Kev Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 This is another commissioned piece that's been in the works for quite a while. Over the last few months, there's been lots of discussions about what they wanted. I first discussed species options with them and gave them numerous samples of finished lumber to choose from. From there, I presented them with slab options as well as creating the top from multiple boards. Overall dimensions will be 42" x 8' Like most corporations, they're a little slow to make decisions but, they finally decided and I went and picked up the lumber this morning. FAS Walnut and a few of the boards have some really interesting curl to them. They had made the decision to use a custom made steel base some time ago and commissioned that work locally. They're not done yet but, I got them into the shop long enough to make templates for the base mounting. There's still some clean up work and powder coating to be done on them. I'll also be installing 2 C channels in the bottom just to help with twist and warping. All of that hardware is in the shop already. This project will be high on the priority list when I return. I'm sure I'll need @Ray Martin to help me wrestle that walnut through the machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 This is gonna be cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Sweet! Looks like a fortune right there! Well at least in my town where 8/4 is over $16/BF. What are your walnut prices? How did you get this commission? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 21 hours ago, Olie said: How did you get this commission? +1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 20 hours ago, Olie said: Sweet! Looks like a fortune right there! Well at least in my town where 8/4 is over $16/BF. What are your walnut prices? How did you get this commission? Unfortunately, I'm sitting in Ohio right now so, don't have the receipt sitting in front of me but, from memory, I remember it being a little north of $1200.00.. This commission came by word of mouth. I know somebody that works for them and when their normal "woodworker guy" wasn't available to do the work, my name was dropped as an alternative. They looked at my website and YouTube channel and then asked me to do the work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Fantastic! Congrats bud! Maybe retirement is sooner than you expected. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 2 hours ago, Coop said: Fantastic! Congrats bud! Maybe retirement is sooner than you expected. I do this because I enjoy it, I don't want it to be my job. Admittedly, commissions are tough with my work schedule because they have to fit that schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 1 Author Share Posted April 1 Looking like I'll be done here in the next 10 to 12 days.. Ready to be home for a while! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 I bet!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 Last shift in this plant! Will be home Saturday afternoon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Yeeeeaaaahhhh! 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 14 Author Share Posted April 14 Ok, this table is first on the list to get out of the shop.. These are some really large pieces! Goal for today is to get these broke down a little bit and rough milled. I'll update with more pictures as it progresses. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 14 Author Share Posted April 14 I knew this would be a long day of physical labor but, DAMN! I started by putting a couple of my tracks together and getting a straight line rip on each piece.. This helped me determine the sides where I knew I needed to remove some defects. Overall, the material was very good! Next, I actually had to move my jointer to have enough room to get a flat face. I didn't square up the corner because there's still a bit to remove and I didn't want to over do it on the initial milling. Some of these boards were still at ~9' long.. I'll leave the jointer here until all the milling is complete. I did rip the other side of each board to get it a little closer. The infeed support and stock guides paid for themselves for sure! There's one knot that needs filling so, I taped off the top side and filled from the bottom since the bottom was considerably larger than the top.. So, currently, it's at about 1 7/8" thick, still 1 1/2" over width, and several inches too long because I wanted the ability to slide the boards a little for best grain match.. Not too bad for first day back in the shop! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 DAMN is right! It looks like you did a great job in selecting the lumber! Curious as to how you will be maneuvering this beast? Welcome home. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 Just now, Coop said: DAMN is right! It looks like you did a great job in selecting the lumber! Curious as to how you will be maneuvering this beast? Welcome home. This isn't glued together yet.. Still a fair share of work to be done before the glue up but, I'm pretty happy with the rough milling process! The powder coated legs will be delivered later this week.. Once the table is complete, we'll wait for a nice sunny day, load it on a trailer, and deliver it to the client. If needed, the legs will be removable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 What’s the thickness goal? I guess whatever it is when it makes its last pass out of the planer on the good side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 15 Author Share Posted April 15 Just now, Coop said: What’s the thickness goal? I guess whatever it is when it makes its last pass out of the planer on the good side? Anywhere around 1 3/4 will be great but, I'll take what I can get within reason.. It is a long span so, it's important to maintain as much thickness as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 Long shop day! Especially without any help to move these big pieces around! So, I'll just start there.. One of the first things I had to do was to actually joint some edges. Getting these things through the jointer and keeping them square to the fence was a challenge so, I tossed the mag fence on and it worked like a charm!\ Of course I had to rip these to final width and the stock guides and infeed support really paid off! With everything final milled and my seams looking good, it was time for one last look.. For what it's worth, I did flip the direction of one board after the final milling purely for grain continuity. All of this had taken me most of the day but, I wanted to get the glue up in. I decided to do it in 3 sections so I wasn't trying to wrestle all this by myself. No dominos, the alignment was actually really good so, didn't need them. And that's where it sits as of this typing.. I will pull it out of clamps and flip it over before bed tonight while I've got my wife to help.. I have a small epoxy fill on the bottom as well as a bunch of sanding. I can also lay out for the extrusion as well as the legs that showed up in the shop today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 Kev, you showed running one edge thru the jointer then later, trimming them to width. Did you just trim one edge and leave the jointed edge. I find my jointed edges less than satisfactory for a glue up and usually run both edges, the jointed edge against the ts fence first and then trim the rough edge. And too, I have a 6” jointer and not the setup that you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 Just now, Coop said: Kev, you showed running one edge thru the jointer then later, trimming them to width. Did you just trim one edge and leave the jointed edge. I find my jointed edges less than satisfactory for a glue up and usually run both edges, the jointed edge against the ts fence first and then trim the rough edge. And too, I have a 6” jointer and not the setup that you have. I ran one edge through the jointer, cut to just a smidge over final width and then ran a pass over the jointer on that edge before glue up. If you're not getting the results you want from your jointer, there's some things you can do.. Set the jointer up.. Lots of videos out there but, the most important thing is to ensure that the fence is 90 degrees to the bed. Even with my jointer, I still check the fence each day before using it. With these large pieces banging against it all day, I actually checked the fence a few times. Alternate faces.. If you look closely at my last picture, you'll see an F in one corner and an A in the other corner of each board. This is my note to do one edge "A"way from the fence and one side against the "F"ence.. If my fence is off, this will cancel out that small angle for a perfect glue joint. If you're running smaller pieces, fold them like a book and run them together at the same time. This will do the same thing as the last point but, do them both at the same time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 All great ideas. I use the A / F method you speak of on my ts but never thought about using it on the jointer. Thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 I do this re if the tool is set up as it always cancels the error if there is one... "Alternate faces.. If you look closely at my last picture, you'll see an F in one corner and an A in the other corner of each board. This is my note to do one edge "A"way from the fence and one side against the "F"ence.. If my fence is off, this will cancel out that small angle for a perfect glue joint." That is one big piece to work single handed 🙂 Looks great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 1 minute ago, pkinneb said: That is one big piece to work single handed 🙂 Looks great I hope his wife works out at the gym more than mine does! 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 Just now, pkinneb said: I do this re if the tool is set up as it always cancels the error if there is one... "Alternate faces.. If you look closely at my last picture, you'll see an F in one corner and an A in the other corner of each board. This is my note to do one edge "A"way from the fence and one side against the "F"ence.. If my fence is off, this will cancel out that small angle for a perfect glue joint." That is one big piece to work single handed 🙂 Looks great! Thanks! Definitely sore in a few places I haven't been sore in a while! Fortunately, most of the heavy lifting is behind me now! I'm sure it will be a full day of sanding now so, I'll rediscover a few other muscles I'd forgotten about.. 🤣 Just now, Coop said: I hope his wife works out at the gym more than mine does! 😂 It was all that her and I could do to flip it over so I can work the bottom tomorrow. Will probably be a light day of pictures tomorrow since sanding is boring.. Unless I get into inlaying the c-channel and the feet.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 Have you considered what you will attach the feet to the table with? Not much meat there with a whole lot of weight going on. Maybe 1/2” carriage bolts? 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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