Finished the Chestnut Table

Finished the table Thursday on the way out the door for the weekend ... It leaves for Connecticutt, Wednesday morning ...

7/1/09 update

Will and Jim sanding the second coat of stain .. The client decided to go with all stained chestnut, no paint on the base ... It's going to look sharp

Ready for the seal coat tomorrow
6/26/09
We're in the finishing process ... still work with the clients on the possible colors ( or not) on the base. the top color has been decided and that's set to go now ... We're debating a wash coat of paint, with more or less stain showing through .... click the pictures to enlarge them ....

Proposed paint samples for the legs and aprons

2nd coat of stain .. Lockwood aniline dye

The first coat of understain is sanded and ready to go ...
6/21/09
By the end of the day Friday, we had most of the construction and joinery completed .... Tomorrow we will cut the center legs and fit them up and then disassemble the whole thing for final sanding and glue up. Click the pictures to enlarge them ,,,,

Table top glue up

Handscraped and sanded ... Breadboard end stub tenon detail

Gluing up the two tenoned half rings ...

All together now .. 4:00 pm, Friday ... Trevor, doing his best 'Stayin' Alive' imitation before heading out for the weekend ...

Original post below

Close up of the original table base ...

We're making more and more pieces using recycled chestnut. It's a 'green' material, being that's it's timber recycled from old buildings, and, though I sometimes wonder about all the trucking that has to happen to get it to me from West Virginia, still, I feel good about it, people like it, I like using it, and it makes wonderful furniture. This table is more or less a copy of one we made in 2003 for my friends Susan Sargent and Tom Peters. It's a little wider than theirs, same length, and I think it will be all chestnut, no paint. It's an interesting table to build. Luckily, we have some handwritten notes from Ethan Verner, the last guy to carve legs like this in the shop. We don't do them often, but we've got it figured out now so it goes along pretty good when we do. Will's carving these and he's really got the hang of it now. More later as we progress.... Click the pictures to enlarge them ...

Laying out the spiral carving divisions using string and nails

First leg carved

Most of them done; top roughed out in the background ...

First page of notes from mahogany carved leg table 2004 ... I think Will used the saw on the first one, but then switched to carving directly with a freshly sharpened 1/2" veiner ('V' shaped chisel) (chizzle) ...

Page 2