White Oak - Mission Style Sofa Table

[HCJtractor]

Looking good! I also love white oak, especially quarter sawn which really high lights the figure and rays in the wood. Is your wood quarter sawn or plain sawn?? Also how do you plan to finish it? I know lots of purists in the Stickley style use the fuming technique, but I use an asphaltum based stain that also really shows the figure of the wood.

Another technique that may be useful in the future would have been to make the legs differently. Some of the large square legs in old Arts and Craft furniture showed the quarter-sawn figure on all four sides. That could be done by laminating a thin piece of quarter-sawn on the "ugly" side, or also by using four quarter-sawn boards joined together in a square with a hollow core. This way, you can make a leg fairly large without the fear of splitting like sometimes happens on a large square piece. I make legs like this using a lock miter bit on my router table and that works really well. Just some thoughts for discussion.

Did not mean to go off on a tangent. Your work looks really great and I will follow the progress of your project! Nice work!!!

 

[Pete Judd]

You may also want to post this on Woodworking Website | Welcome to Your Online Workshop! @ LumberJocks.com ~ woodworking community as well. I have a complete woodworking shop, as a hobby, and think that the members would like to see your build.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Scotty!!!!

Looks like a great project. I'm really enjoying your posts and seeing your pics. You're a true craftsman and your attention to detail if first rate!!!!!

Eddie

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Very nice project! I recently started doing a little woodworking, so I am a rank amateur compared to you. I have a question about your wood. When you purchase the oak from the mill, is it kiln dried? If not, do you use a moisture meter to determine when it is usable?

My wife is wanting me to make a farm style kitchen table. I think I am going to attempt the project but want to make sure I don't end up with split wood later on. I plan on using red oak. Any hints about using rough sawn lumber would be appreciated.

 

[creekbend]

Hey Scotty!!!!

Looks like a great project. I'm really enjoying your posts and seeing your pics. You're a true craftsman and your attention to detail if first rate!!!!!

Eddie

X2:thumbsup:

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Scotty,

Can't wait to see the finished product. hopefully I can get my woodworking shop build in a year or two.

I had a thread of a farmhouse table I recently made for my wife with mostly hand tools. Woodworking equipment is still in storage. You shop has me wishing I could get mine started.

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Scotty,

Can't wait to see the finished product. hopefully I can get my woodworking shop build in a year or two.

I had a thread of a farmhouse table I recently made for my wife with mostly hand tools. Woodworking equipment is still in storage. You shop has me wishing I could get mine started.

Hunterridge; if you get a chance, how about sending a pic of your table. Maybe send it to me in a private message. I don't want to hijack this thread in any way. Scotty has a very nice project going, and I want to see it to the end.

 

[scott_vt]

Looking good! I also love white oak, especially quarter sawn which really high lights the figure and rays in the wood. Is your wood quarter sawn or plain sawn?? Also how do you plan to finish it? I know lots of purists in the Stickley style use the fuming technique, but I use an asphaltum based stain that also really shows the figure of the wood.

Another technique that may be useful in the future would have been to make the legs differently. Some of the large square legs in old Arts and Craft furniture showed the quarter-sawn figure on all four sides. That could be done by laminating a thin piece of quarter-sawn on the "ugly" side, or also by using four quarter-sawn boards joined together in a square with a hollow core. This way, you can make a leg fairly large without the fear of splitting like sometimes happens on a large square piece. I make legs like this using a lock miter bit on my router table and that works really well. Just some thoughts for discussion.

Did not mean to go off on a tangent. Your work looks really great and I will follow the progress of your project! Nice work!!!

Good Evenin HCJTractor,
You are on the money on both points !

Gustav Stickley abd his brother are the ones responsible for starting this style of furniture, and your other point of fuming the white oak with ammonia is also right...

I do not have quarter sawn wood for this project, the mill doesnt carry it that often because its more work and the demand is not as high as flat sawn lumber.

The legs do have some nioce ray pattern on them but nothing exceptional. And Im not planning on fuming the table because I have a stain that is fairly cloae to my sons hard wood floor.

TN Hobbyfarmer, thankyou, yes this lumber is kiln dried and as I mentioned earlier I let it sit in my shop for a couiple of weeks before I start milling it up. If I can help you in any way, please feel free and ask, I will certainly try and help.

The next thing I will be doing is making some slats for the long rails, rear of the table.

My son will have thsi table behind his sofa, so unfortunately only the right side of the table and the top will really get seen . But some day it may be some where else that its easier to look at... !

Im hoping to do some more work on it later thus week...

Thanks to all for the compliments, its not a terrifically difficult project, actually pretty straight foward, no difficult radiuses or curves to deal with but fun just the same, thanks again !

 

[Cliff_Johns]

Scotty,
Only one side might be seen now, but the table will be around for a very long time. Who knows where it will be shown. In any case, it looks to be a proper job. Thanks for posting the photos and the play-by-play. I look forward to the rest.
Cliff

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Guys,
Cliff, good to hear you on along with some of my other TBN friends !

I had a chance to get some more work done on the table. I layed out the long rails between the table ends and cut all the mortices. I believe on a previous post I wrongly mentioned that the slat tenons were 1/4", sorry that is incorrect, they are 3/8" along with all the other mortices in this project ! They are 3/8" by 3/4", and all the slats are 5/8" by 1", which makes forming the tenons quite easy because all the relief cuts are 1/8".

I milled up the stock for the slats and mistakenly grabbed a piece of oak that didnt have the same coloring as all the other slats... So I had to do that whole operation over again, kind of a pain but the coloring difference would have really stood out like a sore thumb.....

I dont think I mentioned it earlier, but when I glued up the ends, I try to be very careful on the amount that I use. Excessive squeez out on the joints is a real pain to clean up, and really isnt necessary for a strong joint. If I do get a small amount, I use a dampened rag, and after the joint has a few minutes of setup time, I will use a single edged razor for final cleanup.

If your not carefull when doing this, when you attempt to stain your piece, the stain wont penetrate that area, making for a sloppy job...

I fitted all the slats in between the long rails, and then checked to see if the ends would fit properly. All table surfaces will get dampened lightly with a sponge to raise the grain, and then sanded once again. And then everything will be finished sanded. Im not quite to that point yet...

Here are a few pics to bring you up to date...

I decided to use three equally spaced slat formations on the back rail, rather than slats all the way across. If you recall, there will be three matching stools, so something to break up the monotony of nothing but slats...

BTW I forgot to mention that since the 1" side of all the slats are cut from flat sawn stock they reveal some very nive ray pattern, the photos dont pick it up but Im sure when the piece is stained it will standout...