How to make a table with a surrounding lip

[Andrew Duncan]

I want to make a teak table top for a boat with a raised lip that goes around the entire top. Is there a way to do this with a solid wood top? Seems that wood movement would require using a veneered top. Any thoughts would be welcome.

[Andrew Nemeth]

I'm not sure it is the right terminology but mitered breadboard ends along the endgrain might work. Most nautical woodworking I have seen has so much spar varnish that I'm not sure there is much wood movement. I'd like to know for sure if someone has more expirience becuase it is a dream of mine to oneday restore a wooden boat large enough to live on for a while. If it was me , I would probably use veneered ply for the top with solid wood banding or moulding wrapping around the outside to build the profile of the lip out of.

I have also seen table tops with realativly wide and shallow lips that are created by routing or carving away most of the tabletop leaving the perimeter untouched.

Let us know what you come up with,
Andrew

[Steve Jenkins]

If you made the top about 2" longer and wider than final size and cut 1"off each end and each side flip the cut-off onto the top and glue down. It will give you a bookmatch on the end grain and edge grain and you have a piece the thickness of the top glued to the top to shape as you please. miter the corners.

[keith micinski]

I made this top 6 years ago. It is solid oak and wrapped in oak and I have never had any trouble with movement. I did glue it only in the middle on the end grain though.

[Doug Shepard]

I did a cat feeding table about 5 years ago so the dog cant raid the cat food. It's a mitered frame and panel type construction on the top so long grain all the way around the perimeter. But on the back and 2 sides I dado'ed in a piece of 1/2 thick stock about 1-1/2" wide about 1/2" from the edge to cut down crumbs falling on the floor. Left the front side open so they can jump up there easier. No movement problems since it's all long grain to long grain.

[Prashun Patel]

Consider an alternate design where you only have raised lips on the long edges of the table. This will prevent things from sliding off the sides (not the ends, though).

If this suffices for you, then you can just make your 2 side panels a little thicker than the interior ones, and shape it to transition as necessary. This'll give the illusion of it being a solid piece, instead of an edge band.

Also, I don't believe any amount of varnish will eliminate wood movement completely.

[Lee Schierer]

I did a cat feeding table about 5 years ago so the dog cant raid the cat food. It's a mitered frame and panel type construction on the top so long grain all the way around the perimeter. But on the back and 2 sides I dado'ed in a piece of 1/2 thick stock about 1-1/2" wide about 1/2" from the edge to cut down crumbs falling on the floor. Left the front side open so they can jump up there easier. No movement problems since it's all long grain to long grain.

No photos, it never happened.....Lets see you dog proof cat feeder.

[Doug Shepard]

No photos, it never happened.....Lets see you dog proof cat feeder.

I'll try and get a pic or 2 this weekend. Course that means I'm going to have to clean it first
Sheesh - the things I do to keep the picture police happy here.

[Lee Schierer]

If you made the top about 2" longer and wider than final size and cut 1"off each end and each side flip the cut-off onto the top and glue down. It will give you a bookmatch on the end grain and edge grain and you have a piece the thickness of the top glued to the top to shape as you please. miter the corners.

+ 1 to Steve's idea......

[Andrew Duncan]

Thanks everyone for the ideas.

As I thought about the design, I decided I wanted radiused (?) corners so to ease the pain when bumping into the table. This meant some thicker pieces to make the curved lips for the corners which meant to implement Steve's otherwise perfect solution I would need to be more clever than I am. One does wonder, however, how Keith's table is holding up so well. Seems to defy the laws of physics or something. Perhaps it lives in a house with much better humidity control than mine - and for sure not in some outdoor boat.

So I went ahead and made up a veneered top piece which is in the vacuum bag right now. Cost some time, saved some wood.

I also want to see a dog proof cat feeding table.

[Mark Woodmark]

I'm not sure it is the right terminology but mitered breadboard ends along the endgrain might work. Most nautical woodworking I have seen has so much spar varnish that I'm not sure there is much wood movement. I'd like to know for sure if someone has more expirience becuase it is a dream of mine to oneday restore a wooden boat large enough to live on for a while. If it was me , I would probably use veneered ply for the top with solid wood banding or moulding wrapping around the outside to build the profile of the lip out of.

I have also seen table tops with realativly wide and shallow lips that are created by routing or carving away most of the tabletop leaving the perimeter untouched.

Let us know what you come up with,
Andrew

Breadboard edges across the grain for sure, but I feel mitering these breadboard ends into the long grain may push the long grain edges out or open up the miters depending on when in the year the table was built or humidity changes

[Mark Woodmark]

I'm not sure it is the right terminology but mitered breadboard ends along the endgrain might work. Most nautical woodworking I have seen has so much spar varnish that I'm not sure there is much wood movement. I'd like to know for sure if someone has more expirience becuase it is a dream of mine to oneday restore a wooden boat large enough to live on for a while. If it was me , I would probably use veneered ply for the top with solid wood banding or moulding wrapping around the outside to build the profile of the lip out of.

I have also seen table tops with realativly wide and shallow lips that are created by routing or carving away most of the tabletop leaving the perimeter untouched.

Let us know what you come up with,
Andrew

I have read that what makes spar varnish "spar" is its ability to remain somewhat soft so it can expand and contract with seasonal changes in the wood. Although it slows this process down and somewhat retards it, it doesnt completely eliminate it

[Doug Shepard]

OK. Here's the cat feeding table. I was off a little bit on the distance of the vertical pieces to the edges. it's closer to 3/4" than 1/2" and the pieces aren't quite as tall as I was remembering. There just basically there to keep crumbs coralled and stop bowls frmo sliding off if they bump them.
It's only dogproof in so far as my dog wont try to get up and take food from the table. A small jumping dog could get up there as easy as the cats do. This is mahogany with a piece of corian in the center.
CatTable03.jpgCatTable02.jpg

[Bill Wyko]

Here's one I'm just finishing up. Solid border w/ veneer center and an Ebony inlay.

[Andrew Duncan]

Here's a pic of the completed table. Thanks again for all the input.