Table 4 - The Regulator

The Nameplate

Thought I'd get this nameplate made up for posterity (engraved with a laser beam, pretty cool). The dinning table is arguably the most emotional family heirloom. The sacred gathering place of friends and family. So this table was made for Fen. Granted he's only six years old, but a man needs a solid Walnut table he can take through life. When it comes to designing an object, they say if you don't have a metaphor, you don't have shit. Well ,I didn't exactly have a metaphor, but all this called for a strong, honest, timeless design.

Hardware

Time to mill up the table top clips and cut their mortises into the aprons. The top will be pinned on centre (with four clips), with the other clips having slots to allow movement. Roughed the mortises free hand with the router, then cleaned up with a chisel and the incredibly handy router plane.

Table Top Finish

It was time to slap some oil on the table top. I remain convinced that a finish should always be non-toxic. I confess to investigating wipe-on poly for this top, but couldn't bring myself to do it. I've been impressed with how well the pure Tung oil finish on my kitchen countertops has held up, so decided it was worth the time investment. I'm using citrus solvent as a thinner, shooting for 10 coats (progressively thicker) with about 3 days drying time between coats. The citrus solvent (not to be confused with citrus cleaner which can't be used as a thinner) does an excellent job, and unlike toxic thinners, only has two ingredients, it's basically orange peel oil.