I'm planning to make my 1st "real" woodworking project, a base for a
glass topped dining room table. The basic design will be a bit like
this metal one, only executed in wood:
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0375 Top size will be 72" x 42"
x .5". Base will be stained to match some chairs I have, a color they
call "wenge", or as close as I can come. So, I'm wondering what wood
to use? A hardwood of course. I'm leaning towards beech, birch or
maple. I believe the chairs are birch. Planning to use boards 3.5" x
..75" finished size, glued 2 & 3 thick for the various portions. No
doubt maple would be the most expensive of the 3. Again I'm very new at
this, so any observations about the relative merits/costs of these
woods, or of the basic concept, would be appreciated. My workshop is a
bit meager at the moment, limited to hand tools & basic power tools
(drills, various sanders, router, circular & jig saws) a drill press, &
a very nice Bosch 12" SCMS.

TIA

Dan

How about wenge?

I doubt you'll get the maple or beech to stain that dark.

Otherwise I would use oak, it sems to have a similar grain that will
take a nice dark dye.

I wouldn't copy those mitered corners on the legs. That will meet with
certain doom.

Matt

Dan wrote:
I'm planning to make my 1st "real" woodworking project, a base for a
glass topped dining room table. The basic design will be a bit like
this metal one, only executed in wood:
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0375 Top size will be 72" x 42"
x .5". Base will be stained to match some chairs I have, a color they
call "wenge", or as close as I can come. So, I'm wondering what wood
to use? A hardwood of course. I'm leaning towards beech, birch or
maple. I believe the chairs are birch. Planning to use boards 3.5" x
.75" finished size, glued 2 & 3 thick for the various portions. No
doubt maple would be the most expensive of the 3. Again I'm very new at
this, so any observations about the relative merits/costs of these
woods, or of the basic concept, would be appreciated. My workshop is a
bit meager at the moment, limited to hand tools & basic power tools
(drills, various sanders, router, circular & jig saws) a drill press, &
a very nice Bosch 12" SCMS.

TIA

Dan

Sorry to reply to myself...I meant the oak will have a similar grain to
wenge, not maple or beech.

Matt

wrote:
How about wenge?

I doubt you'll get the maple or beech to stain that dark.

Otherwise I would use oak, it sems to have a similar grain that will
take a nice dark dye.

I wouldn't copy those mitered corners on the legs. That will meet with
certain doom.

Matt

Dan wrote:
I'm planning to make my 1st "real" woodworking project, a base for a
glass topped dining room table. The basic design will be a bit like
this metal one, only executed in wood:
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0375 Top size will be 72" x 42"
x .5". Base will be stained to match some chairs I have, a color they
call "wenge", or as close as I can come. So, I'm wondering what wood
to use? A hardwood of course. I'm leaning towards beech, birch or
maple. I believe the chairs are birch. Planning to use boards 3.5" x
.75" finished size, glued 2 & 3 thick for the various portions. No
doubt maple would be the most expensive of the 3. Again I'm very new at
this, so any observations about the relative merits/costs of these
woods, or of the basic concept, would be appreciated. My workshop is a
bit meager at the moment, limited to hand tools & basic power tools
(drills, various sanders, router, circular & jig saws) a drill press, &
a very nice Bosch 12" SCMS.

TIA

Dan

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:42:39 -0700, Dan wrote:

I'm planning to make my 1st "real" woodworking project, a base for a
glass topped dining room table. The basic design will be a bit like
this metal one, only executed in wood:
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0375 Top size will be 72" x 42"
x .5". Base will be stained to match some chairs I have, a color they
call "wenge", or as close as I can come. So, I'm wondering what wood
to use? A hardwood of course. I'm leaning towards beech, birch or
maple. I believe the chairs are birch. Planning to use boards 3.5" x
.75" finished size, glued 2 & 3 thick for the various portions. No
doubt maple would be the most expensive of the 3. Again I'm very new at
this, so any observations about the relative merits/costs of these
woods, or of the basic concept, would be appreciated. My workshop is a
bit meager at the moment, limited to hand tools & basic power tools
(drills, various sanders, router, circular & jig saws) a drill press, &
a very nice Bosch 12" SCMS.

TIA

Dan


Oak, Maple, and Cherry are the three basic hardwoods, but there are
many more. It is good to see which ones are a good buy because prices
vary greatly on location and supply.

wrote:
How about wenge?

I doubt you'll get the maple or beech to stain that dark.

Otherwise I would use oak, it sems to have a similar grain that will
take a nice dark dye.

I wouldn't copy those mitered corners on the legs. That will meet with
certain doom.

Matt


Thanks for the replies. I'm guessing wenge would cost an armanaleg ;-)
Not crazy about oak. Again, the chairs are birch, I don't know how
closely their tone approximates REAL wenge (since I've never seen any
;-) but all I need to do is approximate the chairs! ;-) I had
originally planned to miter the legs, using bead lock. I've been
practicing the joints on pine boards of the same size. Seems quite
strong with the bead lock, though it's kind of a pain to get such wide
miters to close nicely. Lately I've been thinking of making the leg
joints essentially lap, since it will be 3 boards, just make the middle
one on the leg portion short by the width of the boards. Lotta glue
area then! The "v" portion where the 2 leg sections meet will be bead
locked miters, don't know what else would do, these should be under much
less stress in the direction that would cause a miter to fail anyway.


Dan

How about wenge?

Costly?

I doubt you'll get the maple or beech to stain that dark.

Sure you can. Use a water-based dye. Maple will get as dark as you want
it. You can even ebonize maple.

Otherwise I would use oak, it sems to have a similar grain that will
take a nice dark dye.

So will maple.

--
Stoutman
http://www.garagewoodworks.com

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:42:39 -0700, Dan wrote:

I'm planning to make my 1st "real" woodworking project, a base for a glass
topped dining room table. The basic design will be a bit like this metal
one, only executed in wood: http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0375
Top size will be 72" x 42" x .5".

Nice looking table.

Have you determined how much that glass will weigh? I'm a little worried about
the joint at the top of the legs.

Base will be stained to match some chairs I have, a color they call "wenge",
or as close as I can come. So, I'm wondering what wood to use?

Use what the chairs are made of. Seems a no-brainer that you'd have more luck
getting the table to match that way.

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 02:33:24 -0000, Art Greenberg
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:42:39 -0700, Dan wrote:

I'm planning to make my 1st "real" woodworking project, a base for a glass
topped dining room table. The basic design will be a bit like this metal
one, only executed in wood: http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0375
Top size will be 72" x 42" x .5".

Nice looking table.

Have you determined how much that glass will weigh? I'm a little worried about
the joint at the top of the legs.

I think I'd use a bridle joint there.

George Max wrote:
On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 02:33:24 -0000, Art Greenberg
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:42:39 -0700, Dan wrote:

I'm planning to make my 1st "real" woodworking project, a base for a glass
topped dining room table. The basic design will be a bit like this metal
one, only executed in wood: http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0375
Top size will be 72" x 42" x .5".
Nice looking table.

Have you determined how much that glass will weigh? I'm a little worried about
the joint at the top of the legs.

I think I'd use a bridle joint there.

I'm not familiar with that, can you elaborate?

Dan

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 11:32:35 -0700, Dan wrote:

George Max wrote:
On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 02:33:24 -0000, Art Greenberg
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 17:42:39 -0700, Dan wrote:

I'm planning to make my 1st "real" woodworking project, a base for a glass
topped dining room table. The basic design will be a bit like this metal
one, only executed in wood: http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0375
Top size will be 72" x 42" x .5".
Nice looking table.

Have you determined how much that glass will weigh? I'm a little worried about
the joint at the top of the legs.

I think I'd use a bridle joint there.

I'm not familiar with that, can you elaborate?

Dan


It's essentially an open mortise and tenon. The shoulders could be
arranged to make it look from the side like it was mitered together.
This joint is common in Arts and Crafts pieces. Take a look at some
Taunton publishing company books.

Next, the quickest way to get an idea of what a bridle joint is is
this:

With either hand, make a U. That is, hold up all 4 of your fingers
with your thumb opposing.

Then hold your other hand out straight. Take that hand and cradle it
in the U of your other hand.

That's a bridle joint.

Some thoughts:

Real wenge is an option, but I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner
project as it's not easy to work with: hard, heavy, splintery, oily,
a respiratory irritant, etc. Not to mention expensive. Also, the
grain figure is radically different between the quartersawn and
flatsawn faces. If the refined quartersawn look is what you want, you
have to think about how you'll hide/mask the flatsawn face.

Another suggestion for a domestic wood is ash; it has an open pore
structure like wenge, and is frequently "ebonized" black
with dye & stain. Aniline dye followed by wiping stain followed
by top coat is one method I've seen.

I don't think that welded steel table structure will lend itself to
wood. The mitre joint at the top of the leg can be done, but you'll
need a spline or tenon of some kind, and the proportions will have to
be much beefier in wood than in metal. I also think you'll want some
continuous horizontal members (aprons, whatever) stretching between
the legs. Those joints in the middle aren't going to be strong enough
in wood. Maybe have aprons making an X, connecting opposite legs, with
a narrow rectangular frame around it to brace it. Gives you some of
the aesthetics of the metal table, anyway.

Also consider how well the table will resist twist; you don't want
something that gets all wobbly if everyone's cutting their food at
the same time.