Reddit reviews TotalBoat Clear Penetrating Epoxy Wood Sealer Stabilizer for Rot Repair and Restoration (Quart, Traditional), Model Number: 403795

After I posted my new split-top Roubo a few months ago, a lot of you said, “great, now go build something with it.” So, ya know, I did.

About halfway through the bench build, a co-worker approached me and told me about a bunch (about 105 b.f.) of 8/4 local Florida Cypress that he had purchased on Craigslist and wanted to be made into an outdoor table. We both started to get excited about the ideas we were tossing out and he eventually agreed to commission me to build it. So the fun challenge was figuring out how much table and one bench he could get out of the amount of wood on hand (he wanted to put two chairs on the other side) instead of the usual design, calculate, buy. We did some back and forth on the design while I finished my bench but he largely left it all up to me. I heavily based the design on Marc Spagnoulo’s rustic outdoor table because I really want to build one for myself. I added a few refining details that I’ve wanted to try in a project and eliminated one stretcher because of the amount of wood available. Some of the details worked, others I would change on subsequent versions.

Once the workbench was done, I got to dig in on the table. The first difficulty was the wood itself. Either my co-worker or the person from whom he bought it from had left the wood out for quite a while so that it was pretty discolored with mildew, was a bit punky in spots, and had been snacked on by bugs. My cutlist kept getting thrown out whenever I’d cut into a piece and find a worm or termite track. I kept a close eye on the wood and didn’t see any further signs of living critters but it did get annoying at times. I got around most of them but there are a few small tracks visible, not more than 1/32” wide or ½” long but I eliminated all big tracks. (1/4” wide) I’ve never worked with Cypress before and it was definitely a learning experience. New growth Cypress is so soft. If you imagine wood grain as a lot of straws bundled together, this stuff is like a bunch of pool noodles, yet it still proved quite prone to tear out. I’d sharpen my hand tools 2-3 times a day to keep getting clean, slicing cuts. No matter how sharp my plane blades/ tight my mouth/ close my chipbreaker was though, I’d still get areas of tear out in difficult areas. After some reading around and some great advice from r/woodworking, it seemed a lower angle iron might be the solution. Weeellll, I just happen to have some money set aside and now an excuse so, go ahead, twist my arm, I’ll get a new toy. Lie-Nielsen’s low angle jack proved to be absolutely perfect and gave me the best surface I’ve encountered right off the plane.

A few of the changes I decided to make to The Wood Whisperer’s table was to taper the legs, bevel the underside of the table top, and use drawbored dowels for the joinery. They worked well enough, especially since the customer loved the end product, but I’ll change things further on subsequent versions.

First would be the taper of the legs. It’s meant to be a bit rustic but I tapered the legs because I didn’t want an overly blocky look to it. When designing and then building it, something didn’t sit quite right but it didn’t condense into an idea why. After it was too late, I saw Marc building his gaming table and it clicked. Those legs were tapered from the inside, mine were tapered from the outside. I don’t have the design education to describe it using the right jargon but the lines of my table remind me of a shy person standing with their feet together, trying not to be noticed. The lines drag your eye down to the ground. Whereas Marc’s reminds me of the superman pose; someone standing with their legs slightly apart confidently. Your eyes are drawn up to the main part of the table. I’m still happy with my table but it’s something to improve on the next version, though I don’t know yet how that will jive with the side rails.

The next item I’d change is the drawbore pins. I’ve seen plenty of shaker pieces with squared off dowels set in a diamond pattern and cut from a contrasting wood color. They look very elegant and I wanted to try it here. First, I went with too many. I didn’t need two in each joint. It was having two dowels and the dowel’s shape that caused the first joint I put together to blow apart. I made most of the dowel round using Veritas’ dowel cutter, leaving the end tapered to a square. From an article on square shaker pegs in Fine Woodworking, I expected the softer Cypress to just deform to the harder Mahogany dowel. The problem was that the taper from round to square was too long, (about ¾”) meaning it was spreading apart the wood deeper down. It could only handle so much deformation before it split. The solution was to take a chisel to the rest of the dowels and limit the taper to about 1/8” and only drive it in to the point where it just transitioned to fully square. Chiseling the receiving hole just shy of square also meant the Cypress had to deform less so no splitting and a crisper diamond pattern. If I do it again, one dowel will be enough but I don’t even think I’ll do a contrasting color again. This wood is filled with knots and, instead of the dowels being a pleasant interruption of monotonous grain, it just joins the knots to make it look busy and chaotic. It just doesn’t stand out in a pleasant way.

The arched stretcher ended up being 4” tall instead of 3 ½” because, after making and putting in the side rails, loe and behold, I F’ed up. They were further apart than planned and I had to make the stretcher taller to accommodate.

The other two changes were the beveled undersides of the table and bench tops and all the other bevels added to the bench top. Those I would leave as I think they look really nice, giving each a visually lighter look than their 1 ½” thickness. The beveled top of the bench seat makes for a more comfortable spot to rest your posterior for a long while.

The other great thing to come from this project was that I got to use my hand tools more on this project than any previous build, especially hand planes. Obviously it was just too big for any of my hobby level power tools but I geeked out on every bit of it and it got me really comfortable with several tools.

Finally, I finished it fully expecting to be an outdoor table. I used Watco teak oil that could easily be reapplied in later years and won’t blister like a film finish. I applied clear penetrating epoxy sealer to the feet to stop absorption be the end grain at the bottom of the legs and keep them from rotting from the ground up. Lastly, I put a few coats of Minwax Finishing Paste Wax on the tops of the table and bench as a barrier against mustard, ketchup, beer, etc. It’s shinier than I intended but will knock down pretty quickly. However, as it turned out, he loved it so much it will now be the main dining table inside his house and some CL table will be found for outdoors. I’m perfectly ok with that.

Thanks for looking, reading, and any constructive criticism you can throw my way. Thanks for all the advice leading up to this and my workbench. You, my fellow wood nerds, are awesome.

The epoxy I used is only in New Zealand I think (Norski Timber Sealer), but this seems to be the same thing :

TotalBoat Penetrating Epoxy

I've not used that one, but it seems to be the same thing, to give you an idea of what you're looking for. I'm sure there are lots of different brands.

I have been using this product mixed 50/50 with laquer thinner (in order to get a deeper penetration). While it seems expensive, one quart of this goes a long way.