swedgemon Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 I was asked to build an 8 X 4 oak dining room table and an 8-foot oak bench. Attached photos show I opted to make the bench first...large 2" oak slabs, 8 feet long are hard to handle...more on the table later...much later. The bench is 17" tall X 8 feet long - it's a piece of 2" oak with some good knots and grain. The finish is Minwax Golden Oak stain and 2 coats of clear satin Rustoleum enamel. The legs are 1 1/2" steel tube, deeply distressed under the power hammer, the spreaders are 3/4" square, twisted, then tapered under the power hammer. Leg wrappings are 1/4" round rod, tapered on both ends. The original structure did not have the turnbuckle brace...I put the bench together, then did a "2-large-men-load-test" and noticed that the deflection of the oak caused the legs to push out, with much heavy scraping on the floor. Since this will be a dining room table and knowing that the customer had just installed new oak floors (Golden Oak stained), I immediately thought of David Kailey's turnbuckle feature. The turnbuckle brace is a 1/2" galvanized piece...I burned it in a charcoal fire (outside) for a few hours to get rid of the galvanized shine. The tension rods are twisted 3/8" square rod. All surfaces were wire-brushed with a 4 1/2" HF angle grinder and coated with Rustoleum clear satin enamel. Final assembly passed a 4-large-man-load-test with almost no deflecttion and no outward spread of the legs. A gender-neutral "Maximum Load" label was attached...customer's kids will have something to read when they play under the bench... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 "max 90 mins." does that mean "good food and beer served here?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedgemon Posted July 11, 2017 Author Share Posted July 11, 2017 The customer and most of his friends are "larger-than-life", deeply involved in hunting, fishing, construction, driving large, modified diesel trucks, competitive shotgunning, etc., etc. Oh, did I mention maybe having a beer or two ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 where are the seat belts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedgemon Posted July 11, 2017 Author Share Posted July 11, 2017 I didn't think seat belts were needed...it's low to the ground and goes 0 mph...should be safe enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Backless bench and beer, safety not assured! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I really like it! What does distressed mean in this case? (When talking about the steel tubes.) Thank you and best wishes: Gergely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 battered---look at the closeups Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JME1149 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Very nicely done, I bet that's one heavy bench. My favorite features are the reverse twists and the leg wraps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedgemon Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 A minor correction in the first sentence of the OP...the wood finish is Minwax Golden Oak Stain and 2 coats of clear satin water-base polyurethane...sorry about that. Yes, this is one heavy bench...when working with heavy oak slabs like these one would do well to wear heavy metatarsal-protected boots (aka steel mill boots). When I need to move a piece that is 2" X 19" X 8', I use a fork lift or get a neighbor's teen-aged son involved. My DW does not like heavy manual labor (lifting one end of a large oak slab), but she sure can cook !! As mentioned before, doing leg wraps with two people goes a bit faster but is very dangerous (it can easily become a contact sport where one person is armed with a rosebud torch and the other with a small hammer and a pair of pliers!). Wrapping solo is slower and a bit awkward at times, but is very much safer !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Another gorgeous bench! I'm thinking it'd be the perfect where ever it was first placed. Lord help the poor guy who's wife likes rearranging the furniture. Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 On 2017. 07. 12. at 3:40 AM, ThomasPowers said: battered---look at the closeups Thank you, Thomas! So basicly beaten heavily without further consideration. Swedgemon: When you use this size of solid oak slab isn't there a chance of warping as time goes? I'm no woodcrafter and everyone I've talked with around here about this subject seemed to think it's not possible to do without the warp damage. Maybe I should show them some pictures, because they haven't seen these sorts of works yet. Bests: Gergely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedgemon Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 Gergely, The "drying-of-wood" topic was beaten to death in my post "Oak and Steel Bench", dated July 20, 2016. I am still learning about drying large pieces of wood in my solar wood kiln. Yes, I have seen some minor warping...most of the time it is in pieces with large knots. Straight-grained pieces, properly "stickered" (stickers are the small sticks of wood keeping the planks apart) and weighted in the kiln have been drying flat - areas around the knots dry "wavy", no matter how heavy the weights are in the kiln. In pic 182, notice the three pieces on the right - one is 19" wide, one is 17" wide and the center piece is about 11". The center piece has some good knots and grain, but you can see it dried warped. I tried to plane out the warp, but it will not work for me, so I'll have to find a "flat" piece in the stack in my shop. Those 3 pieces will eventually become a 4' X 8' table, as soon as I figure out how to handle the 19" and 17" planks. For reference, the planks in the stack all started out at 35% moisture, went into the kiln for a month and came out at less than 7%. Stacked in my shop, as you see below, they have absorbed some moisture and are now at 10-11% moisture, according to my handy little meter. You'll notice that I said the planks "went into the kiln" and "came out of the kiln" as though one lightly tosses them around...it is a back-breaking and almost dangerous process and if loading/unloading the kiln on a sunny day the temp in the kiln is at least 130F, even with the doors open. Yes, Frosty, the bench is a heavy piece...about 100 pounds, according to my badly calibrated back, but when lifted one end at a time, one person can move it around, as long as the "4 large persons" are not sitting on it. Thanks, all of you, for your kind comments !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedgemon Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 Gergely, I did not answer your question about "distressing" steel tubing. My process is to heat a section of steel tube in the forge then run it back and forth under the power hammer, using many light hits on the diamond (corners), slowly bringing the tube to almost flat. Then I rotate the now almost flat tube 90 degrees and bring it back to square, then almost flatten it again. As you flatten, then restore to square several times, hollows and bulges wilI appear. I use a 1/2" ball bearing, welded to a piece of 1/4" X 1" flat stock, to put large dents in the tube at random points. One must pay close attention as one heavy hit will completely collapse the tube, turning it into scrap. I would suggest you practice on a piece or two before starting on a "paying" project...at least have enough tube on hand to be able to cut a 5th or 6th leg in the event you collapse one of your tubes... When heating steel tube in the forge be aware that some pretty hot gasses come out of the tube while it in the fire...I'm waiting for the hair to grow back on the back of my right wrist...it got my attention pretty quickly !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 plugging the cold end of steel pipe or sq tubing in the forge is a standard process to prevent the chimney effect. Be VERY careful when you quench pipe or sq tubing as the steam cannon effect can be quite strong! Back in Ohio I'd just stab the pipe end into the clayey ground to get a plug. Out here in the desert I use wet newspaper or a rag. For pipe for students to forge their first chili with I close off the working end by making a chili before letting them use it to avoid heat issues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Dear Swedgemon, Thank you for the thorough answers! Now I do remember your topic from last summer, that inpired me to ask around about big slabs. I just forgot that there was info about the drying and warping subject. I'm definitely gonna try this distressing method! Sounds real fun. I plan to make some sort of shade sail for demos and want to make its legs from steel tubing. Thanks and bests: Gergely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedgemon Posted July 13, 2017 Author Share Posted July 13, 2017 Gergely, Be sure to send photos of your shade when you get it built !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 On 2017. 07. 13. at 1:09 PM, swedgemon said: Gergely, I did not answer your question about "distressing" steel tubing. My process is to heat a section of steel tube in the forge then run it back and forth under the power hammer, using many light hits on the diamond (corners), slowly bringing the tube to almost flat. Then I rotate the now almost flat tube 90 degrees and bring it back to square, then almost flatten it again. As you flatten, then restore to square several times, hollows and bulges wilI appear. I use a 1/2" ball bearing, welded to a piece of 1/4" X 1" flat stock, to put large dents in the tube at random points. One must pay close attention as one heavy hit will completely collapse the tube, turning it into scrap. I would suggest you practice on a piece or two before starting on a "paying" project...at least have enough tube on hand to be able to cut a 5th or 6th leg in the event you collapse one of your tubes... I wish I'd read this again before I went to the shop yesterday. I practiced the technique you described on some 3/4" tubing. It was horrible. I wrecked 2 pcs of the 70cm/2,3' tubes then gave it up for that day. I probably should readjust the clutching on my 66lbs springhammer before next try. Literary one little slip and the stock was messed up. Lots of things that need to be improved Bests: Gergely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swedgemon Posted August 1, 2017 Author Share Posted August 1, 2017 Gergely, My power hammer, a Striker 40 kg, starts to hit BAM, bam, BAM, bam, BAM when it gets hot...the photo below shows the result. I'll still use this as a coffee table leg or a bench leg some day - I'll just have to generate 3 more that look similar. Good luck with your efforts !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gergely Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Thank you for the comforting words! This tube looks very familiar Well I am trying it later, have been planning to readjust the clutch for some time now - this will be the right case for it. Bests: Gergely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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