Tabletop advice

alternating growth rings is a good idea but not an absolute. larger boards have more movement than smaller ones it’s common to use different size boards for table tops. I would put both battens across the grain with the enlarged holes for movement. I’m not a fan of Blo but others will say they love it.

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Blue – The way it looks is always a matter of opinion. I tend to pay more attention to matching the flow of the grain than I do board width, though the grain is less pronounced on cherry.

I like oils on cherry…usually tung oil, but BLO should be nice too. Tables tend to encounter moisture and other abuses more than the finish on something like a clock or frame. While I prefer oils, a poly blend of some sort on the top surface will provide better protection. You can actually blend poly, BLO, and mineral spirits in an even mix for a nice wipe on poly concoction.

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The advice that Jim, Patrick and Scott have given is pretty much on target. I tend to prefer to use smaller boards since I have a 6” jointer as well and it is a more stable panel to use smaller boards. I have gone both ways with respect to alternating growth rings but have given up on this, I hope that Norm forgives me for this, and go with matching coloration and grain rather than worrying about the growth rings.

I agree with Scott about the finish. BLO will slightly darken the cherry and give it more of an aged appearance but neither it nor the wax will provide any surface protection. Nor will either provide any protection to chemical damage- alcohol, water etc. My usual routine with respect to cherry is to use BLO and follow it up with several coats of wipe-on polyurethane.

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1. Width shouldn’t make a difference on your jointer, unless your stock is warped. Symmetry is great, but straight edges will almost make cherry look like a single surface (unless you reverse grain)

2. Narrower will experience less expansion. More boards will lead to a slower glue-up, but if you can glue up three 12” sections and run them through a benchtop planer you’ll be able to reduce it to only three lines you have to worry about.

BLO will look great. Wipe-on Poly is an okay choice for a topcoat. Another is waterlox or a General Finishes top coat. Still a third would be to build up coats of varnish.

3. The goal of alternating rings is to provide a more stable gluing surface. I’d worry some about a desktop or a dining table top, but the way out of that mess is to beadlock the edge. At 3’ with 1” thick you should be fine to match grain.

4. It sounds like you’re doing 4 post with apron stretchers? Something between 4-6 screws set with expansion (pocket hole, elongated through or tabletop fasteners) should be fine.

Sounds like a geat project. I have a cherry coffee table in my living room that my great grandfather made (beadlocked with a giant 2” slab of cork stabalizing the top inside the apron) and making family heirlooms is always fun.

All,

Thanks for the quick and thoughtful replies. So..a clarification and more questions:

NathanAllen- Yes, four post legs with two sets of stretchers running in an ‘X’ shape between them. There will be a top set flush with the top of each leg and a bottom set up 2 1/2” from the foot. There will be a round top on each, one 36” and the bottom being 29” diameter.

Jim/Pat- Are you recommending multiple battens across the grain before securing it down to the stretchers? Do you still recommend that with the clarification above?

Growth rings- I’ll aim to alternate with priority given to visual appeal to the top.

Various- Assuming that coasters will mainly be used on the table with the occasional non-coaster user: What finish over the oil do you find gives the best medium between ‘still able to feel the wood’ and ‘wow..that’s plastic-y’? Thin poly coats? Thin Liberon coats? Raincoat?

Now if I can just get a few more pieces cut out without a bunch of sapwood..

-- Mistake? No, that's just an unexpected design opportunity....

I read through a couple of times and I guess I’m missing the part about connecting the top to the apron.
I would use wooden buttons in a groove or fiqure 8s to connect the top to the aprons. Then you shouldn’t have to have the battens.

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Let me try to post some sketchup drawings to show more of what I have in mind..

-- Mistake? No, that's just an unexpected design opportunity....

Handle the top the best way you want from all the good suggestions.

Looks like Figure 8 fasteners would be the easiest to connect the tops…

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