Solid Walnut Herringbone Dining Table

This was a custom build for a client. Table top is 8'6" x 4' and is made of solid 8/4 walnut.
Sitting on top of metal legs from Semiexact:
semiexact.com/...
Finished with Rubio Monocoat "Pure"
31 individual pieces
All connected with dominoes.
Music:
/ jblanked

[@HennyKenny2.0]

Glad to see a new and aspiring builder on youtube..I look forward to seeing more of your work

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Welcome aboard!

[@AxelJacquesson]

Great work!! I used your video to build one and I love it!! I posted it on Reddit and a lot of people were saying it would break in less than a year because it’s endgrain against edge grain so I wanted to ask: how’s the table holding up?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Yeah there are a lot of opinions of course, I think as long as it is well dried wood and kept in a moderate climate, it shouldn’t move enough to affect it. It will move, but all depends on how much it moves, totally possible for structural issues to occur. I did this for a client over a year ago and haven’t had any issues so far, hope your table holds up. All the best!

[@MichaelDeLaCruz-y5b]

Hey, the table looks awesome! Was thinking of creating one of my own. Wanted to know if you would be willing to tell me the lengths you chose to cut each board? Hope to hear from you!!

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

I think the full length pieces for a 4' wide table I cut to 38". Best thing to do is lay it all out on a program like sketchup so you'll know exactly what you need.

[@MichaelDeLaCruz-y5b]

Thank you brotha! I appreciate that.@@fowlerfinefurniture

[@3DPrinterAcademy]

Nice work!

[@Clearbluesky405]

Do You recommend taking off shirt when using the miter saw?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Absolutely recommend taking your shirt off while on the miter saw, especially during the summer. However, it is not required

[@johndunn36]

Love your simple design and great solid construction - well done ! Walnut is a fantastic hard would but would love to know how much did it you in America?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

@@johndunn36 Thanks John! I don’t remember exactly how much but it wasn’t cheap! Somewhere in the neighborhood of $1500 for the walnut, thanks for watching!

[@craftedbyalvint]

Wow that is solid! Must have costed a fortune in just lumber

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Thanks for watching! I don't quite remember but the lumber was probably $1200 or something like that.

[@edwinsantos7673]

Your wife is adorable, lucky man!

[@dustoncheney3881]

I love the build and the Herringbone design. Do you have an email address I can reach out to you on? I'd love to get some details about this before I start on one for my house.

[@scouzi7201]

unrelated - what do you use to hang your tracksaw tracks on your garage door?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

They are from a company called fastcap. Love them!

[@ialex2005i]

Why didn't you use the jointer first? Couldn't you have eliminated the need to use the table saw twice?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Yeah could’ve done it that way. I think I was trying to get them all to more manageable sized pieces before squaring the faces/edges. Also was trying to figure out the exact size for each piece to reduce waste, 8/4 walnut ain’t cheap!

[@ialex2005i]

@@fowlerfinefurniture Well you definitely killed it. Table looks great!

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

@@ialex2005i thanks for the support, glad you like it!

[@amnjones14]

Amazing table. Two questions. Will the table move and create gaps by doing it that way and how did you ensure a straight line cut on your first cut for reference? This is a high quality table and you did a great job.

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Thank you! The wood will expand and contract as all solid wood does, but all the pieces should move together so it shouldn't create any gaps. Before cutting all the pieces I drew up the table on SketchUp and found the center of the table that way. The center of a herringbone pattern is in the middle at the end of each piece, not at any of the corners of the pieces. Hopefully that makes sense, glad you enjoyed the table build.

[@pepperman9]

@@fowlerfinefurniture My worry with movement is the end grain to side grain areas. If you in any way attach the end grain in a bread board fashion to another board you are restricting movement and it will eventually crack. this is what I am struggling with right now in doing this almost exact build. I am thinking just connect each side together and not connect the end grain portions and let each half move as a unit avoiding cracking. I am also using 3/4" boards on a substrate that will be screwed from underneath with elongated holes. Any comment on this?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

@@pepperman9 hey Tim! You are correct with your concerns. I’ve seen other tables built like this for sale on Etsy, contacted him asking if he’s had any issues and he said he hasn’t. This is the only one I’ve built and no issues so far. It’s obviously a little controversial haha. In one of David pachutos videos from “make something” he did a chevron table and didn’t attach it in the middle, so that’s similar to what you’re talking about. You should always consider wood movement, so just build whatever you’re comfortable with. Bread boards are the same thing but that end grain to side grain connection is long, usually 30” or so, and movement is minimal, these connections are around 5” so even less movement. I’m not recommending you build your table this way, this is just what I’ve done! Best of luck!

[@kevingoldberg8444]

@@fowlerfinefurniture Came here for this discussion as I'm looking at creating a herringbone table too. I'm wondering if metal c-channel stringers might help. The other option, though not as elegant but more economical, would be to laminate the herringbone pattern onto mdf or ply.

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

@@kevingoldberg8444 Yeah I think some c-channel would definitely help. Also, if the base is a more traditional/supportive base that would also help, just make sure to use fasteners that will allow the top to expand and contract. I did think about doing veneer, which is probably the safest bet, but then you need to do edge banding or a frame around it and that changes the look a bit. Best of luck!

[@ericbaeza3661]

what does something like this table top usually cost?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

At the time I think it was over $2k for the walnut material alone, probably even more now

[@walter5401]

What jointer do you have my man?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

It’s a shop fox 6” jointer from grizzly, just upgraded to the jet 6” long-bed though, better for longer boards. Thanks for watching!

[@al89SK]

Классный стол! Успехов каналу!

[@austinblodgett175]

Awesome!

[@littlecreekbowclub5288]

Beautiful build!!

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Thank you very much!

[@jeffreyknotts4148]

Beautiful table!!! Thank you.

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Thank You!

[@zacharysmith3793]

It looks so good man!

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Thanks for watching!

[@tigranhakobyan7071]

Yery nice work, how match this table?

[@Vanceillustration]

awesome video

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Thank you Vince!

[@EverGone03]

the table looks soo good. love the herringbone look. cuz its such a long table and there's no cross bracing between the legs, does the table wobble?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Thank you! It would probably be a good idea to add come support from underneath although I haven't had any issues with the table. It also has little to no flex because the pieces were so thick I believe.

[@chachonetwork]

That's nice build 👍

[@shawnjohnson7696]

Very Very Nice!

[@newmind8420]

What type of finish did you use on it bro?

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Rubio monocoat oil plus 2C “pure”

[@kandacescott2967]

Absolutely beautiful!

[@fowlerfinefurniture]

Thank you, made my day!