Hello. I'm new to woodworking and to this group, though I've been lurking
here for a couple weeks. I figured that now as a good time to introduce
myself since I just finished my first project, a small cedar coffee table,
and wanted to show off!

Pictures are up at: http://gallery.acerbic.org/album28

I finished it with Danish Oil and paste wax for the top coat. There are
some flaws for sure, like the fact that two of the boards I used to make
the top bowed pretty bad after cutting, which gives the top those upturned
outer edges. On the whole I'm very happy with it as a first effort at
making fine furniture and am very pleased to have something I made with my
own two hands sitting in the living room! Oh and I was very pleasantly
surprised to discover that it doesn't wobble at all and was sturdy enough
to take nearly all of my weight when I was polishing it. I'm still a
little tickled that I made something that looks like actual furniture :-)

Did I mention that I've taken up woodworking while living in a 2 room
apartment? As a result I'm confined to using only handtools, save for a
power drill, because of noise and dust concerns. I found many areas where
I need to improve my skills while working on this table and I'm sure
you'll see me asking for advice in the next week or two as I get ready for
another project. For now though I just wanted to say 'hi' and show off my
baby to other wood workers. I'd appreciate any comments ya'll have.

Cheers,

Josh

Josh,

Great first effort. Wood has great character. Were you careful in
selecting wood with very solid knotts? Even then as wood dries out
knotts will sometimes loosen so make sure you keep waxing.

The aprons are somewhat heavy. Was there a purpose for that? Weight?
Warping? Tools? Nobody ever sees how thick they are so 3/4 does the
same thing.

That warping is likely to get worse. Look into puttin a batten board at
both ends. It will help keep the boards flat. If you cut shape and
finish the batten before attaching no body will ever know it wasn't
part of the original project.

Roy

"Funky Space Cowboy" wrote in message

Did I mention that I've taken up woodworking while living in a 2 room
apartment?

Where there's a will, there's a way ... I recently saw _much_ worse done
with $50K worth of tools in a 3000 s/f shop. My hat's off to you on that
score.

As a result I'm confined to using only handtools, save for a
power drill, because of noise and dust concerns. I found many areas where
I need to improve my skills while working on this table and I'm sure
you'll see me asking for advice in the next week or two as I get ready for
another project. For now though I just wanted to say 'hi' and show off my
baby to other wood workers. I'd appreciate any comments ya'll have.

You done good, Funky. You learn something on every project, so keep it up.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 8/29/05

"Funky Space Cowboy" wrote in message
news
Hello. I'm new to woodworking and to this group, though I've been lurking
here for a couple weeks. I figured that now as a good time to introduce
myself since I just finished my first project, a small cedar coffee table,
and wanted to show off!

Pictures are up at: http://gallery.acerbic.org/album28

I finished it with Danish Oil and paste wax for the top coat.

Good work. Just curious about the bottom apron. Any reason you did not
overlap the end joints?

Funky Boy,

Nice job and welcome.

For that grain tearout. Fill with epoxy and scrape level before it stets up
completely. Sand when fully cured. It won't make the tearout invisible, but
at least it will not show up in light reflecting off the top.

If you have not done it already, back out the scres on the long aprons and
elongate the screw holes across the grain. If you do not allow the top to
move somewhat it will pull itself apart. The central screws should be fine.

To mitigate the cupping next time here are a couple if suggestions:

1. Sift through the pile for quatersawn stock
2. Hardwoods are a bit more stable than something as soft as cedar.
3. Use thicker stock and underbevel the top to create the illusion of a
less massive table top.

Cheers,

Steve


"Funky Space Cowboy" wrote in message
news
Hello. I'm new to woodworking and to this group, though I've been lurking
here for a couple weeks. I figured that now as a good time to introduce
myself since I just finished my first project, a small cedar coffee table,
and wanted to show off!

Pictures are up at: http://gallery.acerbic.org/album28

I finished it with Danish Oil and paste wax for the top coat. There are
some flaws for sure, like the fact that two of the boards I used to make
the top bowed pretty bad after cutting, which gives the top those upturned
outer edges. On the whole I'm very happy with it as a first effort at
making fine furniture and am very pleased to have something I made with my
own two hands sitting in the living room! Oh and I was very pleasantly
surprised to discover that it doesn't wobble at all and was sturdy enough
to take nearly all of my weight when I was polishing it. I'm still a
little tickled that I made something that looks like actual furniture :-)

Did I mention that I've taken up woodworking while living in a 2 room
apartment? As a result I'm confined to using only handtools, save for a
power drill, because of noise and dust concerns. I found many areas where
I need to improve my skills while working on this table and I'm sure
you'll see me asking for advice in the next week or two as I get ready for
another project. For now though I just wanted to say 'hi' and show off my
baby to other wood workers. I'd appreciate any comments ya'll have.

Cheers,

Josh

On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 08:26:54 -0400, Stephen M wrote:

Funky Boy,

That's Mr. SpaceCowboy to you :-

Nice job and welcome.

Thanks!

If you have not done it already, back out the scres on the long aprons and
elongate the screw holes across the grain. If you do not allow the top to
move somewhat it will pull itself apart. The central screws should be fine.

Ahh thank you! I'll give that a shot this weekend.

1. Sift through the pile for quatersawn stock
2. Hardwoods are a bit more stable than something as soft as cedar.
3. Use thicker stock and underbevel the top to create the illusion of a
less massive table top.

Good advice. The next table I build will be a dining room table of some
type and I was already planning hardwood for that. I was also planning on
going to a real wood store where I can get help picking out wood instead
making do with what I could find at Lowes. I'll ask/look for quarter sawn.

Cheers,

Josh

On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 12:09:11 +0000, Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

Good work. Just curious about the bottom apron. Any reason you did not
overlap the end joints?

Not sure if I understand the question. Are you talking about the corners
where the rails come together? I'm now sure how I could've overlapped the
joints and still attached the legs that way, which is how the plans I was
following showed how to do it.

Cheers,

Josh

On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 04:22:53 -0700, ROYNEU wrote:

Great first effort. Wood has great character. Were you careful in
selecting wood with very solid knotts? Even then as wood dries out
knotts will sometimes loosen so make sure you keep waxing.

They all appear to be pretty solid, at least as far as I could tell. I did
try to cut my boards so I got as few knots as possible and avoided any
that were cracked. About how often do you think I should wax it? I'm in
Houston so it's very humid if that makes a difference.

The aprons are somewhat heavy. Was there a purpose for that? Weight?
Warping? Tools? Nobody ever sees how thick they are so 3/4 does the same
thing.

Eh, the plans called for using 1 1/2 by 4" boards for the apron, once I'd
planed and sanded the rough cut 2x4's they were pretty close so I just
went with them. The plans I was using originally called for a table about
a foot longer and a foot wider (4x3' instead of the 3x2' I made) so maybe
that's why they look too big for the table.

That warping is likely to get worse. Look into puttin a batten board at
both ends. It will help keep the boards flat. If you cut shape and
finish the batten before attaching no body will ever know it wasn't part
of the original project.

I've a feeling that'll probably need to replace this table top eventually
because of the warping. When I rebuild it I'll see about using batten
boards and learning how to make them )

Cheers,

Josh

Roy

I would wax it every six months. Not less then once a year.


Roy

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 23:32:29 -0500, Funky Space Cowboy
wrote:

Hello. I'm new to woodworking and to this group, though I've been lurking
here for a couple weeks. I figured that now as a good time to introduce
myself since I just finished my first project, a small cedar coffee table,
and wanted to show off!

Pictures are up at: http://gallery.acerbic.org/album28

I looked at the table in the pictures. I liked that you were able to
show the progression. Looks very good!

I finished it with Danish Oil and paste wax for the top coat. There are
some flaws for sure, like the fact that two of the boards I used to make
the top bowed pretty bad after cutting, which gives the top those upturned
outer edges. On the whole I'm very happy with it as a first effort at
making fine furniture and am very pleased to have something I made with my
own two hands sitting in the living room! Oh and I was very pleasantly
surprised to discover that it doesn't wobble at all and was sturdy enough
to take nearly all of my weight when I was polishing it. I'm still a
little tickled that I made something that looks like actual furniture :-)

No, not looks like real furniture; it IS real furniture. Really nice
job with hand tools. There is a whole group of people on this group
that use only hand tools for their projects. It is not for lack of
other equipment either. Keep up the good work

Did I mention that I've taken up woodworking while living in a 2 room
apartment? As a result I'm confined to using only handtools, save for a
power drill, because of noise and dust concerns. I found many areas where
I need to improve my skills while working on this table and I'm sure
you'll see me asking for advice in the next week or two as I get ready for
another project. For now though I just wanted to say 'hi' and show off my
baby to other wood workers. I'd appreciate any comments ya'll have.

Cheers,

Josh

Do more work and let us see it too.
John in SC