woodworking questions

[weaselnoze]

i would like to build some end tables for my girlfriend.  back in middle school i made a cutting board for my mom using different woods.  i used 2x2x12 inch pieces and glued them together and clamped them tight.  i want to do something similar for the top of the table.  what kinds of wood should i use?  i want to stain it a dark color yet still be able to see the different shades of woods underneath.

[starwalt]

I guess it depends on how much you want to spend on the project and how nice you want it to be. If it is more utilitarian than museum grade, you could just use "project" wood at the Lowe's or Home Depot. Look in the lumber section for specialty woods.

In Lowe's that stuff is around the pre-made table legs and tops. You will find no ebony or mohogany there though.

How extensive is your woodshop tool kit?

[GeeP]

Hey Weasel,

It entirely depends on what you like.  Traditional woods include Oak, Cherry, and Walnut.  Oak is a joy to work using hand tools, but a number of hardwoods lend themselves to hand-working with sharp tools.

Obviously, doing a good job requires a significant commitment of time.  300 hours for a hand-made table would not be out of the ordinary without a shop full of machinery. 

There are much better places to buy wood than Lowes or Home Depot.  Look for a wholesale finished wood supplier, not a lumber yard.  Not only will the wood be a better quality, but it might be less expensive.

An alternative would be to find a woodworker near you.  I'm sure they'll be glad to supply you with various species firsts and seconds S4S for a reasonable price.  I'd be glad to do it myself, but shipping would be a killer.

What kind of tools do you have to work with?

What style of table do you have in mind?

What's your level of experience?

How much money on tools and materials do you have to spend?

I can recommend the following reading material:

For a very broad treatment of woodworking techniques, as well as a lot of good information, try "Nick Engler's Woodworking Wisdom"  by Nick Engler.

To get a better idea of wood as a material, read "Understanding Wood" by R. Bruce Hoadley.

If you have any power tools at your disposal, "Mastering Woodworking Machines" by Mark Duginske is a great beginner's book.

[weaselnoze]

um i have everything i need.  i was gonna go really simple cause i dont like a lot of fancy stuff.  i have a lathe however i prob wont turn anything.  table saw, circular saw, router that flips upside down and fits into a mini router table, chisels of all sorts... and plenty more tools.  my skills are limited but i learn really quick and seem to have a thing for woodworking. 

[GeeP]

Good, you have a table saw and a router.  If they're kept in tune both are worth their weight in gold!  Both tools are incredibly versatile.  You can use a table saw to make some of the best dovetail joints you'll ever see.  A router can be used to joint massive pieces of lumber with a special shop-built jig.

As a first project, I would try a Mission style table.  Mission furniture basically repeats the forms of a square and rectangle over and over.  Simple mortise and tenon joints are used to join it all together.  Another nice thing is that nearly everything can all be done on the table saw.  The rest is mostly chisel work.

Here are a few plans up that alley:

http://www.furnitureplans.com/pi_products/1001

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=SuperFeatures2/Miscellaneous/KH_Mission-Style_Utility_Stand

http://www.jerpat.com/missendt.html

Start out with something simple, preferrably with no more than one drawer.  Drawers are difficult to fit, and time-consuming to build.  As for material, I'd build it out of Red Oak.  Partly because it's widely available, partly because it's traditional, and partly because it machines almost like a metal.

Before you delve into a project, practice your joints on some scrap until you get the hang of it.  20-30 hours and you should be making very nice thru-mortise and tenon joints used throughout Mission furniture.

Keep us abreast of your progress!

[RVertigo]

I'm not sure using different types of wood as the base is a great idea...  Some of them expand/contract at different rates...  Although, I couldn't tell you which...

You might think about doing a thinner layer over the top of a Pine (or other cheap wood) table top...

Other than that... It's really about how exotic you want to get and how much time you have...  Hardwoods are obviously better for abused applications, such as tables or floors...  Check out some of these:  http://www.anexotichardwood.com

You can also get "book match" cuts of all kinds of exotic woods...  For something large enough for a whole table, you're going to pay through the nose for it...

Good luck with it...  Post pics!!!