First project complete!

[Funky Space Cowboy]

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:

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

[ROYNEU]

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

[Swingman]

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.

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

[Edwin Pawlowski]

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

[Stephen M]

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]

That's Mr. SpaceCowboy to you :->

Thanks!

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

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

[Funky Space Cowboy]

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

[Funky Space Cowboy]

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.

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.

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

[ROYNEU]

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

Roy

[John Heacock]

show the progression. Looks very good!

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

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