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Coffee table in ash

Project by stanley_clifton posted 595 days ago 927 views 0 times favorited 19 comments Add to Favorites Watch

This table was made to fit into our lounge better than the previous item. The lid lifts to provide storage; the idea was that our baby would not be able to get at the stuff – now he’s bigger, he can.

Staining the ash felt sacriligeous but was necessary to match the rest of the furniture in the room.Danish oil is the final finish.

The finishing was the hardest part.There was no way that this timber was going to plane smooth, so a cabinet scraper was a must. Also the lid tended to warp – I had thought that this was a pine problem, but no – I’ll place battens on any future item.

Although that wild grain was difficult to handle, in the end it has given a wonderful look and I’m proud of the way that I layed out the timbers. It holds stacks of mags and other junk, which helps to keep the room reasonably tidy. Baby likes to bang his wooden toys on the lid, but has thus far only managed to dinge it slightly; these dinges may well steam out.

-- Stanley generally struggling


19 comments so far

View Bill Butler's profile

Bill Butler

73 posts in 656 days


posted 595 days ago

Nice piece of work.

View motthunter's profile

motthunter

2079 posts in 692 days


posted 595 days ago

looks stable and I like the grain

-- making sawdust....

View Napaman's profile

Napaman

3482 posts in 970 days


posted 595 days ago

looks fantastic…though the finish was hard to do—-it looks like this turned out fantastic…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

View SPalm's profile

SPalm

945 posts in 775 days


posted 595 days ago

Nice piece. You did do a nice job of grain matching on the top.

I like your biscuit holder jars.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

View Thos. Angle's profile

Thos. Angle

4013 posts in 855 days


posted 595 days ago

well done

-- Thos. Angle

View Grumpy's profile

Grumpy

14914 posts in 744 days


posted 595 days ago

Nice job on the table Stanley. I would not be concerned about the finish, looks great.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

View Mark E.'s profile

Mark E.

64 posts in 635 days


posted 595 days ago

That’s a beauty!

-- Mark

View tenontim's profile

tenontim

1319 posts in 637 days


posted 595 days ago

Real nice job on that table, Stanley. I like ash myself, although the American stock is getting fairly eaten up with glass worm. If you don’t mind the worm tracks, it works well. Poor man’s oak. I’m building a desk right now for a client, out of ash. I would normally put bread board ends, to keep the top flat, but they didn’t want that. I find it’s easier to keep flat if you don’t alternate the directions of the growth rings. That way you only have to be concerned with it bowing one way or the other, otherwise you get the wave effect. I’m using it to trim my entire house with on the interior. Of course, it has to be stained. Nice post.

-- Tim -- http://tmuli.com

View travis's profile

travis

2 posts in 597 days


posted 595 days ago

nice table .

View GMoney's profile

GMoney

147 posts in 696 days


posted 595 days ago

Stain looks beautiful, that’s the color I like. It looks like golden oak to me and it really brings out the grain. Nice job.

-- Greg, CT

View Scott Bryan's profile

Scott Bryan

20575 posts in 715 days


posted 595 days ago

Hi Stanley,

This is a beautiful table. You did a nice job with the staining and finish. I am assuming that you have oak furniture as I agree with Greg that this looks like a golden oak stain.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9521 posts in 881 days


posted 595 days ago

Great job of grain matching on that top!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

View cajunpen's profile

cajunpen

5968 posts in 959 days


posted 595 days ago

That is sweet. I really like the grain in the top and the finish is outstanding.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

View stanley_clifton's profile

stanley_clifton

120 posts in 596 days


posted 594 days ago

Thanks for all the nice things said.

The colour is light teak, which seems to be a versatile shade that blends with the multiple hues that we have in here.

Bread board ends was the other thought to stop the bowing. I did try and alternate the grain so I’ll bear the advice not to do this in mind. This timber is American ash: I don’t think that there were worm holes but I did have to work out a dodgy piece of sap wood and replace it with a patch. The timber was chosen because I thought that the grain would be straight – as you know arrow shafts, cricket bat handles etc are ash – but it didn’t turn out that way. Hi ho!

I knicked the jar idea off my Dad. He didn’t have a biscuit jointer but used the technique for screws etc.

-- Stanley generally struggling

View Phildo92027's profile

Phildo92027

37 posts in 692 days


posted 593 days ago

Nice looking table. Be careful with steaming dent sout after it’s finished. You’ll force water under the finish and the results won’t be fun. Again excellent job.

-- Phil, Near San Diego, CA

View douglbe's profile

douglbe

191 posts in 854 days


posted 593 days ago

Ash can be tricky, but I to use ash quite often, it is still abundant in my area and the emerald ash borer hasn’t hurt us too much, yet. I also get rough sawn for 50 to 60 cents a bd/ft. I can’t beat the price. Besides, I do like the wild grain, it adds character and the grain on your table looks great.

-- Doug, Cass City, Michigan

View jeanmarc's profile

jeanmarc

1751 posts in 609 days


posted 482 days ago

Nice piece.Great job

-- jeanmarc manosque france

View Dusty56's profile

Dusty56

3458 posts in 581 days


posted 481 days ago

the grain matching on that top is wonderful ! It almost appears to be moving like a river : )

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

View Beginningwoodworker's profile

Beginningwoodworker

4123 posts in 566 days


posted 341 days ago

Nice coffee table.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

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