Rift-Sawn Red Oak Dining Table

sprague lake, estes park, colorado, 09.19.2004

Rift-Sawn Red Oak Dining Table After putting the wine cabinet in the dining room, Susie and I both said the laminated dining table looked out of place. I came up with a simple design that both of us liked. The next day, I headed out for a lumber run. You can download the plan I created as a PDF.
To match the wine cabinet, I decided to use rift-sawn red oak. All stock used for the table was 4/4 rough sawn. Looks like I got some good looking boards to work with.
I didn't have any thick stock, so three boards were laminated for the legs. I cut the tapers on the bandsaw and cleaned them up on the jointer. This was my prototype leg but I ended up using it on the table because it turned out good. On the finished table, you can't tell there are any seams.
Here are the boards used for the remaining three legs.
Most of my boards for the top were around 8" wide. Since I only have a 6" jointer, I ripped them down the middle and glued them back up later. Because of this, the top is made of 18 pieces from 10 boards.
Here are the glued-up leg blanks and the aprons.
The table has been glued and sanded. The top is 42" x 60" and 7/8" thick.
To match the wine cabinet, I used a 50/50 mixture of Varathane mission oak and cabernet stains.
I used super-blonde shellac to seal the stain, then used Waterlox original sealer/finish for the topcoats. Here is a picture showing the apron and legs.
The Waterlox really gives depth to the table top.
I was really happy with how flat the table top turned out. Gluing 18 boards together had me a bit scared but I took my time and made sure everything lined up.
A birds-eye view of the top.