Designing a “Cool” Conference Room Table
I was asked by a customer to create a cool conference room table for his construction company. He may have said “super cool” or “coolest ever”, but that’s a pretty high bar, so let’s just stick with cool. Either way, it was a challenge that I gladly accepted. Now, I don’t want everything I work on to be a challenge, but I do like to be reminded that I am alive and have something to contribute every now and then, so I said yes. I especially liked this challenge because I got to do some design work with no real limits for a great customer who I have known for a long time, and I knew it would go swimmingly.
I started off with a bunch of sketches (way more than I show in the video link below), many spread out over several days, so I could let the ideas ruminate. I drew a few of my favorites in SketchUp for presentation to the customer, and he picked out two of them – one for the conference room table and one for their “war room”, where they hammer out bids. The war room table was drawn originally at 14′ long, but was resized to better fit the smaller, more intimate room.
The design he chose for the conference room table features two arches leaning in towards each other and appearing to go through the top. I knew it was going to be a demanding build, so I took the time to make a mock-up for the customer. I don’t normally do this, but I thought it would give me a chance to really think about the construction and it would give the customer his last and final chance to raise concerns before we started throwing time and money at the project.
The model building was quite fun, and very helpful. It allowed both of us to see what the final table will look like with the actual wood and stain color. Plus, it was just fun to have a little model of a table to show off, so much so, that both of us were hoping to keep the model after it was completed (I let him keep it).
Click on the thumbnail photo below to see a video of the table design process and the model build.
What’s So Great About Sapele?
I use Sapele (sə-PEE-lee) lumber pretty often. I use it much more than you would think considering I mill my own lumber (which I would argue makes it almost free) and I have to buy Sapele. When it showed up on a recent bill from our lumber wholesaler, my wife/accountant who tends to question my purchases asked, “What’s so great about Sapele? I thought walnut was the best.” Well, after ordering even more for a recent door job, here are the reasons I came up with to defend my purchase:
- The Look. Sapele or Sapele mahogany is just pretty, like mahogany. It is a nice rusty red color which darkens and gets richer with age. Usually the lumber is quarter sawn which creates a ribbon striation in the grain. And, the chatoyance (light reflectivity variation), just wow!
- Takes stain great. As nice as Sapele is, sometimes the project calls for the wood to be stained. This semi-ring-porous wood accepts all stains evenly. Really, it is hard to mess it up.
- Durable. Use Sapele inside or out – it doesn’t matter. The wood will last a long time either way.
- Affordable. Sapele sits at about the same price point as a middle of the road domestic lumber and is cheaper than walnut.
- Stable. Sapele lumber is usually quarter sawn, even without specifying, which makes for some very cooperative wood.
- Wide and long. I’ve never seen a Sapele tree, but they must be huge. The lumber is often wide and commonly available in lengths over 12′.
- Machines well. Sapele isn’t quite the perfect wood to work with (it is sometimes a little chippy), but it is up there with our favorites. By the way, my favorite to work is sassafras.
- Not too heavy. For an imported and durable wood, Sapele is quite light in weight. Pick up some Bubinga and you’ll see what I mean.
I’m sure that there are even more reasons that will pop in my head after I post this, but let’s just say I like Sapele a lot – enough to go out and buy it when I am already surrounded by “free” wood.
Click on the YouTube link above to check out our latest door project
and to see the great Sapele lumber in action.
All About That Brass
It looks like brass is back in – bright, shiny, golden brass. The last few jobs we have done featured plenty of brass, and they have been for customers who I would say are “in the know” for design trends. The styles are less decorative than previous iterations, but I am surprised by how quick it is back. It seems like just yesterday we were taking out everything that resembled brass and replacing it with oil-rubbed bronze. I guess there are only so many choices, and brass isn’t a bad one.
A great example of the brass trend roaring back are a couple sets of cabinets we have done lately which featured brass, not only in the hardware choices, but also added to the cabinets. We have previously done a set in black and just recently a set in walnut. The brass inlay is a fancy touch which isn’t too hard to pull off, but there are a few tricks which we figured out through a bit of trial and error.
The first set of doors and drawer fronts set we did were made from mdf with the grooves routed on the cnc router. We used 1/8″ thick brass and super glued them in the grooves after we chiseled the corners square. It worked well, but we planned to sand the entire panel in the wide-belt sander and that’s where things went a little sideways. Even with the lightest and quickest of passes, the brass would get hot and expand and then pop out of the grooves. We were able to finish up by hand, using a block backer behind the sandpaper, but the process took quite awhile. Luckily, we were only doing a handful of doors. In case you are wondering, the orbital sander was a no-go because the brass and mdf sand at different rates and the orbital sander would leave the brass high and the mdf low, resulting in a non-flat surface. The only way to ensure a flat surface is with very even amounts of sanding through the wide-belt sander or with a stiff backer behind the sandpaper.
On our most recent set of walnut cabinets, I decided to step up the brass to 1/4″ x 1/4″ and it made a huge difference. We were able to put the panels through the wide-belt sander (still taking light passes) and have that be our almost finished surface. We then very, very lightly sanded with the orbital sander just to get the brass surface finished consistently, but had no issues with the brass wanting to pop out of the grooves. The structural difference between 1/8″ thick and 1/4″ thick brass and its ability to dissipate heat, both added to the success. I think it also helped to have more glue surface on the side of the brass to keep them in place.
The walnut panels were a bit easier to finish than the black set because the entire panel was only clear coated for the finish. The black set required us to tape off the brass before painting black and then clear coating the entire panel. To get a perfectly flat finish, the black set also took a few extra coats of finish with 320 sanding in between to level out the surface.
Besides the brass hardware, brass is finding its way back in fixtures and accent pieces too. We found ourselves also working on a set of brass and walnut shelves to accompany the cabinets above. It seems like the brass is coming back and designers are not being shy about using it. Take a good look around the internet and you’ll find brass, and it will be as big as ever.
I Shouldn’t Complain About Not Having Enough Space
New York has a lot going on and a lot going for it – space is not one of those things. If you are not a people person, it probably isn’t the city for you. If you like to have room to work and a place to put your stuff, it definitely isn’t for you. Luckily, I am used to working in a tight space with a lot going on, and I don’t mind it. It doesn’t speed anything up, but as long as everyone isn’t too grumpy, working in tight quarters can be kinda fun and exhilarating. It only becomes less fun when it is time to get your stuff done and there is no way to actually get to it.
Our first installation trip in New York had both the joy of working closely with all of the other trades and the exasperation of having those same people in your way most of the time. I often feel like our shop is too small, but after going to New York and having 15 guys, a truckload of cabinets, a bunch of fridges and everyone’s tools in 1,200 sf. of showroom, I feel like I should shut up about it.
Click on the video below to see how much stuff we were able to put in a 5 lb. bucket.
“Hey Buddy, I’m Walkin’ Here!”
Well, we got our cabinets to New York, off the truck and up to the 6th floor job site, but not without some excitement. I didn’t get it on video, mostly because it’s not easy to video while everyone is yelling at you, but I can tell you it would have made for some great TV. Will he get the truck unloaded on time? Will the other contractors let him live? Will the honking ever stop? All of these questions and more will be answered on the next episode of “This May Not Have Been a Good Idea”.
It started out great. The driver was there by 6 a.m. He pulled a magnificent u-turn in the corner intersection and got into the loading dock rather expeditiously, and everyone was joyous.
The marching orders from our general contractor were to get in early, claim your spot, unload the truck and ignore everyone else. That’s not really how it normally works for me, but hey, I’m in New York. You do what you got to do, and we did it. The first 30 minutes went great. Everyone we saw was still riding the adrenaline high of getting the truck in the loading dock. Then the mood started to change.
Other contractors in the building began showing up, early mind you, and couldn’t get in because we were in the way. Pedestrians started heading for work, also early, and couldn’t get by. Drivers trying to beat the rush could only use one lane. I know it’s hard to picture here in suburbia where we are used to having space.
We unloaded the truck as fast as we could, but it wasn’t fast enough. The yelling picked up and so did the honking. It seemed like everyone was on the phone talking to somebody else about how they were trying to speed up the process and get us out of there. Finally, the employees in charge of the loading dock said we were out of time and made our driver pull out and park in the street.
We focused on the truck. We got him unloaded and out of the way and at least stopped the honking. At that point I thought we were on easy street. The truck was gone and more than half of the stuff was up to the job site. All we had to do was get the rest of it up the freight elevator, and we had all day to do it. Wrong again. Turns out freight can’t be delivered after 8 a.m., so as not to disrupt the other businesses in the building. Fine concept, I just didn’t know about it. I have never worked in a building where the freight elevator can only carry freight before 8 a.m.
Right at 8 a.m. one of the building managers, popped out of the freight elevator, violently waved her arms as though she was calling a runner safe at second and yelled, “No more, no more!” She disappeared back in the elevator and we stopped moving. I didn’t know how to handle this one.
We stood there in the basement for awhile, knowing we had to do something. The freight elevator is big and we decided that if we got one more shot at it we could fit everything else. So, we went New York style, loaded up the elevator, made sure we got it in one load and headed to the 6th floor. We did not see the building manager and had everything officially off of the elevator and in the job site before 8:20 a.m., just a little past curfew.
Then our general contractor turned his phone back on.
Apparently, you just need to get used to people yelling at you when you work in NY.
How to Find the Center Without Doing the Math
Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like to follow convention. I swear I don’t do it to be ornery (though my wife might disagree), I just enjoy viewing things from different angles. I always take a different route when I can and like to approach life the same way. One of my differing viewpoints is on measuring. For some people the measurement is the measurement and that’s it. For me, not so much. It doesn’t seem like much of a hill to die on, but I think it is at least worth discussing. Measuring with tape measures and using some system like imperial or metric to communicate those measurements with others is important, but it isn’t the only way to accomplish many tasks. One of the most common places to subvert mathematical conventions is in dividing spaces evenly, and a great example is finding the center of a piece by dividing a space in two.
Finding the center with math can be simple – half of 24″ is 12″. But, it can be hard too. Real quick, tell me the center of 157-13/16″. The answer will take some math and possibly a calculator to get to 78.90625″ or 78-29/32″, and then you need to find that on a tape measure – more math to figure out that 29/32″ is just between 7/8″ and 15/16″and isn’t even marked on your tape measure. The conventional approach would be to do the math, mark the measurement, and double check the math by measuring from each side to verify that the center mark is the same distance from each edge. But, I am here to tell you that you can skip the math part.
The measurement or the actual number on the tape measure is somewhat arbitrary at this point. All that is needed is for both halves to be the same, whether or not it lines up with a mark on a tape measure doesn’t matter. Think of it like this, that center point is going to be in the same place no matter what measuring system you use. The measuring system is just a way for you to communicate a number from piece to piece or to someone else.
So, how do you find the center without doing the math? The answer is pretty simple. Skip the math part and just go straight to the verifying part. All you need is a tape measure and one good eye. Here’s how to do it:
1) Look at the piece and put a mark in what looks to be the center. Maybe you have a great eye, maybe you are done.
2) Measure to that mark from one side. It will most likely be a wacky, non-conformist number like 28-15/16″, plus a skosh. Simplify your life and move that mark to something easy and something on the tape measure, in this case 29″.
3) Measure from the other side towards the center and mark 29″ again. Now you will have two marks on your piece. If you have a good eye, those two marks will be very close together. If not, pick another number that will get those marks closer together. For example, those two marks might be about 6″ apart, so add 3″ or subtract 3″ (depending on if they overlap or not) to each side and remark. Now they will be close together. Still no math.
4) If you are only roughly splitting the piece in two, it is easy enough to eyeball and mark the center at this point, since there is very little distance between the two marks. If you need to be accurate, just change your measurement a little. If your marks are about 1/2″ apart, change it by 1/4″ on each side. At some point the numbers will be exactly the same or they will be 1/16″ or less off. Once you get to that point, you have no choice but to eyeball it and put a mark in between the marks.
I love to use this system and smile a little bit inside when I do it, feeling like I know some secret no one else does. I know it’s not the case, but I still think it is fun to find the center without all the official math. Heck, I could even do the same thing with just a random stick if I needed too. On a recent project, I was cutting it very close on length and needed to make sure my layout was in the middle of the slab, and I got a chance to use my “no measuring” system again, and this time I got it on video. Check out the following video where I show my measuring marvel in real life:
Powermatic Planer is Finally “Quiet”
Recently, I finally upgraded my Powermatic 180 planer to a spiral cutterhead, and I am here to tell you how much I love it. And yes, I do want to marry it.
18″ wide Powermatic 180 planer
I bought this machine at auction when I moved into the new shop, after I burned up my last planer in the fire. I’ve had it for about 8 years now, and for most of that time fought with keeping the blades sharp. I was excited when I bought it because it was made in America (not like the ones from Taiwan today), had a strong 7-1/2 horse motor, and I knew it would last the rest of my life. I especially liked the warning sticker on the front, which reminds me not to remove more than 1/2” of thickness at a time (like that is going to happen). The coolness continued with the fact that it had an on-board grinder to sharpen the knives without removing them from the planer. The coolness ended, however, with the blade setup.
A normal planer has three or four long blades, the width of the planer to shave the wood. This particular Powermatic planer, “The Quiet One” was outfitted with 27 short blades, which were placed in a staggered pattern in 9 slots, presumably to not have as much smacking of the blades against the wood and reducing the noise. Instead of three or four hard smacks per revolution, it would be broken down to 9 smaller smacks per revolution, running with more consistency in the noise level. I found this set up to NOT reduce the noise and to make knife setting and resharpening almost impossible, which explains why this design was not long-lived.
The original “Quiet” cutterhead had 27 short knives.
The little, 2” long knives, were held in with Allen screws which were supposed to also allow for height adjustment, but they were always jammed with wood and would take an act of God to get them loose. Even after we made a special hook-shaped tool to get them out, it would still take me at least a full day to reset all of the knives, and I still felt like they were subpar. Finally, after the last time resetting the knives, I told myself that once they were ground down enough to need resetting, I was going to replace that cutting head. I hadn’t done it up to that point because I am cheap and the new cutting head was in the $1,500 range, which was $500 more than I paid for the planer.
I ended up buying a Byrd Shelix carbide insert cutterhead. It has around 150 little carbide inserts with four cutting edges on them. When I opened the packaging it was quickly evident why it was so expensive – it was a thing of machining beauty. There are so many little cuts and angles and crazy geometry that it would make your head spin if you really had to figure it out. Even the little inserts have a little bit of bend along the cutting edge to make up for the fact that they are set up at an angle to make a shear cut. Nothing about it is straight or simple.
Newly installed Byrd Shelix carbide insert cutterhead
I had a friend of mine from the St. Louis Woodworkers Guild, former shop teacher Dan Coleman, install it for me. You would know (like I did) after talking to Dan for just a minute about machines and machine setup, that he was the guy to do it. It took him less than a day to dismantle my planer and swap out the new cutting head. I’m sure if I did it alone it would have taken much longer and I still wouldn’t be sure everything was right. After listening to several presentations by Dan about machine maintenance, I was sure it would be done perfectly, which it was.
When we ran the first board through the planer, it was amazing! It was so quiet, I didn’t even think it was cutting the wood! Even now, I need to look at the wood coming out of the planer sometimes just to make sure it is doing anything. The hum of the motor is usually about the same noise level as the actual planing. The funny thing is, going into this, I wasn’t so worried about the noise level, or at least I didn’t think I was. If I just got good planing results without having to fight with those stupid knives, I would have been happy, but the reduction in noise makes it almost unbelievable.
So, “What about the finish quality?,” you ask. Also, AHH-MAZING! Since the cutters are set at an angle and designed to make a shear cut, there is almost no tearout like normal planer blades, which hit the wood straight on and lift out chunks of wood while they are cutting. Even difficult-to-plane species, like hard maple, come through almost entirely unscathed. Now, I feel confident sticking boards in the planer, knowing they will come out the other side with the surface fully intact and not blown to bits. This speeds things up in the shop because we don’t need to spend so much time at the wide belt sander cleaning up after the planer.
Since the cutterhead was switched out, I have had a chance to test out the resharpening process, and it is so easy. Twice, I have rotated just a few of the carbide teeth, which got damaged by hitting a nail in the wood, and I had it back up and running, with a perfect finish, in just a few minutes. I have rotated all of the teeth once so far, and that was done in about an hour. The teeth loosen and rotate easily and fall right into perfect position – it is super simple. The sharpening process has gone from something I hated with every bit of my being to something I don’t even think about – a 100% non-issue. It just works, and works better than I could have ever imagined. I can’t believe I waited so stinkin’ long to do it.
If You’re Thinking of Going Live Edge, You’re Not the Only One
Post by Chris Wunder (Scott’s lovely wife)
Recently, a customer who visited the shop said they weren’t sure if WunderWoods was still in business because the most recent blog post was from 2018. Scott’s always busy, but lately just hasn’t found the time to write one of his informational pieces. So, I’ve decided to help out with some posts. I’m sure I won’t have the humor that Scott does, or the helpful how-to information that he provides, but I will highlight projects happening in the shop. So here’s my first post!
If you’ve seen any custom wood projects in the last few years you know that live edge slabs are all the rage. Here’s a few pictures of our most recent live edge projects. From corporate offices to laid back bedrooms, live edge wood is everywhere. If you’d like more information on what we offer in the way of finished or unfinished slabs, please click on the “Live Edge Slabs” in the upper left hand corner of our website.
Conference Table-Walnut
Walnut live edge bench
Bar top-Walnut
Amazing table-Sycamore
Another beautiful table-Curly Maple
Floating Bed-Siberian Elm
Impress the Ladies with Tape
I use a lot of tape on a regular basis. Usually it is for regular things which you would guess require tape – normal things like holding parts in place or masking something off before finishing. I always have tape with me, from blue masking tape (my favorite) to electrical tape, and we keep plenty of other tapes in the shop, including packing tape and aluminum foil tape (my second favorite).
No matter which tape you prefer or which of these you have with you, they are all equally good for one thing – cleaning up. That’s right, cleaning up.
A nearby rug can be a handy clean-up tool too.
You see, I was on an install about 15 years ago which was small (only drilling a few holes), and I brought nothing with me to clean up. Since there was no rug nearby to sweep the dust under, I decided to use some tape like a lint roller to clean up the mess. I simply rolled the tape around my hand, sticky side out, and used it to pick up the dust. And, it worked great!
Tape does a great job on manly messes like glitter and paper scraps (above).
Now, whenever I don’t have a vacuum or a broom handy, or if I just want to impress the ladies, I reach for the tape and pick up the mess. And, while not perfect for cleaning big messes, tape excels at thoroughly cleaning up small, lightweight messes which are hard to grab and tend to easily fly around or cling with static.
On the job site, I use tape to clean up all kinds of dust and debris. And, at home, we use tape to clean up after doing home repairs and craft projects (it works amazingly well on glitter). My fancy tape clean-up method works so well that I don’t bother to turn the truck around when I realize that I head out without any official cleaning tools.
Next time you find yourself needing to clean up a little mess, don’t go searching for a vacuum either. Just get out the tape and get on to the next job.
Super Glue is Super in the Woodshop
Super Glue or cyanoacrylate glue or CA glue (whatever you choose to call it) is some amazing stuff. I have been using it more and more in the shop and seem to find new uses for it every day. When combined with an activator to make this already super glue that much more super, its crazy how fun and helpful it can be. Lately it seems like if something is broken or just not quite right, I’m reaching for the super glue. And, in an age of immediate gratification, it seems to fit right in.
A kit like this from FastCap is a great place to start.
Plenty of companies, like this one from Mohawk, offer kits that include different viscosities and activators.
The Stick Fast line, available at Rockler, offers many choices, including activators.
Titebond’s Instant Bond is available at Woodcraft and features a full line of viscosities and activators.
Brands like Loctite are commonly available at many hardware stores and perform just as well, though their activators will not be as easy to find.
CA glue, which most everyone knows as super glue, has recently developed quite the following, leading to a wide variety of choices in makers and products. The biggest expansion in product lines has come in the form of different viscosities, from thin to thick, which allow for greater control and the ability to be used in more situations. The thin derivation is great for making repairs where something is cracked but not really in two separate pieces and the thicker varieties are great for gap filling, while the medium is a good, all around, gluing choice.
The other advancement, the one which makes super glue super fun, is the addition of spray activators. An activator will make CA glue set up almost immediately, changing the clear, easily flowing liquid into a hard crystalline structure with great adhesive quality. The activator makes CA glue work the way you have always dreamed for glue to work – you have time to get the loose pieces into position and when they are, just shoot them with activator and there they stay. And, the repairs are incredibly strong.
My first introduction to CA glue in woodworking came in the form of a presentation at the St. Louis Woodworkers Guild. The speaker was discussing building intricate handrails, which were made of many small pieces of wood, connected end grain to end grain, to form the curvy bits at the top and bottom of the stairs. He showed how he was able to use nothing but CA glue in the tightest of spots to produce quick, strong and lasting bonds.
End grain joints are notoriously horrible glue joints in any other world, but in the super glue world the joints held up great. He brought in some samples and glued them right in front of our eyes and in just seconds formed a new piece of wood which no one could break. All he did was put the CA glue on one part and sprayed the other with activator. As soon as the two pieces touched, the bond was complete. On joints which required some open time for alignment, he also had the option to use only the CA glue and not shoot the activator until everything was lined up. The glue closest to the surface would dry immediately to hold everything in place and in a short amount of time the glue on the inside of the joint would harden for a complete bond. It is a real game changer in spots which are traditionally very difficult to connect.
Besides simply holding two things together, CA glue also has many other uses. I commonly use it when I am in the final stages of finishing and find voids which need to be filled. If the voids are big, epoxy is usually the choice, but CA glue works great as a type of clear filler between the epoxy and the final finish stages. I typically use the medium or thick variety and hit it with the activator for a speedy surface fill and repair. Once the CA glue sets up it can be sanded and worked like any other plastic finish and then topcoated without issue.
CA glue is also great as a wood hardener. It isn’t uncommon for me to run into wood that is decayed or starting to decay somewhere (especially in spalted or “character” wood) and needs a little support structurally. By soaking the questionable wood with the thin version of CA glue, I can quickly turn a delicate spot into a spot which is as hard as rock and will stay bonded with the surrounding wood. And, again, it happens almost immediately, even without an activator.
Lastly, CA glue can be a finish all by itself. I don’t personally use it as a finish, since I am not a wood turner (you can find out why by clicking here), but I know plenty of people who do. Usually, it is used for smaller projects like pens and bowls, where less-than-perfect wood is a common choice. I suspect it was first used to simply hold burled wood together and then people started to realize that it filled voids and finished nicely. After that, it was a logical step to start using it as the finish and take advantage of its strength and immediacy.
The big negative for me, when I started using super glue on a regular basis, was the possibility of accidentally glueing myself or getting glued to something else. I think everyone knows that super glue bonds immediately to skin and it seems like everyone is always warning everyone else to not get it on their skin, so I used it with trepidation. However, since using CA glue now, almost every day, I can tell you that it is much less scary.
I have no problem or concerns with using my raw, ungloved finger to wipe up a drip of super glue like I would any other errant liquid. If you do the same, you just need to be smart about it. If you get it on your hand, don’t immediately grab something – it will stick. Just let it dry and you will have no problem. And, if you do stick your fingers together, don’t freak out. Enjoy the moment and look at your fingers in awe and appreciate how good the glue works on your skin. Then, simply wipe the glue with acetone and you will be unstuck. And, even if you get CA glue on your skin and do nothing about it, the glue will start to peel off after a couple of days without causing any pain or damage. It really isn’t as life changing as others might make it out to be. As a matter of fact, I even know a guy (not named here for professional courtesy) who shot CA glue directly in his eye, and though a bit uncomfortable, had no real issues arise from it.
I recommend having three viscosities (thin, medium and thick) of CA glue and a spray activator in your shop at all times, ready to go. Purchase it before you need it, then you will have it on hand when the need arises and you can take advantage of the speed it offers. I guarantee that once you start using CA glue in your shop, you will find a million uses for it too.
What’s Going on at WunderWoods
Everyone always asks what I do. Here's the answer. Click on the photo above for a short video tour and see all of the steps it takes to go from a tree to finished furniture.