I've been saying I was going to build us a new dining table for years...so I finally got started. Y'all may remember my slab post from several months ago. I've got pecan slabs drying, but I got tired of waiting, tired of our current table, and I have the time to start this project, so here we are.
Agrams has been very helpful over the years, so shout out to our resident expert!
I went to Berdoll Sawmill outside Bastrop for the lumber. They were very accommodating and have a ton of selection...in pecan. We spent an hour going through the stacks of lumber and the guy helping didn't complain once. I started by looking at slabs but a pair of book matched slabs, kiln dried and surfaced were about $1400. That was more than I wanted to spend to practice on so I went with 8/4 dimensional instead. I didn't plan on finding live edge, but I lucked out and found some that would work well. I'm still not 100% sure we'll keep the live edge, but it's nice to have the option.
Here they are laid out before surfacing.
I don't have the equipment, and I didn't want to spend the time to surface these myself, so I paid Berdoll's to plain and joint them.
Here they are laid out on our current table, jointed and ready for glue.
I was going to use a Kreg jig to make the table top, but the center board had already started to bow a bit. Just after the drive from Bastrop back to CS. That means I had to buy a new tool. Happy me, mad wife.
I bought a biscuit joiner to try to keep everything flush during the glue up. I could have gotten some angle iron and clamped across, but hey, new tool.
Finished the glue up this morning. It turned out pretty well. The center board is still standing a bit proud, but a bit of orbital sanding should take care of it pretty easily. I wish I had agrams drum sander.
After surfacing, I ended up w/1 5/8" x 8' 6" boards. We only need 7' so I offset one board to keep more of the interesting spalting and avoid the major checking on the far end.
So far, so good.
We're thinking metal for the table base.
Something like this or this or this. Berdoll's suggested that I make sure whatever base we use, there is a stringer between the legs to prevent racking. None of the etsy options I've seen have a stringer so I'll have to figure that out.
More updates coming.
Agrams has been very helpful over the years, so shout out to our resident expert!
I went to Berdoll Sawmill outside Bastrop for the lumber. They were very accommodating and have a ton of selection...in pecan. We spent an hour going through the stacks of lumber and the guy helping didn't complain once. I started by looking at slabs but a pair of book matched slabs, kiln dried and surfaced were about $1400. That was more than I wanted to spend to practice on so I went with 8/4 dimensional instead. I didn't plan on finding live edge, but I lucked out and found some that would work well. I'm still not 100% sure we'll keep the live edge, but it's nice to have the option.
Here they are laid out before surfacing.
I don't have the equipment, and I didn't want to spend the time to surface these myself, so I paid Berdoll's to plain and joint them.
Here they are laid out on our current table, jointed and ready for glue.
I was going to use a Kreg jig to make the table top, but the center board had already started to bow a bit. Just after the drive from Bastrop back to CS. That means I had to buy a new tool. Happy me, mad wife.
I bought a biscuit joiner to try to keep everything flush during the glue up. I could have gotten some angle iron and clamped across, but hey, new tool.Finished the glue up this morning. It turned out pretty well. The center board is still standing a bit proud, but a bit of orbital sanding should take care of it pretty easily. I wish I had agrams drum sander.
After surfacing, I ended up w/1 5/8" x 8' 6" boards. We only need 7' so I offset one board to keep more of the interesting spalting and avoid the major checking on the far end.
So far, so good.
We're thinking metal for the table base.
Something like this or this or this. Berdoll's suggested that I make sure whatever base we use, there is a stringer between the legs to prevent racking. None of the etsy options I've seen have a stringer so I'll have to figure that out.
More updates coming.