An Oak Table for the Queen's Dining Hall

Just so that all of you don’t think that all I make is clocks, I thought I would post this new project that I made for our own house.

The queen and I are still raising our 2 great kids, and our old dining table was showing desperate signs of wear. I made up my mind to make her a nice piece that would be a focal point of our home and test some of my own skills.

The base top on this oak table is 42”x60”x5/4”. The top is edge glued using a locking router cut along with several biscuits inserted. During construction, I think that the biggest fear that I had centered on the top joints cracking loose over time and cupping during glue-up clamping. So I probably used an overkill amount of edge glue techniques.

The shape of the top is a completely custom design. Not to be content with a square or round table end, I made several sample templates testing a variety of shape combinations before I found one that pleased everyone in the house. The 12 sided design seems to maximize the table surface area, while still giving it a decorative look.

A simple double rounded relief on the table edge was decided upon, to limit inside corners that would be difficult to keep clean. (Ok maybe I am the messy one, not the kids)

The apron mirrors the shape of the top and is rabbet jointed to the top, along with backing support pieces that help guarantee stability. The non-traditional angles on the top created apron angles that considerably taxed my patience to achieve a nice tight fit. In the end I love the look.

The table uses equalizer slides to smoothly open for any combination of the 3 12” leaves. From the picture of the fully assembled table you can see that 2 of the leaves do not have aprons installed on them, this allows them to be stored under the tabletop, between the slides. The center leaf has aprons installed onto it, along with finial blocks to break-up the long running apron.

Fully extended to its 96” length, the table easily seats 10 people.

I do not have the proper equipment in my shop to turn the 8” pedestal bases, so I did purchase them, along with the 6 pre-cut legs, from another shop. The stretcher and spindles between the bases are a design that I settled upon after (again) making several templates and trying different looks.

I finished the project to match the custom cabinetry that I had made for the queen, a couple of years ago. The color is 2 coats of Minwax “Golden Pecan”.

Several months ago when I began this project I posted a forum asking you, the members of Lumberjocks, for opinions on a finish protective coatings.
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/2565
After carefully weighing your valued opinions, and several calls to manufactures, I decided to use a product by General Finishes, called Arm-R-Seal.
http://www.generalfinishes.com/finishes/oil-base-finishes/oilbase.htm#EFWoodstains

As I have posted in a couple of other projects, this a product that I have switched to, from regular poly, and I am very pleased with its application and performance characteristics. The top is finished in 4 layers of gloss and 4 layers of semi-gloss, with light sanding between coats. I did neglect to put grain filler on the top and you can feel the grain across the finish, as different areas of the lumber soaked up the finish resin in varying degrees. It is a slight ripple so I am not devastated…live and learn. The table almost glows in the room.

My skills are not yet up to building nice chairs, like the ones that the queen picked out. However, the ones that she did choose to purchase, seem to go well with the project.

We hope that this table sees many wonderful years in our home and hosts several memories.

As always, thanks for letting me share my humble projects.
Trev

-- Trevor Premer Head Termite and Servant to the Queen - Heirloom Woodworking