You go that way, I'll go this way.
Ok.
You never know what you may find at a salvage yard, there is so much old timber waiting
to be turned into something usefull.
It's a great way to take this valuable natural resource and give it another turn in life.
Ahh!
Perfect.
Dene top.
Having found the timber we want to use we have asked the guys to dress it for us.
It's a lot easier than hand planing.
It is and it doesn't cost a fortune.
Allright lets look at this plan.
Ok, one of the great things about using recycled material is that you have to be flexable.
Some times you have got to change your design slightly to fit the material.
So having a basic plan is absolutely essential.
So if we call the overall length of the top say 1200, that'll use the best part of this
280 wide Jarrah.
Yep, indeed.
Alright, well look if you want to start the cuts, i'll take this out and strip it.
According to the plans the legs are cut at 660mm from the 50x50mm Jarrah.
We then need 2 lengths of 60x19mm 180mm and 2 at 1100mm.
No matter how natural the ingredients are in a stripper, it's agressive enough to take
paint off, so make sure your wear your protective safety gear.
Very important with stripper.
The stripper has a citrus oil base, and it smells ok but it is best to do it outside
where there is plenty of ventilation.
I brush it on generously so it won't dry out before it has done the job.
The stripper begins to act fairly quickly.
Once the paint has bubbled and lifted I can scrape it off.
Ok, that's worked pretty well it's got the first layer off but as is often the case with
old bits of material like this, there is several sorts of paint all one over the other.
So now I'm going to have to do another coat of stripper to get this next lot off.
Ok, that's got it off very well.
There is a very fine layer of undercoat still on, but I'm actually going to sand that off
because I'd like to leave a rather beachy look.
A bit of an influence of the old paint that was on this timber.
It's a water based stripper, but it's good to wrap the waste and dispose of it carefully.
Once that is done I need to wash it down and decide if we need another coat.
Well we have cut the legs and the top frame and the mounting blocks, all we have to do
now is cut the end braces and mark them first.
Ah 4 legs.
Yes David, 4 legs no arms and no brain.
No no, I was joking, I know what it means to have 4 legs.
How did you get on with the stripper.
Beautifull, it's great it's still drying.
Can you help me mark out the end brace bit's for this.
Sure sure.
To make the construction of the hall table fairly strait forward, we are using simple
but joins.
So with recycled material because there is a slight variation in material size potentially,
we mark a template off the actual end that we are going to join together and that ensures
that it's going to be a perfect fit.
We use the offcuts to make sturdy braces.
Once it is assembled, glued and screwed it will be a very strong hall table.
Right so there we are, that's the end brace there is the template and it looks like it
has worked.
So Dene it you want to drill and counter sink that, I'll give the table top a final sand
and then we can put it together.
I'm using a fairly course paper it's actually an 80 grit but don't forget you can actually
wash the sandpaper to get the swarf out of it and it keeps working.
You don't have to change it as often then.
Well it's a fair bit of work but you can see the grain starting to come through.
Let's have a look.
There we go, that's what we are looking for.
A lovely sort of beach look.
Slightly lighter color, we are going to leave that paint there as it is because I just think
it says so much about the grain.
Beautiful timber, Jarrah.
Legs look nice and straight.
Ok, put the blocks in.
We pre-drill and counter sink all of the holes to avoid splitting the Jarrah.
That looks great Dene, good progress.
There is the top, now we are going to use some 8x8mm beading just around the top between
the top and the base just to give it a shadow line.
It adds a touch of class.
Ok Dene, Ive drilled and cut these ready.
We pre-drill them because if you don't the beading this fine just splits.
Ok, well why don't you lift the legs up and I'll see if it fits.
The mitre saw has ensured that our cuts are straight and square so once we glue it and
screw the table together, it should pull up nice and straight.
We have done all the fixings from behind so you don't see any of the screws, you don't
see any of the nails.
They are all hidden once it is finished.
And there is just the middle.
Ok, well it looks pretty good.
Should we turn it over?
Yeah lets flip it.
That's nice and straight.
Now we haven't glued it because you really do need to assemble it before you do.
Just to make sure it all fits, it all works and when we glue it and clamp it we will tighten
it up and it will be perfect.
What do you think Dene?
Yeah I love it, I love that top.
Yeah I sort of left it beachy and interesting.
Windswept and interesting.
Like the BeeGees
And our beautiful recycled Jarrah hall table costs just under $60 in materials and dressing.