Thread: Jarrah Dining Table - WIP

Hi TP1,

Wow. Great finish indeed and the joins in the top look invisible, (from the photos anyway). And yes, that is one flat table, the reflection lines are very straight. I really like that for gloss finishes. Top effort.

That table is going to last generations.

Cheers
Pops

Hey TPI,
Is that the new Hammer A3-31 you have been telling us about ?
Damm fine job there mate.
Bushy

Yes, that is the machine I was talking about in other threads. It's accuracy and strength made things quicker and easier for me.

TPI,
Very happy to hear that, My A3 -31 gets delivered in about 1.5 hrs time, I have to wait until the fork lift is available to unload it, at 300Kg's, it is a bit heavy for me to unload by hand).
NQX Freight picked it up in Sydney on the 3rd and it arrived in Cairns this morning, Excellent service I thought.
I now have very itchy fingers waiting to 'play' with it.
It will compliment the K3 Comfort slider very nicely, just the band saw to upgrade now and my shed is complete for my iminent retirement.

Here is the final product. I ended up going for the deep gloss finish, for two reasons. Firstly my wife and I really like the look of well polished timber. Secondly, lady luck was on my side and the final coat of WOP was dead even and almost dust free, making a deep piano like shine possible.

The method I used was to buff the table lightly with 3000g on the ETS 150/3 to remove any small imperfections, then go over it with 4000g. I then used Maguires clear coat scratch remover with the Rotex/150 and a felt pad. This brought up the shine to a full gloss level. I then removed all traces of the compound with isopropyl alcohol and turps (used separately).

The final stage was applying carnauba wax by hand, buffing first by hand then with with Rotex and sheepskin pad, and then a final hand buffing. The result is a deep lustrous finish which is difficult to photograph due to the reflections from the high gloss . Here are some pics of the finished article.

Hi TP1,

Wow !!! What a great finish. Thanks for the photos and write-up. Top job.

Cheers
Pops

Now that is really good.

You have my permission to garrot the first person to put a hot cuppa or drink and leaves a ring on it!

It really came up very well mate, well done

What would you say that hardest part of the whole project was?

Andy

Originally Posted by groeneaj

It really came up very well mate, well done

What would you say that hardest part of the whole project was?

Andy

This is my first dining table and planning out the design and all aspects of the construction was vital. In execution, I was most apprehensive about getting the table top perfectly flat based upon some unpleasant experiences of others with projects like this. In the end that turned out to be a straight forward task although it needs to be executed properly. I simply used techniques suggested by the experts on this forum (together with my own experiences.)

Overall, I guess the final finishing proved to be the most fiddly for me in terms of getting a perfect full gloss finish with WOP and one that looked natural and lustrous. I think I have developed a reasonable technique in applying WOP, (like so many others have) but a full gloss finish shows up the tiniest of imperfections on the table top. Variations of fractions of a mm over the length of the surface look like deep valleys from a lowish angle with gloss, but do not show with satin or flat finishes.

Getting the top very flat to a critical degree, not just 'good enough so no-one else would notice' helped tremendously,as did the WOP technique.

Originally Posted by Wallnut

TPI,
Very happy to hear that, My A3 -31 gets delivered in about 1.5 hrs time, I have to wait until the fork lift is available to unload it, at 300Kg's, it is a bit heavy for me to unload by hand).
NQX Freight picked it up in Sydney on the 3rd and it arrived in Cairns this morning, Excellent service I thought.
I now have very itchy fingers waiting to 'play' with it.
It will compliment the K3 Comfort slider very nicely, just the band saw to upgrade now and my shed is complete for my iminent retirement.

Congrats on your purchase. Don't forget to get a set of cobalt blades as well. The standard "Chrome Steel" blades won't last long on Australian hardwoods. The Cobalt blades are outstanding however and they are around $69 for a set of double edged blades.

Just wanted to let you know that your hard work is still helping! I am planning to undertake a few new pieces, and your effort in describing your process has been really helpful.

Cheers,
Dave