Coffee Table

[thewoodlands]

Since the basement has tongue and groove pine on the walls my wife wants a pine coffee table, attached are some pictures of some pine I milled last year.

The pine is two inches thick, looking for some ideas for legs.

zap

 

[Backwoods Savage]

zap, I've seen lots of legs that really look fine but probably your wife would not agree to use them on a coffee table.

 

[fishingpol]

Rustic furniture look?

http://www.blackforestdecor.com/frb114knat.html

You can get tenon cutters at Lee Valley Tools.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=42299&cat=1,180,42288,42299

 

[GAMMA RAY]

I agree with fishinpol....go the rustic route...

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

I must concur with Dennis . . . go with something classy and elegant
(broken image removed)

 

[thewoodlands]

fishingpol, I just showed the wife the rustic table which she loved so I'll save the link for the tenon cutters.

Thanks
Zap

 

[GAMMA RAY]

Zap...dont forget pics....upon completion....

 

[fishingpol]

Great. Those tenon cutters are a small investment. With a large supply of wood, you could build chairs and benches for other uses. They will pay themselves off in not time.

 

[thewoodlands]

Zap...dont forget pics....upon completion....View attachment 65014

Only if it comes out nice. I'm still waiting for Sav's picture of those ole legs he was talking about.

Happy Easter
Zap

 

[thewoodlands]

Great. Those tenon cutters are a small investment. With a large supply of wood, you could build chairs and benches for other uses. They will pay themselves off in not time.

Do you think the legs are attached with screws or by a tenon? What size tenon package would be the best?

zap

 

[fishingpol]

Do you think the legs are attached with screws or by a tenon? What size tenon package would be the best?

zap

If you are using two planks side by side for the top, you would probably need a piece of 2" x 3" pine under the planks to keep them together. One at each end of the table. You could use wood screws up from underneath the 2x3 to secure the planks. That 2x3 then could get two holes for the legs. I would use gorilla glue to secure and a small square-drive finish screw to hold the tenons into the hole drilled in at a slight angle. I'll grab a few pieces of scrap wood and put up a pic or two of what I am describing.

As far as the tenon size, probably half the diameter of the log you are using for the leg. I have not built one before, so some net searching may be needed for more tips.

 

[Thistle]

For a neat look,go with a through tenon thats flush with the tabletop,secured by a glued-in wedge of darker contrasting wood,like walnut,cherry etc

3 different sized lathe-turned laminated Hickory mallets I made years ago,largest is around 3 1/2 lbs

 

[thewoodlands]

Looks great Thistle, don't take this wrong but is that some type of a sledge hammer?

zap

 

[Thistle]

Looks great Thistle, don't take this wrong but is that some type of a sledge hammer?

zap

I guess you could call it that sure.Basically a large heavy mallet used for chopping out mortices with large chisels,fast stock removal & other tasks.Head is about 3 1/2 diameter x 6 long,with pieces of 3" copper pipe on the ends to prevent any splitting from rough use.Its a larger version of an 100+ yr old one I found at an estate auction some years before.That old one is Hard Maple w/steel pipe on the ends.Only reason I used copper is because its some scrap that I kept back & didnt sell earlier.

 

[thewoodlands]

Very nice job Thistle, looks great. Looks like I'll use pine or hemlock for the legs, once I debark it how long should I let this dry? It will be going in the same room has the woodstove.

zap

 

[Thistle]

General rule is 1 year per inch of thickness.It wouldnt be a bad idea to wait a bit longer.Or after that time,move the rough cut pieces to a room near the stove for a few weeks to get them acclimated before moving the finished product close by.One thing is you want this to be gradual & not all at once.I've heard smaller pieces crack that I thought were dry enough to be completely worked & finished.Certain woods are more forgiving than others- dense hardwoods are notorious for cracking/splitting if dried too suddenly.Great for firewood,bad for lumber.Straight grain softwoods are usually more friendly. Just takes patience & time for proper drying/storage,something that's hard to have sometimes today.

 

[fishingpol]

Nice mallets Thistle.

Zap, I took a few scraps of fence to give you an idea how to attach an adjacent piece to the plank and then mortise a tenon leg into it. It is a rudimentary picture but hopefully gets the idea across. Also, stretchers going between the legs will strengthen it up a bit.








Looking back at the picture of the table, they may have used a double-ended screw into the leg and then into the bottom of the plank. A decent sized oak dowel (1/2" -5/8") drilled into the top of the leg and then a corresponding hole into the underside of the plank would suffice.

 

[thewoodlands]

Thistle, thanks. Guess I better find some material for the legs this month.

fishingpol, what size Tenon Cutter did you use on that leg?

zap

 

[fishingpol]

Thistle, thanks. Guess I better find some material for the legs this month.

fishingpol, what size Tenon Cutter did you use on that leg?

zap

The picture is just pieces of fencing. It was pre-cut on the ends of the rails about 1 1/2" in diameter.