Last week I bought at auction a set of four long tables.  MDF(?) tops with veneer.  I put the question mark in there because they have a paper covering on the bottom side.  All I know for sure is that they are heavy!!!  Monday I took BIL with me to Atlanta to pick them up and we then circled around to pick up some ash lumber for my project.

 

 

 

I had bought the tables for the legs figuring them to be poplar.  After working with them, they may actually be cherry.  I cannot dent them with a fingernail.  For 75 cents a leg, I figured why not get them.

 

On Monday I started working the pile of lumber and cut the apron and stringers to size and milled them down.  I also trimmed a set of legs for a coffee table and sanded the finish off a second set for a sofa/console table.

 

 

Tuesday was interrupted by other chores, but I did manage to cut and mill boards for shelves and cut all the mortises in both sets of legs.  I also cut and milled the boards for the tops.

 

 

 

I have errands to run this morning and property taxes to drop off and then we'll jump back on it.  I hope to get both the shelves glued up today and a good jump on tenons.

 

 

A great get on those tables, Cal. Looks like you've got a good start on your table(s) build. 

Color me green. I'm still milling the rough cut walnut for my table builds. 

@Cal I'm exhausted, your working us harder than @steven newman.

 

 

Nice score Cal.  You can use the tops for jigs, test pieces, etc.

Very good progress.  Danl

Lookin' Good, Cal!

Awesome score on the tables Cal. Hard to tell but could they be hard maple?

Great start on all your projects too. No pressure, but 7 days until Christmas

36 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Hard to tell but could they be hard maple?

 

They could be Dave.  I've never worked with any maple other than to burn it...

37 minutes ago, Cal said:

 

They could be Dave.  I've never worked with any maple other than to burn it...

I was just guessing based on the color and some of the grain patterns where you had sanded the finish. Assuming maple, they'll make excellent legs also. Regardless, you did good on the price for repurpose into your project.

 

Thinking about those tops and relooking, I wonder if they might be MDO instead of particle board? That would explain even more the weight. If they are MDO, you hit a home run being able to reuse those for projects.

 Great score on the tables Cal!

I think they look more maple that cherry as cherry usually has a slighty greyish tan but both are a closed grain wood that's great to work with. And most times cherry has a more wilder grain that is more noticeable where the maple is more suttle. Did I just repeat myself?

On 12/16/2021 at 9:25 AM, HandyDan said:

Nice score Cal.  You can use the tops for jigs, test pieces, etc.

Or work surfaces

Additional pics to come as time allows.  I've run into a glitch with my computer not talking to my phone.  Makes the pic part rather cumbersome...

To pick back up on this build.  My phone is now talking to my computer again.  Not sure what was going on with that.

 

Dec. 16th after running those errands I glued up the shelves and cut (some) tenons.

 

 

Apron tenons were not problem.  As soon as I got to the lower tenons though, I hit a snag.  The legs were tapered.  My limited skill set didn't include angled tenons and to make matters worse - the coffee table legs would have required the tenon to be angled on the lower side and straight at the top.  I had addressed the coffee table issue in my mind by simply cutting the legs to where the stringer started at the top of the leg's taper.  Unfortunately, there was a disconnect between my mind's plan and my cutting of the mortises the night before.  I did not have time to research angled tenons and practice - so I glued plugs in the lower mortises and switched to pocket hole joinery on the stringers. 

 

 

 

Dec. 17th -  After an unplanned dr. visit (an appointment from six months ago I had forgotten about and not in my plans for the week), I made it home and installed the kitchen appliance garage.  Finally after lunch, I was able to hit the shop again.  Having sorted out the stringer issue I cut slats along with mortises and tenons for the ends of each table.  I also began doing some finish tests on ash and leg scraps.

 

A bit of good news, everything was fitting properly and tight.  Even after changes on the fly

 

 

 

Nicely Done and good tight joints!!

 

I noticed you must have scored some computer storage cabinets somewhere along the way 

On the fly changes can be challenging..

Dec 18th and 19th was spent making the tops, fitting the shelves, testing various colors and finishes and sanding.  A third type of wood was thrown into the mix at this point, 1/4" luan panels that would be an upper shelf.  Now I needed a finish or combo that would tie luan, ash & maple all together without any one of them standing out from the other.

 

@Grandpadave52 - I inspected the auction table tops the other day and found this sticker:

 

 

Finish stated as medium walnut on maple, so you were the first one to post up maple as a likely suspect on the legs

 

Our son had rolled in on Saturday evening (18th) to spend Christmas with us.  He suggested a dark walnut Watco danish oil finish.  I didn't have any, but there is an Ace hardware up the street.  I tried it on some test pieces and did like what I seen.  Did I mention that the intent was to get these completed in time for Christmas.  Time's a wastin'...  Last chore for the evening was to raise the garage door and get the leaf blower out to clean up the shop.  There was a bit of sawdust and shavings that had accumulated

 

On Monday the 20th with James visiting with me in the shop I applied Watco to all pieces and parts.  The glass was supposed to come in Tuesday, I had my fingers crossed that it would fit...

 

 

 

 

If you are Orthodox Christmas is Jan 7th. So you still have time.

20 minutes ago, lew said:

Nicely Done and good tight joints!!

 

I noticed you must have scored some computer storage cabinets somewhere along the way 

 

Thanks Lew!  I think I mentioned the carts before, they came from our local high school.  The county just built a new school and sold a bunch of stuff from the old one - to include 30 or 40 of these carts.  Nice, heavy duty, mobile and each one has two long power strips on the back side.  I won't say I stole them, but I couldn't buy a single castor wheel for what I paid for each of them

 

8 minutes ago, Gunny said:

On the fly changes can be challenging..

 

They can be, but why should my woodworking be different from the rest of my life?

Like most of my woodworking, plans are a napkin sketch based on pictures of 6-10 others that I like pieces and parts of.

Those look great.