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And Finally: The last bit of machining was to create the two lower shelves. The minister wanted to keep the “maple” look for the shelves but hard maple is a little expensive so we went with soft maple. Planed everything to ¾” and used biscuits to help with alignment during glue up. I made these shelves full width during the glue-ups A card scraper brought everything smooth. I sized the shelves using the same procedures as the top. Cut to length and width with the skill saw and a guide; then used the router, flush trim bit and a guide to finish off the saw marks. The guide is held in place with double sided tape and screws. The screw holes are located in the area that will be removed where the shelf wraps around the legs. I also ran the chamfer detail around the perimeter of both shelves. Marked and cut the corners Finished shelves One more dry fit to make certain everything fits Set the top in place to locate and thread the lag bolt holes. While I had the top in position, I did its’ final sanding and oiling. The top is sanded through 320 grit. I used two applications of mineral oil; allowing each to soak in about a day. Then, I used one application of hot “Bumble Bee Wax”- a blend of mineral oil and bee’s wax. Once that cooled, I buffed it out with an old towel. A final dis-assembly; the maple shelves sanded through 320 grit; the poplar pieces sanded through 180 grit. All of the hardware was pre-drilled and pre-threaded using bee’s wax to lubricate the holes. The minister set a time and date to pick up the table and transport it to the church. It has to make the journey from south central PA to Ithaca NY. The day before he arrived, Mimi and I carried everything- except the top- to the carport and I did the final assembly. Due to the dimensions, the shelves had to be set in place during the assembly/glue up. That really added to the weight! The minister arrived right on time and we loaded the base and top into his van. The church members are going to do the final assembly and finishing on site. It was a long process and I was relieved that he was satisfied with the work. Even though we communicated via email and pictures, it is difficult to know what something is really like. Several days later, I received this picture I think the church members did an outstanding job painting and finishing the table. It looks right at home there in the kitchen. If you made it this far, thanks for following along. Also, thanks to John Moody for the advice on the butcher block top.