Building a Massive Dining Table

[@MattEstlea]

Thank you so much to Woodland Heritage for collaborating on this video! 🌳To support what they do, check out the links below👇 💸Make a Donation: www.woodlandheritage.org/make-a-donation 🔪Buy a Knife: mattestlea.com/pages/woodland-heritage 🪵Visit the Sawmill: www.whitneysawmills.com/ If you want to build this project yourself, we have plans and a buildalong available here: ✏ Digital Plans: mattestlea.com/products/dining-table-plans 🎓 Buildalong Video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmbNlnSjq9apkNU We've also got an extended cut of the Forest and Sawmill tour here: 🌳 Tour of Forest and Sawmill: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3-Qh3ZjZ7F0oLc Thank you for watching, we hope you enjoy!

[@WoodworkingTop535]

@@MattEstlea thanks

[@CNormanHocker]

The same reason you can't get quality timber in the UK is the same reason you think being green works, it's a liberal con of global warming. You must keep these environmentalists in check. Once you give them an inch, they will take a mile.

[@randogs8711]

the wooden gun video has 18k likes, u need to make a new one

[@Warriors_and_Wanderers]

Spreads awareness expertly. Doesn’t do a daft jump cut to the ‘sponser of those video’. Creates something beautiful. Top quality work Matt! 🎉

[@erk9822]

It always makes me chuckle when somebody assumes I want to cut down trees because I’m a woodworker. But woodworkers actually care more about trees than the average person. If we lose all the trees then we lose all the beauty that comes with them

[@jwbakker]

@@erk9822 Well put, it’s exactly how I feel as well! However, paradoxically, seeing fallen trees after a good storm kinda feels like I’m in a candy store.

[@MattEstlea]

@@jwbakker Haha agreed 😂The bugs and fungi take fallen trees for granted.

[@erikleorga]

Holy hell yes! I own a mill to repurpose down trees so they get used instead of burned/mulched. Ash is dying where I live and I wish I could save more of it!

[@BischBaschBosch]

Brilliant piece of filmmaking. Combining the beautiful table build with info on the woodland charity. Bravo. Shame about some of the absolute melts in the comments.

[@oliverhatt4555]

The fun part about the negative comments is they all support the algorithm! Cool table and some salient points, and a pleasant change to see a big slab that isn't 50% C channel.

[@DustinBurroughs]

Have been a fan of your work for awhile. Really love how you incorporated sustainability with your beautiful project. Your generation gives me hope for the future. Thank you. 😊

[@geoffrobinson6762]

Pleased to see you woodworking again.

[@jttcosmos]

Great build and lovely story on Woodland Heritage. Properly managed woodlands, so not a monoculture but growing different species, not only yields a greater variety of wood, but also make for much more attractive places for animals and people. That shot in the sunlight is beautiful.

[@erikleorga]

How in the world did I not find your channel sooner! Wonderful build and talk about timber. As the owner of a sawmill, I 100% agree with forest management. To use a tree as lumber rather than turning it into mulch just is so rewarding to me.

[@raheslop]

Great to see a wood worker talking about where their timber comes from.

[@saramulry]

The focus on ecosystems is beautiful, and so it that table!! Excellent video as always 🙌🏼✨

[@robnichols9331]

Witney Sawmills - such a great resource for local woodworkers

[@ducatisti]

Yay!! Matt working with chisels and drills and planers, oh my. Beautiful build, great information, and a fantastically put-together video by Rob.

[@intelligentcomputing]

An "extended cut" of a sawmill tour? Haha - I get it -- good one, Matt. ;)

[@mon3d-designs]

great work and great message, seems at the moment most similar industries are fighting a losing battle, we have lost touch so much on how to use our own recourses' in a way that will also provide for the future, we forget to easily, that what we do have is down to out grand parents and great grandparents generations :)

[@woodfather]

oh dude, that came out awesome, well done!

[@edhook2239]

Just got my marking knife excellent product and packaging amazing

[@dandelie2067]

Beautiful table. In the U.S. tree farming is huge. One such farm replanted 10 thousand acres in 5 years, span lots of 🍁 maple trees. Great to see what you can do over sea's. 👍

[@scottbramley1778]

Excellent work & a great reaction from your parents

[@ellingly]

Beautiful table, the reaction at the end is gold & awesome work on using locally sourced timber, too!

[@ijleach]

Absolutely awesome video - great information and such a great thing to be able to produce for your own family! Congratulations!

[@zerotalent1041]

Hell yeah brother

[@corycampbell3152]

What an amazing gift! This made my heart smile!

[@emcarpenter5206]

In contrast to the people calling this an "ad" or "propaganda" I actually enjoyed the video more, not less, because of the woodlands talk. I don't need someone to talk about the build to still enjoy watching the build happen but forest management is something that is not talked about nearly enough. Even if you put environmental concerns aside, any woodworker who doesn't give a damn about long term forest management is simply a fool. It shouldn't take a genius to understand that importing tons of lumber when it's very available locally makes no sense.

[@MattEstlea]

Great comment. People will find a way to politicise anything, even when the answers staring them right in the face. Your last sentence summing it up perfectly. Thank you 🙏

[@iangrant4756]

Britain has had managed woodland for centuries! It was the secret to a powerful Royal Navy back in the day, for instance.

[@TheWardagh]

Great job 👏🏼

[@devinteske]

3:07 Such a beautiful forest! I may never get a chance to visit in real life, and so this lovely walk through the trees with you and your friend/supplier is wonderful. Thank you for sharing that

[@Willabrador]

Great video! Thanks for sharing this whole process 😀

[@slaphead2965]

Nicely crafted and a beautiful piece of furniture 👍🇬🇧🙂

[@biblio_mama]

Good morning from Florida, US!

[@MattEstlea]

Morning!

[@lynxg4641]

Really nice thought, bet they absolutely love it. The wood itself is really, really nice. 100% agree, the non-support of local sustainable anything needs to stop/be lessened, it's unsustainable to keep raping this planet like we have been, fantastic that you're highlighting this Matt. Looking forward to watching both the walk in the woods and more in depth build of this.

[@Mark199201]

What a lovely documentary. Really great watching, and really relevant Thanks Matt!

[@anthonysalisbury6945]

Absolutely class job....u make it look too easy. Keep.up the good work

[@MattEstlea]

Thank you!

[@hairbygio]

Love the base, im downloading the plans. Great video as always. Cheers Matt!

[@leopichler]

Really cool video, I love the interview alongside the story of making the dining table. Great story telling and put together smoothly!

[@fathogwoodworking]

Great video Matt. The table is awesome and looks so good. Preservation for the next generation is key. Good to see you use your platform to highlight this. Keep up the good work. 👍

[@BigRedNZ1]

Well done Matt, and managed woods with quality considered use is the sweet spot going forwards

[@edmondthompson1523]

I like your router sled "CNC" flattener. Very nice. Beautiful work.

[@frankhill9527]

Awesome video. Like the look of the table.

[@whyfearfear82]

Brilliant video.

[@bobfisher2398]

What a delightfully and skillfully written, shot, and edited video. I'm looking forward to seeing the Woodland Heritage tour and any other videos about the table build. Well done!

[@garyleonard9178]

Beautiful piece of wood. I wonder how it will age, will be even better looking I bet.

[@skf957]

Really like this format. Almost skipped the sponsor section, then watched and carried on watching as it's something I'm interested in. A link to a more detailed build should I want it - nice.

[@colinwilson8747]

Wonderful!!!

[@theprojectchannel5045]

About time you uploaded something

[@MattEstlea]

This is the telling off I needed 😅

[@MCsCreations]

Amazing work, Matt! Really well done! 😃 Stunning table!!! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@devinteske]

Hi Matt! 0:55 jet black you say? Has to be Oak you say? What if I told you there is a way to get iron acetate to ebonize any wood? Simply by making a black tea and using a foam brush to pretreat the wood before adding iron acetate? You are adding tannins to the wood, so it allows the ebonizing solution to work on any species. I learned this from a video put out by Crow Hollow Woodworks subtly titled “How to Easily Ebonize Wood” (unfortunately, neither the title nor the summary of this video gives away the bombshell discovery; you have to see the results for yourself). Honestly, I can’t believe nobody has ever thought of using tea to add tannins to wood for ebonizing before. It’s so simple! The table came out amazing by the way. I love it!

[@Kikilang60]

Matt, have you seen Luare Kampf's last video? She found eight hundred pounds of beach wood slab. The wood looked bad, but it was beautiful when she cut it up. She broke it into small chunks. Then she made a jinkie bench to put on the street. There are no more trees that size anymore, so you can't even buy a slab like that if you had the money. I wanted to cry.

[@joblickhan6470]

Nice to see that the sensibility for the origins of our raw material is rising. It is only responsible to be aware of where our timber comes from, how it grew, and what impact it's felling has on the local environment. Though saying that a managed woodland is the way to more biodiversity and a healthier forest for future generations is a very human centric point of view. Forests in their lifespan, which far exceeds that of humans, don't care about us. They don't need humans to manage them to be healthy. They just need us to not destroy them. Forests do just fine, as long as we don't burn them, or log them to the ground. The best way to restore a forest, is to let it be. I think the way forward is to start with reducing unnecessary overproduction of industrial goods, and to manage a certain portion of our forests to yield the raw materials we realistically need, while leaving the most forest possible to itself, unmanaged, to return to the state it should be, free from human interference. All in all, a beautiful table, and an entertaining video. Cheers!

[@stevebosun7410]

Hi Matt, excellent video. Let's have some more.

[@ContactLightYT]

Fecking awesome video mate. Love the production both video and woodworking.

[@TJtheBee]

Always love a new video from ya!

[@karl_alan]

You figured it out. You found a way for people to be so engaged with another aspect of the video that all of the comments are on that instead of critiquing your table saw technique. Didn't know that was possible on youtube

[@MattEstlea]

Oh here we go 😂 care to explain? No crown guard right?

[@fieldhouseboys]

Great build Matt, and both the kitchen and your workshop will smell like Cedar indefinitely! 😂

[@AB-C1]

Nice job 👍🏻

[@paulzirker706]

Such a great video Mat should get it shown to Mps to get a greater investment in uk grown and supplied timber.

[@michaelwillson6847]

Stunning build matt im away to watch the extended version. I used to work for a sawmill about 20 miles from me and i see exactly what everyone in this video talks about. My problem is as a woodworker the only thing these mills close to me cut is spruce or larch granted can be beautiful but all made into dimensional no live edge. And 1 doesnt even sell to public. If you wanna get onto that theres another project for ya 😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍🤔

[@kylejames6191]

Great video. Chairs next

[@stuartwilliams5385]

That was a great documentary. You’re a talented filmmaker. That could be on the BBC.

[@TomBuskey]

A neighbor gave me an oak log, another a maple from trees they had cut. I have another maple & a spruce that fell in my 1 acre yard. I coppice chokecherry the birds planted everywhere. Also some birch, a crab apple and shrubs. Its nice to have local variety. This year, I plan on cutting a catalpa and pussy willow to start coppicing.

[@Erik_The_Viking]

Great story! Nice to see some good woodland management while also incorporating biodiversity, which is a good thing for the environment as a whole. Locally grown wood is better - I'm surprised so much of your wood comes from the US and Europe, as there's a lot of great oaks and other wood in England. Your dad's old table - OMG that needed to be replaced! Beautiful job on it too - gives me some ideas for a new table when we need one!

[@Edd030427]

Happy late birthday, you now need a whole new kitchen to match!

[@Edd030427]

P.s. table is bloody lovely.

[@DCJimS]

Matt. This is amazing and beautiful. But what about those of us who need to add extensions on each end for when company comes? Got any ideas there? Been thinking about this a lot (As this is my situation). Want square slab table but expandable for company. Don’t want middle leaf (leaves) as it will look wonky one way or the other. (It will look not right expanded if you take the leaves from the end, or won’t look right small if you take the cut from the middle of the slab. So that rules out either “Stored” separately leaf (leaves) or, my fav, hidden, foldable, center leaf (leaves). I think the only way to do it is foldable leaves on each end that fold 180 degrees to be stored under the table on each end. Oh wait. That really limits the table leg options. Crap. Ideas? Any way you could show us a project like that? Love your stuff…please keep up the great work.

[@Maarc]

Hello, you are not scared about top bended ? As it is one slab not re-sawed

[@MarkHudson-o9v]

As they say, Old men plant trees. Great project.

[@theofarmmanager267]

Excellent video on the choices we woodworkers ought to be making. The use of exotic wood (wood from continents such as Africa, Asia) can’t be condemned completely as the industry in their countries does provide invaluable employment. Where the issues are mentioned is in ensuring the timber is from managed sources and the inevitable carbon footprint. But there seems little doubt to me that the demand for exotics is not always rational and rarely justified (in terms of aesthetics). If you really want an exotic element of, say Wenge or Zebrano, use it as an accent - less is often more impactful. I don’t know the sawmill you visited but I do know English Woodlands Timber just down the road from you. Set aside that they are very helpful people and their prices are reasonable is that you can positively select British origin when using their website. That is always my first call but I would be lying if I said that I always chose the British option as options from other countries might just suit my cut list better. By the most timber I use is for interiors and, therefore, kiln dried is usually what I have to go for. Having said that, I have had good results from well-seasoned (but not kiln dried) timber if I have the time and space to dry it in the workshop. Mactimbers near Peterborough is a very small scale sawmill (and maker) who only harvests within a limited mileage from his mill. A small producer always means choice is reasonably limited but it’s such a joy to walk around his sheds looking at the incredible English timber he has there. If the cost (the combination of price per cubic metre and your cut list requirements) allows it, make that conscious effort to source British timber. We have so many species from oak to cedar of Lebanon to alder to sycamore to ash to….. that it’s crime not to use it. My final, final point is to ask everyone to support young British makers like Matt. If you can, buy his heritage mallet or knife. If you can’t do that, like, subscribe and comment.

[@g_e_o_m9369]

I always find it very interesting that the people who complain the loudest about cutting down woodlands are also completely quiet on the topic of uncontrolled population growth and the resulting demand on resources.

[@normanboyes4983]

That’s the problem with the ‘tree preservation’ mentality - it has created the unintended consequence of ‘tree rotting’

[@CJBorshard]

“Only count if you document and put in online” 😂 Oh man… I don’t think I need a 5th knife, but good cause right? 😁

[@MagnitudeUK]

Hey Matt, What music do you use in this video?

[@tobyroberts6571]

I really enjoyed this video, and I know it's probably beyond the remit of a video like this/a woodworking channel. But I don't think you can really talk about managing the UK's woodlands, increasing biodiversity etc. without mentioning how insanely unequal land ownership is in the UK and how little that has changed over the last few hundred years. Charities like Woodland Heritage wouldn't need to put so much effort into persuading landowners that doing something that benefits people and the planet is 'economically viable' if the landowners were the government, local communities etc. instead of aristocracy and corporations who are only in it for themselves.

[@steenfraosterbro3268]

Matt. That hair

[@seanthompson6720]

I like the design but I can already see the table cupping (or maybe the camera lens made it look like that) because where the base connects to the top is very narrow, should have arms to keep it flat but also allow for wood movement. pan head screws in a slot work well for this.

[@RobHarveyMusic]

There’s definitely no cupping at the moment 👍

[@DarrenBell-mx8yz]

Great video as ever. However not knowing the bird the woodland helps support is a bit amateurish. It's not a Piedcatcher or Flycatcher. It's a Pied Flycatcher, definitely a bird worthy of support. But you then go on to show a clip twice of a Red-breasted Flycatcher, a continental species not found in Britain

[@richardgoebel226]

How heavy was that slab?

[@bobbeckman3735]

Is that a table saw I see?

[@guilhermemagalhaes5426]

HELLO MATT, I'M YOUR FAN AND I REALLY LIKE YOUR VIDEOS AND I LEARN MANY THINGS FROM YOU, A SUGGESTION FOR YOUR CHANNEL, USE AN AI TO AUTOMATICALLY DUB YOUR VIDEOS TRANSLATED INTO BRAZIL PORTUGUESE, MY COUNTRY HAS MORE THAN 200 MILLION PEOPLE THIS WOULD INCREASE YOUR AUDIENCE VERY MUCH BECAUSE BRAZIL REALLY LIKES DIY AND WOODWORK HERE'S A TIP, THANK YOU DIRECTLY FROM BRAZIL.

[@skylos007]

You tricked us to care .. Well done sir

[@bobweiram6321]

Last time I was in Europe, I was shocked by how puny all the trees are. You would be hard pressed to come across a tree with a diameter of more than 8 inches. Here in America you can easily find very large trees even in the most developed urban areas. I suspect Europe over harvested their trees.

[@tylerp5199]

“What happened to England’s forests?” Capitalists in the 18th century harvested all the old growth timber for shortfall profits then exported that harvesting to the americas then to the rest of the world peaking in the 1980’s. It’s hard to believe that here on the east coast of America, there were old growth forests with trees in size rivaling those now only found on the west coast and in the global south. Thanks to capitalism those forests are all gone. It’s crazy to think that the private ownership of land that decimated our forests will somehow be successful in bringing them back. This contradiction between private profit (which is measured in the short term) and collective sustainability (which is measured in the long term) is irreconcilable and the vast majority of historical data supports this.

[@jimh472]

Oh here we go with the tired "capitalist boogey-man" trope. Like you socialists never cut down a tree. Stalin and his ilk wrecked entire regions with egotistical mismanagement.

[@pw.70]

England used to be about 70% wooded. What happened to us?...

[@1pcfred]

You couldn't figure out how to coke coal quickly enough. That's what happened to you. They don't call it the British Empire for nothing. To build an empire you needed ships of the line and arms. So to make good iron you needed to use charcoal and wooden ships also take wood. And that's what happened to your forests. You used them.

[@pw.70]

@@1pcfred - LOL! The question was rhetorical.

[@reed6514]

Coulda just fixed the original table

[@tableshaper4076]

Is the link another commercial? I get it but that was just a full on ad, very deceptive.

[@jimh472]

There are more trees in North America now then when Europeans first arrived. Yes, much of it is "managed" and old-growth woodlands need to be protected, but treating all trees as untouchable shrines to nature is foolish.

[@MattEstlea]

Couldn’t agree more 👏

[@diaBtus1]

A 10 minute ad with 1 minute of video, sweet

[@paulpardee]

Yeah, man, what I was really hoping for today is a woodworking video that is 75% advertisement. Gotta pay the bills, I guess.

[@MattEstlea]

It’s for a charity you absolute cretin 😂 Not only was no payment involved, but the table was a gift.

[@georgegriffiths2235]

@@MattEstlea you always get one not advertising but educational and informative 👍

[@michaelwillson6847]

​@@MattEstleagetting the cretin shot in thought I was the only one that used that love it 😂🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍

[@Martinchox]

10 Minutes ad.

[@quantumleap8888]

Carbon Footprint Huh?

[@unperrier5998]

I was interested in the build until it turned into an ideological green propaganda and skipped through the video. Too bad.

[@MattEstlea]

I know all the cases against ‘idealogical green propaganda’ and can steel man most of them. Even though I don’t necessarily agree with them. That said if that’s your takeaway with this video, you’ve completely missed the point and I suspect you’re just being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative. Instead of making yourself look like a fool and reinforcing the us vs. them situation that people seem to love these days, try being constructive and say something that actually makes a valid point

[@SimonHoning]

Too bad about the 'knuckle draggers' who've been watching & commenting here.Remind me- which century are we in again?

[@Kelvallontan]

AT 20: "of course random acts of generosity in the 21st century only count if you document them and put them online". Pure unadulterated influencer Logic, and I bet you don't even see what's wrong with that sentence. You lost me right there. Not gonna watch any further, thumb down and don't recommend this channel anymore.

[@RobHarveyMusic]

It’s almost as if what Matt said was self aware 🤔

[@HenryLeslieGraham]

the design is meh. very modern. not exactly a timeless piece that the grandkids would want to inherit.

[@en510]

@@HenryLeslieGraham it's basically a trestle table which have been around for like 600 years, how is the design not timeless?

[@HenryLeslieGraham]

@@en510 no thats the form. if you google antique tables you'll see plenty of trestle tables. however you don't see many heritage tables with ZERO carved details, no moulding, and live edges. so again the design (and thus execution) is not timeless. the table will likely not end up in someone's dining room 100 years from now. but some how art deco, victorian, edwardian colonial and french empire style tables command $$$$$$$ at auction and will likely remain collectors pieces for decades and centuries to come.

[@jelliottlein]

@@HenryLeslieGraham Some (Lost Art Press) would ask: why so eager to replicate overly-worked furniture of the elite aristocracy rather than well-crafted examples of the vernacular form?

[@HenryLeslieGraham]

@@jelliottlein today's elites buy furniture that is in the vernacular form. It is the form found in multi million dollar builds and high end homes. however the vernacular is not timeless. and no one is rushing to preserve live edge picnic style tables. however 5 generations of a family would pass down a hand made carved regency style wooden table. why? not just because it is owned by the family but because certain styles transcend the decades. furthermore the so called designs of the elite aristocracy were not creations of the aristocracy but creations of the working man, the elites were the ones who would afford the most furniture made to the highest standards and therefore it is that furniture which has lasted, but the everyman furniture was not devoid of detail entirely and even when it was this was because of cost, or unavailability/unaffordability of certain tools and techniques. the modern designs that we see do not eschew elaboration due to cost, but to a change in perception which was engendered by elites within the design and architectural worlds who convinced the world en mass that form should follow function, thus for many woodworkers and stonemasons etc essential skills have been lost or become disparaged. many young woodworkers thus may never learn the skills of the old masters and are thus doomed to manufacture items which conform to the prevalent norms convinced that this present style is actually better. this of course is a mistake. as it in fact rather than engendering more creativity it actually limits it because the craftsman is unfamiliar with the skillset needed to produce elaborate details and so becomes constrained to producing pieces than conform to a limited set of styles.