Thread: Tallowood Slab Dining Table

Progress ansd more questions:

4 legs routed for side rails. The mortise is only 35mm deep instead of the planned 45mm due to the length of teh router bit. Anyone think this will be a problem?

should i chisel out the last 10mm? Also, should i square the corners up or will they be ok left round?

thanks in advance

We need photos Gordo, or it didn't happen.
Left round is ok as long as the tennon is a good fit all around. I would go the extra 10mm on the depth. This frame has to support a very heavy top.

What the Laird said.

No pics yet. to be honest my carpentry skills are not the best and my mortise and tenon joints are average.

A few teething problems, the jig didn't work like i thought so i'm having to widen and deepen all the mortises by hand. They are all shouldered so should hide the the worst of it.

I've got the two end cross rails done and the legs are almost finished, they just need to be cut to length. If only i had a big drop saw. At least the two end M&T joints are finished.

Tonight i think i'll cut the rest of the legs to length and then top up the resin in the table top so it is dry by the weekend. I probably need to spend more time finishing the top in the next two nights or it won't but dry/completed by the end of the weekend.

here are some pics.


1-4: table top with chicken pox
5: side - natural edge left on
6: chainsaw marks being left in, adds to the story
7: legs and end rails
8:nothing says working too late into the night like builders bog
9: work in progress
10: the mess to clean up before the missus gets home on monday.
11: trialling the wood putty i had at home, went with a blend.
12:ahhh, that's were the resin went, through the bottom!!!!! ended up filling the holes with putty as i wasn't happy with the resin.

I used plasticine in the other side of the holes. Then pulled the plasticine out once the epoxy has dried.

Should say that I got this information from this site.

Originally Posted by Christos

I used plasticine in the other side of the holes. Then pulled the plasticine out once the epoxy has dried.

Should say that I got this information from this site.

I filled the bottom holes first with wood putty, however it would appear that i wasn't thorough enough. In the end i filled the top with wood putty that was a similiar colour, if i ever have to do this again i will fill it with a dark putty which would have given the same result as using resin.

Reading earlier posts and seeing the recent photos, I can understand why some have questioned whether the slab is tallow wood. There is what is called bastard tallow, which is cross polinated tallow wood.

Originally Posted by rustynail

Reading earlier posts and seeing the recent photos, I can understand why some have questioned whether the slab is tallow wood. There is what is called bastard tallow, which is cross polinated tallow wood.

It's a fitting name considering the problems it gave me on the weekend.

Note to all, do not try to glue the frame up after working on the table and boat floor repairs for 12 straight hours. I skipped the second dry fit check and having already applied glue to two corners I discovered i had not finished one of the M&T joints, not wide enough or deep enough. Two hours later I finally had it glued, braced, and as near as square as i could get it. In the end it was out by a couple mill on one corner and after some considerable swearing called it a night.

the next day i went to give the top a light sand before applying a second coat and found a significant ripple in the varnish and low spots were the dust had been vacuumed out of the cracks. i went all the way back to 180 grit before i considered it close enough to go all the way back to 600. Then i ran out of time and packed it all back in the garage.

Righto, tonight is the night. 1st coat on the legs, second coat on the top, then tomorrow morning a light sand and recoat both. Then let them sit till Sunday afternoon and then carry them into the dining room.

Getting there, the leg frame has had 4 coats and is now curing for a couple days. The top has had 4 coats and is about to get a 5th. Heaps of two part Wattyl for the top left over so i'll add a couple more coats and put it all together next weekend. Almost done.

Good to see you have the patients and time to put on a couple of coats of finish. Are you going to cut this back and buff away?

Originally Posted by Christos

Good to see you have the patients and time to put on a couple of coats of finish. Are you going to cut this back and buff away?

I haven't heard of this before. So what's the go, a few coats of varnish and then sand it back a little bit before buffing with....furntiure polish or similar??

could be a goer to remove some of the little imperfections in the varnish

Originally Posted by Gordo78

I haven't heard of this before. So what's the go, a few coats of varnish and then sand it back a little bit before buffing with....furntiure polish or similar??

could be a goer to remove some of the little imperfections in the varnish

about to give it a once over with 2000 grit and then polish it with mr sheen. hope this is the right way to go about cutting back and buffing