# A new kitchen table



## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

*preparing the top*

At our old house we had what my wife liked to call a breakfast nook, it was a small table with two benches that occupied the corner of the kitchen. It had cost us 50.00 bucks on craigslist and is/was just the right size for that kitchen prompting us to leave it there. The fact that the benches were notorious for dumping the unsuspecting on their asses may have assisted the decision. The result is that the wife is requesting a replacement.

I decided that I really like the look of butternut from some items I've seen here and have decided to mix it with walnut. Currently I've been working on flattening the top boards on my workbench which is just a flimsy table that is holding up for now.

Here is my shooting board. The nearest place to buy the wood doesn't sell butternut that is pre-surfaced, rough cut only. The result is the set up that you see. 









I have two scrap pieces connected with a screw and attached to the table with clamps. The piece of slat that is the actual work surface was from a professional level pool table and is as flat as anything. All jointing is being done with my bailey no5 which has not been easy. I hope to have a no8 by the end of the month but not in time for this top.

I have gotten 3 of the 4 boards jointed on one side; as soon as the 4th is done I'll run them all through the planer to get them the same thickness throughout and all the same thickness. These are the three that are done, the first board still has some rough cut spots but was the flattest of the boards, the result is that it is completely flat as is and ready to run through the planer. The board on the bench in the above pic is the last of the 4 and has a nice big curve in it that should take some effort. 









Once planed they will all be lined up together and one side will be jointed square to the faces and the other side then run through the table saw to get them square on all four sides.


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## 308Gap (Mar 6, 2010)

derosa said:


> *preparing the top*
> 
> At our old house we had what my wife liked to call a breakfast nook, it was a small table with two benches that occupied the corner of the kitchen. It had cost us 50.00 bucks on craigslist and is/was just the right size for that kitchen prompting us to leave it there. The fact that the benches were notorious for dumping the unsuspecting on their asses may have assisted the decision. The result is that the wife is requesting a replacement.
> 
> ...


linky no worky


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

*And then there were four*

Finally managed to get the fourth board jointed (the board on the left), as you can see from the pic this one had some tough grain to work with. The board was bowed up about 1/8" in the center, the grain runs in two different directions and the top end has the start of a very large knot that gave the plane a lot of trouble. I'll send them all through the planer tomorrow, the shop shares a wall with the bedroom and the wife is sleeping so it'll have to wait till then; after which I can start jointing the sides to get then ready for fitting together.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

derosa said:


> *And then there were four*
> 
> Finally managed to get the fourth board jointed (the board on the left), as you can see from the pic this one had some tough grain to work with. The board was bowed up about 1/8" in the center, the grain runs in two different directions and the top end has the start of a very large knot that gave the plane a lot of trouble. I'll send them all through the planer tomorrow, the shop shares a wall with the bedroom and the wife is sleeping so it'll have to wait till then; after which I can start jointing the sides to get then ready for fitting together.


That sure does look like difficult grain to run through a planer.


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

*And curved breadboard ends*

Although the body of the table needs to be narrowed down to 28" to fully match the ends all four boards have been glued and doweled together. I have a great deal of dislike for dowels but they were quicker, easier, and accurate enough. The four boards were jointed using my bailey no5, two sets of two boards were placed face to face and the matching edges jointed, drilled, doweled, and glued. The resulting two wider boards received the same treatment resulting in the wide center section. Two walnut boards were then dado ed and placed at each end









To get a better fit once the end boards tightly slipped over the end of the main part of the table I cut them both down to 6" wide and 28" long, stuck them on the ends, set the fence on the table saw to 6" and the blade to 1/4" high and ran the table top over the blade creating an exact line between the edge of the walnut boards and the shoulders of the table. I then used the No5 and my 220 block plane to slowly work them to an exact fit. Admittedly this is the best example but all four visible joints are very close to this example. 









Once the fit was dead on I taped the two ends together on top of each other, set a small clamp at each of the ends, and drew a curve using a piece of cherry bent between the clamps which acted as stops then ran them through the bandsaw together. The end result is my desired length of 56" spot on. This will give me the 2-1 ratio for length vs width that I was seeking. 









The next step will be to fully attach the breadboard ends. I have two plans I was thinking over. Both involved gluing the middle 4-5 inches in as I don't think that there will be sufficient wood movement to make the center crack. Then I was thinking either 4 square butternut dowels across each end with a little side to side play built into each butternut board to allow for expansion and contraction.

The second idea was to use brass pins. I could pick up some brass hinge pins at the local hardware store, thread the shaft, cut it to length and using a shouldered brass lamp nut have the pin show on the top surface but make it flush with the top. Again some side to side play would be built in. Not certain how this would look and the nut on the bottom would not be as pretty though largely invisible. Once glued and pinned however I'll smooth a little more with the plane then sand it to a nice finish.

I,m thinking of a mix of tung oil, blo, and high gloss varnish for a hand rubbed finish that will be water resistant.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

derosa said:


> *And curved breadboard ends*
> 
> Although the body of the table needs to be narrowed down to 28" to fully match the ends all four boards have been glued and doweled together. I have a great deal of dislike for dowels but they were quicker, easier, and accurate enough. The four boards were jointed using my bailey no5, two sets of two boards were placed face to face and the matching edges jointed, drilled, doweled, and glued. The resulting two wider boards received the same treatment resulting in the wide center section. Two walnut boards were then dado ed and placed at each end
> 
> ...


derosa - Nice looking project! I'm a sucker for walnut these days…

You know that oblong / elongated holes with glued dowels is the tried and true way to attach these breadboard ends. Lots of LJers know more about that, first hand, than I do though and may contribute. Suggest those dowels be the same material as the table itself (oak, by the look of the wood in the pics). That's give you a nice visual contrast. Brass rods would certainly be eye catching, but I'd be concerned about anything not flush to the underside of the table.


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

derosa said:


> *And curved breadboard ends*
> 
> Although the body of the table needs to be narrowed down to 28" to fully match the ends all four boards have been glued and doweled together. I have a great deal of dislike for dowels but they were quicker, easier, and accurate enough. The four boards were jointed using my bailey no5, two sets of two boards were placed face to face and the matching edges jointed, drilled, doweled, and glued. The resulting two wider boards received the same treatment resulting in the wide center section. Two walnut boards were then dado ed and placed at each end
> 
> ...


I didn't explain it well but with either the brass or wood the holes would be elongated with just a touch of glue in the center, enough to hold the end in place but not enough for expansion/contraction to matter, to keep the ends properly centered on the table. 
The biggest issue I see with the brass is the finished look on the bottom. I can make it flush top and bottom but there will still be recesses for the special tool to turn the nut.


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

*A kitchen table no more; now a table for cutie.*

My attempt at breadboard ends failed miserably. I decided that I liked the look of square pegs and so cut square holes but didn't get them quite right. even tough the holes were .5" from the end of the board 2 out of the four holes split out the back. This was the first time trying to make square holes with just a chisel in soft wood. I finished all of them for the practice but has I had made the pilots by drilling through both the ends of the top and the end pieces together moving the holes wasn't really an option. 
End result, I cut the top down to 28×46, added 2 coats of tung oil and 3 coats of pecan stain polyurethane. 









Once this was done I started on the legs. Two more butternut boards were sliced up and glued together









Then the pieces that they will insert into were cut up; There was some experiment with how to do this best.









The two at the top were sliced up and the long mortise made on the table saw, All joints were made with hand planes as was final smoothing. Results are very smooth walled mortises of consistent depth that need no further work. Negatives are that the glue lines are visible if you look close due to the slight change in the grain. Time consuming when you only have enough clamps to do a single side at a time.

The two bottom ones were done with the drill press. The results are consistent and considerably faster but need a bit of clean up for which I will need to buy a chisel. The results are nicer, detailing on the legs will follow.

Finally, the cutie for whom this table is now being made.


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