G'Day, I have a Jarrah table to slay.

[Mhunter]

My name is Matt and I introduced myself to the QANTAS check in attendant carrying over 30kg of Jarrah at Perth heading for Sydney. Picked it up in the Sth West after going through a timber town.

I have played a bit with pine and also some Aussie hardwoods before. But really Im still pretty novice.

The plan is to make a nice dinning table. roughly 900 x 1100 x 720.
Thinking of building the legs and frame first, then build the top from joining 19mm x 160mm thick Jarrah boards.

Tell me if Im way off track here, but I thought of getting the boards for the top redressed and thicknessed (to remove the small amount of cupping) just before I buscuit join the boards together. The one piece table top would then be joined to the frame (allowing for expansion and movement by using some sort of metal fasterners (possibly something like figure 8's or similar).

The 4 legs are currently 1.5' square (skinny? - yes perhaps). They might get some sort of small trimming TBA. Held in the standard "skirt?" frame fashion.

Finish will be oil, wet sanded down to at least 2000 grit.

Any suggestions or comments from the best fasteners to any scarry things I might need to know would be appreciated, but I have been trawling the forum and have already found heaps of great stuff - thanks already!

[artme]

G'day Matt and welcome to woodworkers' heaven.

Nice little project yoy've got yourself there.

How skinny are those legs? If they are as skinny as I thnk you mean I foresee trouble secure them to the frame.

Anyway, godown to the general wodworking forum and have a cruise through the Big Stuff part. Plenty of good examples there. And make sure to be a nuisance to Claw Hamma, a fine craftsman and a very helpful bloke.

[munruben]

Welcome Matt, great to have you aboard

[rrobor]

My method of joining top to legs is I rout a slot round the inside of the legs skirt, I then dowel a smaller skirt of wood to the underside of the table top so that the top loosly fits to the legs with the top skirt inside iand loose by 5mm or so I then drill holes in the inside skirt and fit tight fitting dowels. Now when you put the top on you can tap the dowels in to fit inside the slots in the skirt. Trees dont get taller so most movement is expected across the plank, so dowel the false skirt to the top at the ends. Job done.

[Christos]

Welcome to the forum. Put your thoughts up as a work in progress(WIP). You will get advise. Some good some not so good.