I began work on the new dinette table today. The old table was crumbling, heavy and had to go. First, strip the hardware from it and take some measurements. Then, cut a piece of plywood from the original "fold out" bed platform.
I'd been holding off, undecided about the table surface. I decided to go with cedar stripping and will put a coat of epoxy on it, ala stripper kayak/canoe finish. This brings the "journey" full circle as I first discovered this forum via Steve Frederick's stripper kayak building site. I love the look and with the epoxy coating on it, I expect it to last a lifetime.
For the cedar I used rare, imported, straight grain, old-growth forest, dog-ear fence pickets from the box store, under two bucks a picket. Ran them through the table saw rip fence at 1/4" using feather boards to hold downward and lateral pressure and using a thin-kerf blade. Then, with a bundle of strips cut, I began applying them to the raw table surface with Titebond 3 and brads. The glue was probably unnecessary, I'm a creature of habit. I wasn't too concerned about any gaps, the weight of the epoxy is insignificant in this application. I'll leave the brads in place,,, the rustic look.
Here's the start of the work:
(There's a matching cabinet door in the background).
As I was working outside on my deck, I got a pleasant surprise. The B-17 Flying Fortress "Liberty Belle" was in town and buzzed the tree-tops numerous times. What a thrill to hear the sound of those four radial engines and see that magnificent warbird!
I attempted to stagger the joints and change the grain direction for interest, nothing fancy, no bubinga and rosewood inlays. But, creating a design on the flat surface would be pretty easy and an option for future table builds.
Then I trimmed the edges flush with my router and hit it a few licks with the belt sander. It needs some more sanding but that will come later, time to call it a day.
