SoZo Coffee Shop Table Top Series #3: Completed, Delivered, Installed in Coffee Shop

They look beautiful. What kind of finish did you finally decide on?

-- Beth, Oklahoma, Rambling Road Designs

Beth- About 4 coats of this.

-- DullChiselDoug, http://www.mcphersonvisionsinwood.com

Those turned out beautifully! You put a lot of work into those inlays but it was worth the effort. And sanding them on your shop made drum sander makes them even better! Were the inlays full thickness? I have some concerns that expansion of the table top will spread your corner miters. What did you do to counter this? Thanks for doing the blog.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

gfadvm, if you look at his post here you’ll see veneer being glued onto a ply substrate. I think he’s got the expansion thing thought out ok.

My question is, did he do those star routs freehand? And the letters? There’s no sign of a template.

I think it’s a great project, well done, one to be proud of for a long time. I have no idea what your business agreement was with the place, but I hope you have a prominent sign there explaining who did the tabletops and where he can be found. That kind of business-buzz starter can be worth more than a year’s worth of cappuccini.

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

Doug – these turned out superb! Nicely done…...I’m sure it will inspire some new business….

Jeff

-- Jeff - I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Those are outstanding. Love the finished product. Excellant work…....

-- Brock, Illinois

Thanks Lee, I didn’t realize the table tops were veneered. In the pic it looks like the veneer is pretty thick.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

Great table tops, super inlays, nothing like a smile from the receiver,gift or paid for, a smile is the greatest payment you can get.

-- Bob, Lewistown, Montana. Kindness is the Language the blind can see and deaf can hear. - Mark Twain

Great looking tables, Doug. Now you can eat off the floor on the table! LOL

-- Paul - The sweetest sound in my shop, next to Mozart, is what a hand plane makes slicing a ribbon.

Thanks everyone.

Lee- I did rout out the insets for the stars and the letters freehand after tracing each with a knife and/or pencil. The letters were cut on the bandsaw, so while they were all visually consistent, they were not exactly the same fit from one to the next, hence the freehand routing. It took patience and practice to get good at it, but by the time I was on my second or third table, I was feeling pretty comfortable with the process. Templates would have been handy. This is just the approach that I took. I’ve seen guys do it, and I wanted to see if I could too.

gfadvm- the top (about 1/4” thinck) is laminated to the substrate plywood (about 3/4” thick) as Lee mentioned. The outer frames (about 1 1/8”thick) are glued and I used loose tenons for added strength and to help with alignment. I’m not worried too much about the corner miters having problems due to seasonal expansion/contraction related to moisture. Hope I’m right.

-- DullChiselDoug, http://www.mcphersonvisionsinwood.com

Those look great! Could I get a Venti white chocolate mocha to go on those please?

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

Congrats Doug, those came out awesome and look great with the finish – really well done :-)

-- Sneaking up on the line....