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Cut an Eastern Red Cedar Down

 
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Had a "huge" (16 -20 inch across) eastern red cedar tree beside the house and decided to cut it down. Hauled the wood to the sawmill to get it cut up into lumber , then hauled it to the local dry kiln to dry it out. Then hauled it to a friend that planed the wood and cut the edges for me. I had no idea what to make out of the lumber but being it came off the property I knew I wanted to make something so I decided I would attempt to make a cedar dining room table. Took the lumber to a friends barn where he has all the tools that I needed to get started. So I figured out what I was going to do and started glueing and screwing, after many hours and a few tweeks to the original diagram I have finished the table.( except for the legs being powder coated ) By no means do I consider myself a wood worker kind of person but I did my best and I am very proud of how things turned out. When I got the lumber back from the planer it was all 7/8 inch thick  ( not 3/4 ) as I asked.
 The table is made out of 12" heart eastern red cedar and lined on the bottom with 12 " boards running the opposite way for more stability( glued and screwed for more support , probably over kill but oh well ). The edges are made out of a maple,cedar, maple with a piece of cedar under that running across all 3 boards. All 3 edges have been routed so they are not sharp and to give them a little profile so it does not look plain Jane so to say. The edges as well are screwed and glued and have walnut plugs hiding the crew holes. I just so happen to have done hardwood floor refinishing in the past so I decided to put commercial polyurethane floor finish on top which should hold up better then any oil or water base product. In the future if it gets scratched up then all I should have to do is scuff the top with a piece of 120 grit sand paper and put a fresh coat back on to make it look brand new again.
  The legs I have constructed out of 1x3 square tubing metal with a piece of 1/4 flat steel connected to both legs, that is going to be powder coated with feet under it so you can level the table. The length is 76.5 inches and width is 42.5 inches with it standing 31 inches tall.The legs are going to be secured with 3/8 wood inserts so in the future if the table is going to be moved it should be very easy to disassembled.
 This is the final product in the picture below.  Good or bad I would like to hear peoples opinions. Would this be something worthy of selling to someone or hide on the back porch where no one can see it.
My next project with the rest of the lumber is to build a set of bunk beds for the grandkids that will separate into 2 twin beds. ( that will be a couple of months  before I start those).

Picture 1 - finished table top
Picture 2 - bottom of the table before the top was finished
Picture 3  top still needed a few more coats of finish but an Idea on how the legs will look under it,
Table-top.jpg
[Thumbnail for Table-top.jpg]
Table-Bottom.jpg
[Thumbnail for Table-Bottom.jpg]
Table-legs.jpg
[Thumbnail for Table-legs.jpg]
 
gardener
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Location: Arkansas - Zone 7B/8A stoney, sandy loam soil pH 6.5
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Nice work! I like that table top, the grain is really popping which  is one of the things that makes it so attractive, the other is the banding detail.
I think it would be saleable with the metal legs but it would also do well with wood legs.

I love it when people use their sacred cedar trees for building things, it allows the spirit of the tree to live on.

Redhawk
 
steward
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Nice looking tables man! They're beautiful.
 
pollinator
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Location: Jacksonville, FL
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I would put a finish on the bottom side and keep it indoors. I have a habit of finishing pieces before I assemble them to avoid moisture (Florida beach weather is always humid) and usually makes it easier to clean up excess glue or smudge marks from handling. Wood tends to expand and contract with both moisture and to a lesser degree temperature. The construction method of gluing pieces together across grain will likely cause it to build up immense amounts of pressure if it sees too much moisture. If you seal up the bottom before it can absorb a lot of moisture then there is a good chance it will last you many years.

Other than that I really like the looks of it! Traditional on top and industrial underneath.
 
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