Another Issue Arises: Friday Update
This week I finally hit my favorite project stage, a transition. I moved on from construction to final details.
That’s not to say the final details are my favorite, just that the transition between stages is my favorite.
When I am in the middle of a stage my mind is in two places. Concentrating on the current task and planning ahead to avoid an order of operations error where I could build myself into a corner.
But in the transitions I get to relax knowing I’ve planned ahead and now I get to reap the rewards.
Boo! Slotted holes for eyes and a mortise mouth.
Last week I prepared the base for assembly, but didn’t get to it until this week. I did have one remaining detail, routing slotted holes in the top plate for bolts to eventually secure the base to the slab. The reason for the slots is to allow for wood movement.
Wood moves in humidity changes. In Portland, Oregon we are different than most places with higher humidity in the winter time, 83% and lower during the summer, 63%. Trees carry water up and down their trunks and branches through the wood, hence they act like sponges, soaking up moisture from the air, swelling as humidity rises and causing boards to expand in width.
It’s this expansion and contraction that I am mitigating in two ways. The slots for the bolts and in the channel I created. Between the two mechanisms this table has the leeway to get one inch wider or skinnier based on the season.
Unfortunately, as the wood moves there are other factors. Boards often don’t move in a nice straight line and in the case of this table it moved in a way I didn’t want it to.
The table cupped. I’ve already dove deep on wood movement so I’ll spare you the details as to why for another article.
That light under the level is a low point on the table, the edges are holding up the level, raising it about 3/16. Not much, but enough that I could visually see a slight curve in the slab.
Suffice it to say, I had to fix it and the only way I knew how was to remove material to take the raised edges down. Back to the hand plane to knock out a workout and bring this table close to flat. It will never really be flat, that’s the nature of live edge, but I can get it closer.
To rectify the issue I hand planed the edges of the slab, concentrating on the high spots to lower the level and flatten the slab. Nothing like a good workout on a Wednesday evening.
With the table top flattened-ish it was time to do one last epoxy pour to fill in holes in the top. And while that dried I sanded the base, assembled it, and moved on to the finishing details so it was ready for oil.
The major detail was cutting the tenons flush. Then I sanded the transition at the bottom and added a slight chamfer to the bottom plate. Based on the location, the person sitting at the end will inevitably rest their feet on the base and no one likes a sharp corner cutting into them.
Next week I finish sand the entire top so I can start applying finish to everything. Then it’s the last detail, installing the base with threaded inserts and bolts to make sure everything is ready for delivery. I’ll miss my self imposed deadline by about a week, but that’s pretty good given the part-time nature of my wood work.
