The Table

I have worked  with wood for much longer than my experience with steel, just haven't done it for years.So I get this email from a hit off Craigslist, can I make a five foot round pic-nic table?  I like to think that I can do anything and so responded, "sure, what is your budget?" Something around 2 hundred dollars, nothing too fancy, was the response.
   It is a good thing I am retired and don't have anything better to do I am thinking.  The cedar top cost me $75,
the steel ring I got a long time ago and was saving for a divided yin-yang type gate, something really cool but also really expensive and not likely to happen in this wretched economy.  It was a "found" thing and didn't cost me anything, so I just "threw it in".  The legs are left-overs from another table I made for a local night club.
They are fluted steel and were originally made for light poles, the old type that one might see in New Orleans.
That table had a marble top and cost the owners of the bar about $1,800.  I threw them in when my customer sent me a photo of where the table was to nestled with the trunks of three stately oak trees as a back drop
Once I get involved in a project I always try to make it better, always thinking this might be the last art piece that I ever do. He is suppose to finish the top himself, that was our agreement, but yesterday the sun was out and it was a beautiful day and I just couldn't resist!  So I dashed to the local hardware, paint supply store and bought a quart of "Daly's Sea Fin" Teak Oil.  If you are not aware of this product I'll tell you about it and you will love me forever!  Of its type it is the BEST product on the market and can be used in lots of ways.  Most teak oils remain tacky for hours if not days and this one dries to a hardness withing hours.  It is great for decks or outdoor furniture, but here is where you will love me:  Put some on a rag and wipe down your kitchen cabinets with it or apply to your piano or other fine furniture.  It takes minutes and will look as if you spent hundreds of dollars and hired a professional to refinish your cabinets.  You did.  Me!  Allowed to dry between coats you can add several layers of this oil and it will build up and appear as a fine lacquered finish.   It will remove fine scratches.  Seriously, try it.
   Anyway, I spend the $17 on a quart and applied the first coat and now here is a photo for your approval.
I will probably never find another five foot ring so I will probably never make another of these but I do have a bunch of smaller rings where I could make four foot round tables.  Now I have to clean my shop.  I had to empty several cabinets just to find the wood working tools that I had put away so long ago.  My shop is a mess but I found tools that I thought were long gone and, like riding a bicycle, I still remember how they  work.
   Not a get rich quick scheme for sure but a fun project. I think he will be happy!