Folding Table Finished

Last week I built a small folding table to be used on our deck. I began with rough oak and after joining, planing, scraping, sanding and finishing I ended up with this:

  The table is the perfect height for holding a beverage on the deck.
  As for folding out of the way:

  The one set of legs pull free and side in between the permanent legs. Assembled you get a  fairly solid, quite stable little table. 

 Finishing the table was a bit of an odyssey.  Since I used oak for the table I decided to put a filler coat on before applying the final finish. I sanded the parts to 220 grit giving the edges special attention. Once sanded I wiped the table down with a tack cloth and applied a coat of 1:1 shellac, I had some garnet shellac already mixed so I got a seal coat and some tinting.  After the shellac dried solid, 24 hours, I sanded everything fairly heavily again to 220 grit which cleared off some of the surface colour but left the wood very smooth. Two coats of Minwax Poly with light sanding between coats and a final buffing with paste wax and the table is done. 

  I have found that getting a really smooth finish on oak is easier with a dedicated sealer coat.  If I don't use sealer than I end up having to put extra coats of finish on anyway. Sealers don't show runs and if you use shellac, can be faster and smoother than extra coats of vanish, in my opinion.

 The weather has turned dry again and it is time for coffee on the back deck.

cheers, ianw