Scott Spencer

[#1]

This was a quickie project made from 1" thick hard maple (originally posted 8/4/2007). Just a retopping and expansion of the kitchen island. It went from the original 39.5" x 51 with no overhangs to 48" x 71" and now has 3 overhangs to accommodate some stools for seating.

It was supposed to be done a week previously, but the LOML changed her mind about the shape and size after I had glued up a 40" x 74" panel!

Nothing too technically challenging with this design, but dang that hard maple resists sanding! It takes alot of effort with 50 grit belt sander to get it to cooperate, then you need to spend several hours sanding off the sander marks....the best way to tell if you've got them all off is to apply a finish. (DAMHIKT! )

All of the maple was free. Most of it came from the dumpster at work...it was formerly used as 2x8 bumper boards....very heavy boards! The edge pieces are from an old library table that my BIL moved out when we made him a new maple and granite conference table for his new office ....that's also maple best I could tell, but it's probably not hard maple. I laid out the arc by bowing a piece of wood and just traced the outline, then freehanded it on the BS, and followed up with more sanding. The finish is a semi-gloss poly, but the pics make it look glossier than it is.

It's likely that we'll eventually paint the base of the island.  Update: Bought 4 stools, returned 4 stools, made 4 stools from the remnants of the maple from the island...guess if you want something done right you either have to do it yourself, or pay more than I'm willing to pay!  ;-)