Large Red Oak Dining Table With End Leaves
About The Project
This 72” long table is made from four matched quarter sawn red oak boards. In this process the boards were sequentially cut from the same log. Quarter sawing is the process of cutting the boards with the saw cut perpendicular to the annual rings. This results in board faces with a tight, uniform and parallel grain pattern.
The boards were glued together in a bookmatched pattern. In this process, two consecutively cut boards are opened and glued together along matching edges, much like opening two opposing pages of a book. This results in the two boards creating a mirror image of each other. On this table there are two sets of bookmatches.
The table features two 11.5” wide end leaves that are stored within the table when not in use. The end aprons and legs are attached to a internal drawers that ride on industrial drawer slides. To expand the table, the drawers are unlocked and pulled out. The leaves are removed from the drawers, placed on the ends of the table and locked in place. End leaves allow for expanding the table without disrupting the one piece main top, which would happen if standard center leaves were used. With the leaves attached the table can accommodate 10 people.
Initially the customer was interested in staining the table gray to match the home’s black and white color palette. I made multiple sample boards showing various shades of gray. I also make a natural no stain sample board. Even though I spent several hours making the gray samples, I’m happy that the customer decided not to stain the table. The wood speaks for itself, why cover it up.
