They look great! :icon_thum

Trent

 

[BobcatBob]

Nice job on the tables. I didn't even think Lowes sold such a thing. Oh well, live and learn.

Bob

 

[skysharks]

Great Job Amy. I am sure that the customer will be very happy with those..
I know how hard it is to match some of Lowe's finishes.
Great job on your upholstery work. That foam is expensive isn't it. Not to mention the vinyl.

 

[TracyP]

Great looking tables, you should be proud, I am currently working on two end tables, I hope the come out as well as yours.

 

[Ray Martin]

Amy,

The tables look terrific. And thanks for posting the 'lessons learned'. I'm trying to learn from what I read here. I think when I have a finishing question, I'll just send it to you.

Ray

 

[adowden]

Thanks for the compliments. As far the mass production question goes, I built one first, and then the other three at the same time. I did change the design a little. On the first table, I cut the stretchers .25" short of the end of the legs and made small pieces like rectangular plugs to match the grain on the legs and hide them. The customer really didn't care about that and just wanted them fast, so I just made the stretchers go all the way to the end on the next three tables. It was much faster doing three at once - about 12 hours longer than doing one. The only part that wasn't much faster was the sanding.

Amy

 

[Canuck]

Great work on the tables, Amy!!!:thumbs_up:thumbs_up

Couple of questions for ya.

What kind of joinery did you use to attach the lower shelf to the legs?

Did you use MT joinery for the aprons to legs?

Looks like you did a great job with the upholstered top!:eusa_danc (I know that these types of supplies aren't inexpensive unless you find an adequate piece of a remnant.

I am sure that they will stand up well to years of abuse!:wsmile:

Thanks for sharing the pictures and finishing details.

Wayne

 

[b4man]

Thanks for the great information. They look terrific. :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

 

[Will Goodwin]

Those came out great! Well done! :icon_thum:eusa_danc:eusa_clap

 

[jeff...]

When I went to pick up the vacuum press in late January I was asked to quote making four examination tables that would match some stock cabinets from Lowes. I finished those back in March. Here is a picture of the finished tables.

Things I learned from this project:

The best way I could find to match the Lowes finish was to buy oops paint and thin it 50/50 with distilled water. I wiped it on, and quickly wiped it back off. I then used spray shellac and three coats of water based poly. I raised the grain before I started and that made a huge difference. Instead of steel wool(which could rust), I used the 0000 nylon pad to smooth between coats.

Upholstery stinks. This was my first upholstery project, and hopefully my last. The materials alone (2" foam, poly wrap, and vinyl were about as expensive as the 8/4 maple).

Even soft maple is really hard. It ruined my freud ripping blade. Luckily the people at Raleigh Saw did a great job sharpening it for me. For the large dadoes, I rough cut them on the band saw to remove most of the material and finished cutting them on the table saw with my dado set.

I love the tapered drill bit countersink sets. I used it for the first time with this project and it did great in the maple.

I didn't want to add leg levelers because the legs were so substantial and I wanted the full cross section touching. Instead after I delivered them and placed them, I used iron on edge banding to fix any wobbles.

Amy

Agree soft maple is really hard - nice looking tables - real clean lines - great job.

The maple almost looks too perfect - did you bleach it or is it a glaze "milk" finish?

 

[adowden]

As for the joinery, I tried to keep it really simple. The customer showed me an examination table they had and said, "We would like it just like this one, except 4' long instead of 6'." The sample had two screws and two bolts to attach the legs to the apron. I hid the bolts with maple stained Fastcaps (sticky veneer circles). I used pocket hole joinery to attach the aprons to each other. There are short stretchers that fit in a groove in the legs, and a long stretcher that fits in grooves in the short stretchers (all reinforced with screws). For the shelf, I just made it long enough to span the short stretchers and screwed it into the short stretchers near the edges.

The vinyl is really nice. It is a marine grade, top of the line vinyl that feels like leather. It has a really nice backing. One change that I made from the sample is that the vinyl in the sample wrapped around the top boards (which were 2 x 4s in the sample). That made the vinyl seam so long that it would have to be sewed. I decided to show the top boards, and make it so that the seat could easily be removed for re-upholstering if necessary.

The finish is too good to be true. The maple was gorgeous, but the customer wanted it to match cabinets they had from Lowes HI. To accomplish this I made a stain with 50/50 paint and water. It worked really well, but the maple would have been beautiful without any stain. I wish I had taken pictures before the finishing.

Amy

 

[Douglas Robinson]

Amy:

Congrats on the commision. Is the client the same entity I got my cyclone from? As I recall you obtained you vacuum from them.

Looks Good!! :icon_thum

Doug

 

[Travis Porter]

Looks great Amy! Good to see you are still at it! You seem to do a lot of maple projects!