Well, we completed the dining room table for Ruth's parents Saturday morning. Good thing, because we were heading there in the afternoon for her dad's (Bob) 60th birthday party. We had the top, legs and skirting stained and finished by Friday night, and did all of the assembly Saturday morning. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!
Here the skirting is on, and the new slides are ready to be put on.
Here we have the slides installed and lined up, also one of the leaves are in place and the aligners are screwed in...one more leaf to go.
The last step to assembly is to attach the refinished legs that were on their old table.
All put together!
Here it is...all ready to go. This tabletop was made out of 5/4 quartersawn red oak. Quartersawn lumber is much more stable because the grain runs perpendicular to the face instead of parallel such as flat, or rift sawn lumber. This means that as humidity changes with the season, the wood will expand horizontally instead of vertically, meaning no warping or cupping along the width of the table. Instead of the table getting warped or crooked, it will simply just get slightly narrower, or wider with humidity changes.
Using quartersawn wood adds great stability to any project, but the best part, is that the grain patterns usually posses a great "fleck" pattern, almost like tiger stripes, as seen here. The whole table had great amounts of fleck...I loved it!The finishing technique was a five part process that we had never done before.
Step 1-Minwax Early American Stain
Step 2-Heavy coat of Minwax Tung Oil
Step-3-another heavy coat of Tung Oil
Step4-Heavy coat of Minwax Glossy Polyurethane
Step 5-Heavy coat of Minwax Paste Wax
The stain is well..for color. The tung oil is a very easy wipe on finish that cures to a very hard glossy layer that is very durable and soaks into the wood pores. Two coats of tung oil ensure that anything spilled will not get into the wood and damage it. The polyurethane above that seals the pores of the wood to ensure that any hot or cold item placed on the surface will not pull the moisture to the surface and leave a nasty hazy ring on the tabletop. The paste wax is wiped on the top really heavy, allowed to dry, then vigorously wiped off to leave a shiny hand rubbed look(just like a car wax). The paste wax is an extra barrier for moisture, and offers extra scratch resistance. The paste wax can be re-applied at anytime to restore the nice luster to the table.
Moving on from here:
Today I started building the doors for the wardrobe I need to update. Tomorrow I head to Hartford to have them planed down and to pick up the sheet of plywood I need to make the shelves. I am hoping to have this done by the end of the week, but we will see how that goes.
