And the next please

[sunnybob]

I'm just finishing up my second biggest build and now looking for something a little smaller to make.
I've doubled the size of my back pergola (a very basic picture blog here)
http://www.pbase.com/john_cooper/bob_co ... rgola_extn

and 'er indoors now wants to be known as 'er outdoors, so I'm looking for plans for a set of nesting tables to place out there.
Anybody got any plans for a set of three occasional tables? Not too fancy mind, I'm a little rusty on nice joinery. I'm thinking of using beech, but thats mainly because i havent really done anything with oak. How much tougher to work is oak compared to beech?

 

[custard]

How much tougher to work is oak compared to beech?

There's hardly anything in it, if you can work Beech then you can work Oak. The biggest difference IMO is that really close grained hardwoods like Beech will take layout lines really clearly, open grained woods like Oak are a bit more difficult to mark up. And, if you do loads of work with Oak, the tannins can stain your fingers black which takes some scrubbing to remove!

If you've never worked with Oak then you should give it a go, at the end of the day Oak's way more durable out of doors than Beech plus it's more interesting to look at. Beech is just a bit bland and because (in the UK at least) it's so common it tends to be regarded as a utilitarian timber for cheaper work.

 

[sunnybob]

I am mainly considering beech because its pretty cheap here. Taking my skills (lack of) into consideration its quite possible i shall scrap a fair percentage. But I dont know the price of oak so I shall have to check out camparatives.

 

[custard]

In the UK Beech sells at about £40 a cubic foot, you pay virtually the same for steamed or unsteamed. The only hardwood you might find a bit cheaper is Poplar or really low grade Sycamore that's grey and full of sticker stains.

Oak on the other hand sells for about £60-65, although with Oak there's always a big price spread, you pay more for really wide boards, pippy boards, or quarter sawn; you pay less for fence post quality stock. You want to make sure you're getting European Oak (or at a pinch American White Oak, although AWO is sometimes regarded as a bit less durable), make sure you're not getting American Red Oak, which is coarse and stringy and pretty unappealing (or at least to me it is), Red Oak sells for about £50-55 a cubic foot.

 

[MikeG.]

......... make sure you're not getting American Red Oak, which is coarse and stringy and pretty unappealing (or at least to me it is).........

100%

I once obtained a small skip-full of the stuff, and soon wished I hadn't. It is so porous you can suck water up through it like a straw. Non-durable, non-attractive....... 'orrible stuff.

 

[Harbo]

Red oak - yes I saw a demo of that last week on TV where they blew soap bubbles through a length of it.

Rod

 

[deema]

Perhaps a good approach would be to sketch out what you looking to make and then everyone can help you with how to make it rather than looking for plans

 

[sunnybob]

But to get back to the original question.....
Plans for the tables please?