Dining Table, Part II

We finally finished the laborious task of removing all the nails from the oak planks!  It was more of a workout than any of us would have ever expected. We ended up with five boards that measure 11½” by 100”+ and six boards that measured 7-9” by 96” long.  In total it came to around 135 board feet.  At my local hardwood supplier that would have cost, for red oak, about $550, more for White Oak.  I would say that all of the work and effort was ultimately worth not buying the lumber outright. And the best part is, they we ‘pre-distressed’ for me!

I bought a moisture meter to test the boards’ condition.  I didn't know how long they had been sitting out in the elements, soaking up water.  The average moisture content was just around 10% and I believe that is close enough to the ambient humidity in my house and garage to begin working these boards.  

Other boards in the garage came in between 6-8% moisture.

In order to make sure that the planks would be as close to stable as possible, I like to cut to rough length well prior to milling.  The more end grain that is exposed and the proximity of that end grain to the final size of the board, the less surprise I will have when milling and cutting later.  I also wanted to remove any unusable wood, due to MAJOR splitting or cracking.  Minor splitting or cracking is encouraged!  I selected the boards and pieces that would make up the understructure of the table and began cutting.

 I have 2 remaining boards to make the rest of the undercarriage of the bench, I do not think I will have enough to make 2 benches at this time… or if we will want 2 benches.

Since I do have a 6” Jointer and a planer, I decided to mill the pieces that were small enough for me to handle.  These will end up being the feet and top supports of the matching bench that I will make alongside the table.

As you can see, there are 3 White Oak boards, and 1 Red Oak.  With how dark we are planning on making the table, I am not sure it will matter.  I really like the fact that some of the boards will show ray fleck from being quartersawn. 

Quartersawn is the most stable cut from a log that you can get because the major direction of expansion is along the circumference of the rings.  When they run in the quartersawn direction, they only effect a small distance, thus the piece of wood does not move as much.  

This applies to all species of wood, but when it comes to Oak, you get a pretty grain design when cut in this position.  This is what we call Ray Fleck, and it is the hallmark of the Mission style of furniture.  You can see it on these boards as the white spots in the grain.  They really stand out when finished and provide an aesthetic that is unique to quartersawn oak.

 

Earlier today I put the design into Google Sketchup to make sure that I had enough length for all my tenons and boards and that I was not missing anything.  With a little preset coloring and texture, this is what my design looks like at this point.  Nothing is set in stone, especially any aesthetic elements, but the major parts are all here.