Oak and tiger maple coffee table

[Matt_W]

Hi all,
This is my first post to finished projects so be gentle
This coffee table I completed recently is my first funiture piece (and one of my first woodworking projects) after using my BT3100 mostly for home improvement projects. The base of the table is oak with mortise and tenon joints with walnut pegs and the top is tiger maple with cherry pegged breadboard ends. The finish is a few coats of Tried and True original wood finish. Comments and suggestions welcome.

Matt

[drumpriest]

Excellent! I like it a lot. I like the pegs..

[Crash2510]

Looks Great

Love All The Contrasting Woods Walnut Pegs Are A Nice Touch

[eddy merckx]

Nice work! Those are some beautiful slabs of Tiger Maple. You'd almost hate to put your coffee cup on top of something that pretty.

Eddy

[crokett]

Very nice work. I like the contrasting pegs. I really like that tiger maple - beautiful stuff.

[Pappy]

Great end for some fantastic wood!

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Comments:

I like what you did with the grain on the legs. The grain is well matched and tight.

Love the square pegs.

Bread boards look very well executed.

Great job on M&T joints. They look great.

Photos aren't close up, but it looks like you did a good job working with the figured maple. That stuff can be a bear to joint and plane. Curly maple is one of the main reasons for my dual drum sander!


Suggestions:

I find tight oak grain to be highly desirable, thus I am not a big fan on the grain on the apron. I guess it is seeing that wide grain all over my kitchen cabinets that has turned me off. I'd like to see a nice rift sawn oak here to compliment this relatively clean design.

Tried and True Original is not a very effective protection for the table surface. It is BLO and wax which offers very little protection.

I would have stuck with one species of plug. This would result in 3 different types of wood instead of 4. Not sure if it would have been walnut or cherry. I DO like that walnut is with oak and cherry is with maple. Thus probably would have gone with cherry.

[John Hunter]

Very nice.

[Uncle Cracker]

Nice job. The only suggestion I would make (and you may decide somewhere down the road to try it) is a clear, resin type of finish for the table top. It will offer much more protection against scratches and other abuse. Might think about it if you have occasion to refinish.

[SHADOWFOX]

Love it, excellent job!!

Those tiger maple looked awesome. Reminds me of an Asian inspired hall table I built with a curly maple top and makore legs.

[leehljp]

Wow! That is beautifully done!

[final_t]

I think the job is well done, and the joints look tight. At first glance, I didn't think there was any finish, but then I see that you did. Guess I'm used to more of a gloss finish on pieces.

[Matt_W]

Thanks for all of the comments. In response to some of them, in retrospect I did think I should have used cherry pegs on the M&T joints, the walnut came out darker than I wanted. Also, the oak boards I used for the aprons were something I had "laying around" from shelves we took down in our house whn we bought it, so I used those. I will pay more attention to the grain next time. This was intended as a learning piece for me, and I have learned alot in making it. Does anyone have a reference for what "rift sawn" and some other cuts of wood look like and how to use them? I am still new to this...
I also don't have a jointer, so while the M&T joints came out nice and tight there are some small gaps on the table top. I have since bought a Stanley #7 jointer plane on ebay for next time, and could really have used a rabbet plane to fine tune the breadboard end tenon.
Also, I had hoped the finish would would be a bit glossier, but the T&T finish is supposed to be sort of an antique look. I put a coat of Johnsons paste wax on the top after these photos, and that has made it a bit glossier.

Matt

[mater]

Very nice work. Looks great.

[lrogers]

That is a very nice table. Too darn pretty to put anything on! Another suggestion to up the gloss and add protection would be a sheet of glass like they put on desks.