Walnut Table...Rust-egant?? Ele-rustic??

This is a table I came up with when a buddy gave me some end-grain slabs of black walnut from a downed tree on his property. The only thing I could think to do with them was use them for table tops. This table uses the first of two pieces I received.

The belt sander didn’t work too well (even with 24 grit zirconia belts) because the wood is so HARD. I got one side mostly flat with the belt sander, but there were still some chainsaw gouges in it. So I made a frame from 2” wide strips of melamine mdf. I mounted my router to a board that would sit across the top of the frame, and I used a 1/2” straight bit to ‘surface’ the other side of the slab so that it was flattened. I was NOT going to run end grain that tough through my planer. At that time the planer still had straight knives, not the helical cutterhead.

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I made the legs out of some more walnut I was given by an instructor way back in my high school days. The walnut is sandwiched between some Curly Aniegre. I had no idea what to do for the legs’ shape, so I watched some episodes of The American Woodshop to see what Scott Phillips did with some of his tables. I decided to use a very modified Queen Anne style to the legs.
...Therefore the title of this project: “Rust-egant?? Ele-rustic??”
What would you call it (other than a hunk of firewood… ;-D)? I find it to be an odd yet pleasing combination.

I made a template from melamine coated hardboard, refined the design until I liked it, and cut out the legs. BIG MISTAKE TO CUT OUT THE LEGS BEFORE DECIDING ON HOW TO ATTACH THEM TO THE TABLE. I decided on sliding dovetails, which I did not photograph, because they ended up serving as function only, not form. I don’t need to tell you how dicey that was cutting sliding dovetails on the router table after the legs were already shaped!!! I do still have all my flesh and fingers… but DON’T TRY IT!

I made the column as a triangular prism, and cut it on the tablesaw with the blade set at 60 degrees (WOOHOO for left-tilt saws!!). It is made of scrap White Ash left over from cutting out the body of my bass guitar.
Oh, and the top is attached with a double-ended lag bolt. What are those things called again…?

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Here is a closer look at the Aniegre/Walnut/Aniegre laminated legs.

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The finish took me the longest time to complete to my satisfaction. I consulted The Wood Whisperer about how to give the bark a flat finish and the top surface a gloss finish. He suggested I mask the top, apply a flat finish to the bark first, and then put gloss on the top. The gloss polyurethane dripped down the bark quite a lot, but it cured mostly with the same flat finish of the initial coat of flat lacquer.
I am very novice when it comes to applying a good finish, especially brushing, which is what I did to this table. The top has went through about 12 coats of polyurethane, all sanded back down to bare wood to seal most of the end-grain pores (as well as to get rid of numerous mistakes…like bubbles and finishing in a dusty shop).
I finally put on two coats of Zinsser Seal Coat shellac, and a final coat of Gloss Poly (straight from a fresh can) and it turned out very well. I popped bubbles by tapping a corner of my brush GENTLY into them and holding a very small halogen desk lamp over the area to quickly cause the finish to flow level.

...Whew!! I’m glad it’s done… ;-D

-- Lane Custom Guitars and Basses