First project Coffee table ... Pic's and a question

[nickson71]

Hi all


Well I've final got to the point where I've nearly finished my first proper project. As some of you may remember I was trying to fix a design and choose the wood many months ago ........ After much deliberation I was torn between ash or a combination of American hard maple / walnut so I had a trip to John Boddy's and went home with some nice hard maple and a couple of planks of native walnut ............

After a couple of weeks conditioning I got into the project and got it to it's current state sometime back

I need to sand it down further and then apply the finsih which is going to be 2 or 3 coats of Danish oil followed by a couple of coats of clear wax

My quick question is due to the fact that I may have gone for rather complex design considering that it was my first project. I was wondering how I should go about filling a couple of gaps (mistakes) and knot holes prior to aplying the finish.

I read that saw dust and PVA could work BUT would this take the finsh or do I need to use another method

any help/ ideas would be well come

Ian

P.S. Reason for taking so long is mainly due to refusing to sand indoors so in the gap I built a small workshop/shed in the back yard as well as a couple of other projects like stage scenary for boss and a couple of rough mockups and DIY

P.P.S ..... Mods ..... Hope this is ok in here if not can you move it please

 

[wrightclan]

Very nice, for a 'first proper project.'!

I haven't used Danish oil, but as oils are meant to be absorbed into the wood, I think the PVA approach may not be the best. I think something like Brummer's may be better. But I'm sure users of Danish oil will have more ideas.

Brad

 

[Chris Knight]

Ian,
It looks very nice and I think the colours work well together.

Re your gaps, I wouldn't try to fill them, you will have a very hard time making any kind of invisible correction. Instead, I would trim the centre panels with a small router cutter to create a gap all around, squaring the ends of the routed trenches with a fine chisel. A suitable sized gap would be a tad bigger than your biggest existing gap - perhaps 2.5 mm or so?

You could always put in a bit of inlay if you wanted a smooth surface all over.

BTW, have you allowed for wood movement in the centre panel in any way?

Re the knot holes, I would either leave them alone or fill with epoxy and coarse sawdust, putting in a little at a time and warming it to release trapped air bubbles.

 

[Evergreen]

Ian

Very impressive first "proper" project.

When it comes to correcting mistakes, I've always worked on the principle that unless you can disguise them completely, make them look deliberate! So I agree with Chris; the gap could be extended and then maybe filled with inlay.

As for the knots, I would let them be. I spent most of yesterday looking round furniture shops with the LOML and knots are actually quite fashionable now. It stresses the point that solid wood is being used.

Regards.

 

[prawnking]

looks very nice well done ian

cheers

shaun

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Ian

Well done, I think it works well.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Paul Chapman]

Looks nice, Ian =D> I like Chris' idea of routing a groove and possibly filling with an inlay - if you go for this make sure that the router is guided well so that it doesn't slip and cause you a worse problem.

Paul

 

[Waka]

Ian

Very nice it is to.

 

[JPEC]

Nice work Ian,

I would agree with expanding the grooves but won't an inlay cause expansion problems?
If you do choose to fill bear in mind that most people will not see it but you will!

Julian

 

[nickson71]

thanks far all the nice comments

Regarding the gap ...... I think I may route the gap all the way round possibly using a jig like the one Scrit posted in the dado blade thread adding some stops to make sure I don't get carried away

I'm not sure about the inlay as I'm not sure what to use and how it would effect the overall look of the table

....... I'll have a think about it over the next couple of week as I won't be able to to do further work on it till then

Thanks for the ideas

Ian