# Recent Builts and a dining table



## Aurora North (Dec 15, 2018)

Here’s a recent project I’m about to wrap up as soon as I get this dining table sprayed.

Picture intensive warning, but I figured someone might like seeing the build process.

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## Aurora North (Dec 15, 2018)

Book shelves. This one had a “fun” counter top scribe. I wanted totransition from the cal rail of thebench seat as cleanly as I could so I actually laid this out for 38” tall base cabinets.

The counter top had of the book cases had a 5 sided scribe to notch around that short bump out in the wall. It is visible in many places so I was stressed out getting it perfectly tight. I managed it with a grinder and a 40grit wheel. 

This finish was also a new one for me. I did a tipped painted finish to leave subtle/visible brush marks as this house in Goshen NY and it is more period correct. 

And of course... every piece of base scribed to the floor. Aye-yiyi

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## Aurora North (Dec 15, 2018)

And the dining table... oh boy.

I tried compound mitering and the first attempt on scrap plywood just felt too unstable. So... changed gears and went for solid.

This table had to be done in quartered cherry veneer based from a sample I had done among many.

I thought about just doing a big glue up of solid wood and bandsawing and shaping, but you would see graindirection and glued up board edges. I wanted a matching veneer flitch on all faces.

So here’s the process I went through.

Stack laminated solid cherry that came out of some kiln dried slabs I had. I was going to just use solid billets, but the moisture content was too high for my liking. Once you cut into a 2 3/4” slab the center is always much higher than the surface. That’s a movement issue when the client has their heat cranked during winter and the R/O is nowhere near high enough for millwork.

So... decrease the volume by resawing into thinner boards and cross laminated with 1/16 poplar veneer to stabilize the new billets. Worked out really well, but a crap ton of extra work.

These pictures kind of just show the material prep for the components.

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## Aurora North (Dec 15, 2018)

More material prep boring stuff, but showing the veneer work. 

Once the billets were face veneered and cleaned up they were run through the resaw with angle jigs I had to make. 

I ended up yielding two full table bases out of this so I already have the second full set of parts if I can sell another one. 

Hopefully this won’t be the last of this design now that I did all the figuring and making jigs to run the parts.

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## Aurora North (Dec 15, 2018)

Shots of the wedge sanding jigs. 

Made these to run the tease side through the widebelt sander in order to flatten the backs. This was critical for getting the 45 miters perfect. 

The center post core I did with appleply. Literally the best plywood you can get. It’s made from 1/16” thick hard maple veneer sheets all pressed together. I think it surpasses Baltic birch any day of the week. Better for painting also. 

The groove cut was put in there and all the wedges were set up for that alignment spline. This was also critical for repeatable cuts using jigs that all have the matching spline for alignment and work holding.

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## Aurora North (Dec 15, 2018)

Pics


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## Aurora North (Dec 15, 2018)

Parts finally cut... glue up and starting to see how these components come together. 

Learned a hell of a lot on this project. Really glad I took the time to make quality jigs. It paid off. The cuts right off the saw were so good I had hardly any clean up work with the chisels to adjust the visible tapers where they met.

The post was also mortised through the flat base stock. I had cut a 1/4” depth shoulder all the way around the post and drove a center wedge so that it would spread out and lock the post to the feet and table top supports. Just had to make sure it was perfectly plumb and square during the glue up.

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## Aurora North (Dec 15, 2018)

Stressed skin table top panel. Super stable, super flat, and lighter weight.

I build the way I do in an engineered manner because I want to walk away from every job knowing I won’t have a call back.

I have done solid wood tops which took 5 guys to carry in and months later had to bring back to the shop due to wood movement. Even with kiln dried lumber.

This works for me is all.

The frame is stack laminated and resawn. I then domino the members together with the really big ones. The voids are filled with insulation foam to deaden the hollow sound and lighten up the overall table. It's actually still pretty heavy, but it's nowhere near solid lumber tops. These are much more manageable for two guys to carry in or for my clients to move if they ever need to. The important thing to me is that the movement issues are totally eliminated. I never have to worry about it cupping, twisting, or a corner lifting, etc.

I use polyurethane glue because it expands and fills any voids or cavities between the skin and frame core. As the glue cures it pushes outwards. When the table top is in the hydraulic press any slight inconsistency is taken up by the glue as it presses against the plates.

This table top was too wide for the sander so I couldn’t calibrate the surfaces flat between layers. That’s where the glue and press shine.

The table surface is comprised of the maple core with foam, top and bottom skins of 1/4” hardboard, a lengthwise layer of 1/16” poplar veneer, then the 1” thick cherry edges are mitered around and glued on, then a final layer of cross band 1/16” cherry and lengthwise 1/16” face layer of veneer.

These last two layers of veneer completely stiffen the surface so that there is no flex and also makes the glue line of the hardwood edge impossible to transmit through to the surface.



Okay... well that's that until I get the final spray finished photos in the next few days. Hope the info helps someone out. If nothing else, I hope it was interesting.

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 15, 2018)

I found this to be very interesting and cool. That's a crap ton of work for sure! looks great, cant wait to see it with a finish on it and in it's new home.

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## Nature Man (Dec 16, 2018)

Excellent tutorial! Thanks for sharing! Projects look amazing! Chuck

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## Aurora North (Dec 16, 2018)

Thanks guys.

It was a bit of work, but not terrible. The press is heated so it actually goes pretty quick with the heat activated glue I use. In the future if I do more of these tables I'll go straight to basswood solid billets. Same for the table top core.

I happened to have maple kicking around so I used that, but basswood is much lighter weight and really strong. For veneering it's excellent due to the way it moves internally within itself. Has a long track record too. But that way there is no need for stack laminations and all that.

The banquette seating I also did all out of apple ply and MDF due to the radiant heaters that sit behind it. I was worried if I did all the panel work how I normally do it like a 5 piece maple door I was going to have major joint cracking once the heat hit it. Especially on a white painted finish- the worst. Thats why I threw in that photo of the cap rail that holds the metal vent grilles. Those parts get blasted with heat and I figured if I made it from solid I would just be asking for trouble.

It all moves, but not as much as solid wood. The plywood basically is solid wood, but just made up of 1/16" maple veneers all pressed together. Heavy stuff, but really stable and will respond to corner dings and wear the way wood does.

The book case stuff is all normal panel construction with 5/4 maple because there was no heat source immediately next to it. face frames were all dominoed at the joints and such so I'm not as concerned with hair line cracks in the paint forming there.

Edit... I should say all of this stuff was taught to me by my wood working mentor Norman Kelsall. The guy is an absolute genius when it comes to millwork and problem solving. He's in his early 70's now, but he started as a machinist and then later got into architectural work and ran a huge shop in Middletown NY serving NY, NJ, CT. Lots of really high end stuff; where I hope to be one day. His portfolio is seriously magnificent. His father owned a saw mill/ kiln operation so he has passed on immense knowledge to me about the entire process from sawing, to steaming/ kiln drying, veneering, how to approach build processes, estimating/pricing, on and on. But he's the guy who really got me into veneer work and showed me the ropes. His mentorship is invaluable and we are darn good friends. Always help each other out on projects. (I'm 30 so you know, I do the heavy lifting stuff and serve as his pair of hands). 

It's important to have these types of relationships. Especially starting out. I thought I learned a lot when I apprenticed in a cabinet shop. And I did... I certainly honed some skills. But Buddy (he goes by Bud, Buddy) totally catapulted my game. 

I guess that was the purpose of this long winded thread with these essay write ups. Just wanting to pass on the knowledge Bud so freely and graciously passed on to me. The specialty end of woodwork is a dying craft. I hope it helps some of you guys on your future projects.

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## Aurora North (Dec 17, 2018)

Finishing stretch. 

This job just keeps on giving- PAIN THAT IS. 

I was just about to start spraying the seal coat and had my finished catalyzed. Load it into the hopper and go to cycle the system and it wouldn’t pump to the gun. 

talk about disheartening. 

I switched to a binks cup gun which is just... not ideal. The shape of this base makes spraying into all the details very difficult to maneuver without taping the work piece. And they’re too slow; I was struggling to get a full wet coat on every part before the finish flashed off. And the finish just doesn’t atomize like an airless does. 

Thankfully it was just the seal coat so finishing sins are acceptable to a degree.

But man... I spent the next 5 hours taking the sprayer apart and cleaning with tooth brushes and lacquer thinner. The internal gaskets are in bad shape and a snap ring that holds a steel ball was shattered. 

Put it all back together anyway and tested it... same deal. 

Figured what the hell, I’ll try thinning the finish just a pinch. (Usually the pump has zero problems pumping full viscosity finish and I’ve never seen it struggle with the conversion varnish I use).

Anyway, thinned to 5% and it pumped it right to the gun. 

Emotional rollercoaster wreck over here. To put so much effort into something only to be forced to settle for a mediocre finish... Just NO. 

Went ahead and placed an order for 5 rebuild kits to keep on hand.

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## barry richardson (Dec 17, 2018)

Wow thanks for the master class Yusuke! Hard to imagine the amount of thought and planning that went into all that. On the table legs, was wondering why you didn't make them hollow, using compound miters, the angles would have been tricky though, solid for the mass? Also, is that urea formaldehyde your using for all your glue-ups? Looking at these pictures gives me serious "shop envy" BTW

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## woodtickgreg (Dec 17, 2018)

It still looks nice in the pics.

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## NeilYeag (Dec 17, 2018)

Amazing work, thanks for sharing all of the pics. Hard to follow everything but surely appreciate the planning design and engineering. Nice to see that some folks still care and are willing to pay for this kind of craftsmanship. 

If I ever get back to New York, would love to come by and say hello.

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## gman2431 (Dec 17, 2018)

Cool build!

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## Aurora North (Dec 18, 2018)

barry richardson said:


> Wow thanks for the master class Yusuke! Hard to imagine the amount of thought and planning that went into all that. On the table legs, was wondering why you didn't make them hollow, using compound miters, the angles would have been tricky though, solid for the mass? Also, is that urea formaldehyde your using for all your glue-ups? Looking at these pictures gives me serious "shop envy" BTW



I actually first planned on making it completely with compound miters around a post. I was going to run 3/4” FX core ply and veneer both sides.

I switched up after considering the struggle I would go through with set ups to get all the angles just right. And it’s a lot more precision angles for each piece of have to nail perfectly. Not that this isn’t doable.

I felt that by creating wedge components that I could keep flat to the sliding table or a jig, I could get more accurate repeatability with less fuss about testing and adjustments. 

The fact that the components were already wedges meant all I had to do was nail the 45.2 degree miters. Which is easy enough.

I go to 45.2 to ensure the points of the miter close perfectly and are open about 1/3 of the way at the back. This is to allow room for the glue so I’m not fighting hydraulic pressure during glue up.

And you’re right on with the urea formaldehyde glue. I use it quite often for wood glue ups. It has a very long open time and if you need it to kick faster, you throw heating blankets on it or warm air.

I use it because it glues rigid. Aliphatic glues like titebond are great but they creep at joint lines. If you want the glue line stay flat the way it was sanded, rigid glues are the way to go. The other advantage is that the urea resin is capable of entirely filling voids.

That brings me back to the 1/3 open back of the miter. It’s completely filled in solid as if it w as epoxy. But far easier to work with than epoxy and cleans up with water.

And as far as mass... that was also a benefit doing it this way instead of hollow. The base is heavy and extremely stable. I dunno... I guess it makes me feel better knowing in my head the table top is being supported by two solid chunks of wood.

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## Aurora North (Dec 18, 2018)

NeilYeag said:


> Amazing work, thanks for sharing all of the pics. Hard to follow everything but surely appreciate the planning design and engineering. Nice to see that some folks still care and are willing to pay for this kind of craftsmanship.
> 
> If I ever get back to New York, would love to come by and say hello.



Absolutely! Feel free anytime.

They’re still out there. I feel like the east coast has more of that heritage for appreciating finely made furniture and willingness to pay for it. That’s totally just my opinion from what I can see in my small market sphere.


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## Aurora North (Dec 18, 2018)

Finished and deliver photos. Customer was thrilled. So was I! It was the first time I actually got to see it assembled in the upright position and could step back and look at it.

Not quite sure what that is in the bottom edge in photo 1. I know it’s jot a run because I neurotically checked during top coating. Maybe just something from the blankets, but in any case it made its way into the photos. Further proving that my “staging/photo” skills are non existent.

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## barry richardson (Dec 19, 2018)

Outstanding!

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## Casey Botts (Dec 21, 2018)

Very beautiful! I like the accent on the legs.

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