Need some Table Top Advice

[Brent Eversole]

Hi All,

I've started making a dining room table but I've hit a bit of a snag and could use some advice. I've made the base already which is has basic tapered legs with an apron all out of soft maple, with overall dimensions of 38"x92" giving a 2" overhang on all the sides.
The table I want to make has a top dimension of 42"x96" and the thickness I was shooting for was around 1.5" and I'd prefer it to be made out of solid wood, for durability sake. Heres a Sketchup drawing for the table top. For the lighter wood I wanted to use 8/4 curly maple and then the darker border would be walnut. To finish this I was thinking to do a Natural Danish Oil to highlight the curls then a coat of Poly over top to protect the top. TableTop.jpg

So for the snag... I talked to my wood supplier and he told me that some 8/4 medium to heavy curly maple is around $25/ bd. ft... which is above what I want to put into this project (For some reason I thought it was going to be around $10/bd. ft.) So I was wondering if there are some cheaper ways to accomplish this. The few ideas that I've had are:

1) Forgo the Curly maple and just make it out of regular soft maple (Pros: Solid wood and easily sourced, wife would have the table that I said I'd do last year , Cons: doesn't have the curly look that I like)

2) Make the center of the top out of 3/4" plywood and then glue 3/4" solid curly maple on top of the plywood. (Kinda like a really thick veneer, I can find 4/4 curly maple alot easier and it wouldn't be soo expensive as the 8/4) Then make the edge banding out of solid wood and glue to the sides. The question I have with this approach is I'm worried about the movement of the wood. Can you face glue the curly maple to the plywood and not have to worry about a joint opening or the boards cupping? (Pros: Thicker wood top that could be sanded if a scratch or something happens to it in the future, has the look I want, Cons:???)

3) Make the center section out of plywood and put your typical thinner curly maple veneer over top, then follow up with solid wood edge banding on the sides. (Pros: Has the look I want, Cons: durability of the top? maybe I'm overthinking this)

Anyway any thoughts or other ideas would be appreciated... as this is the first table I've made please point out any design flaws or areas that need more attention.

Thanks for the help,
Brent

[Mel Fulks]

You have a looong way to go on even having a final design. But I don't mind my few comments being at the bottom of pile! Forget durability and resanding dings,make your friends take care with it or remove it from the house before Super Bowl convention-sleepovers. Consider old fashioned table pads to protect it. I would use veneer. Don't think the pin stripe design is strong enough,from a few feet away the eye will translate it as a picnic table with spaces between the boards. And people are never careful with pic nic tables.

[Jay Jolliffe]

If you have the ability to vacuum bag a piece 8' long then I'd use a thick curly maple veneer. I would put the edge banding on first. This a table I did that way. The maple in the middle is the Island I live on and the field is figured Mahogany.HTY4k.jpgla9XW.jpgThe compass rose also points north.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I would say check into 4/4 curly hard maple and glue it to a plywood substrate. It would be half the board-footage and, maybe, a lower cost per bf. Perhaps, you could do away with the substrate and go with cross braces and edging (if you keep the grain orientation of the edging the same as the top you shouldn't have a problem with movement).

[Shawn Pixley]

I'd recommend against gluing 4/4 to plywood. I might try curly maple laminated to soft maple. Let aclimate and then surface and edge.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Good point, Shawn.

[Robin Frierson]

Wall lumber in North Carolina sells a 8/4 curly maple for around six dollars a board foot and they can ship it to you. Not sure where you are and if that is economically feasible. I saw it when I was up there and it's not super curly maple but it has some curl.

http://www.walllumber.com/special/redhot.asp

[Pat Barry]

You could go with the 3/4" for the table top and then build up the edges to double thick with careful cutting and grain selection. Add some cross-battens to the underside between the aprons for rigidity.

[Brian Holcombe]

That edge banding design needs to consider wood movement if you make it from solid wood.

[Phil Mueller]

To Pat's suggestion, I've seen examples of a mitered edge to make it look thicker which provides an exact grain match.

IMG_0332.JPG

[Bill McNiel]

Brent,
If you choose to post your location folks here might be able to better suggest possible suppliers in your area or alternate, more economical, materials suitable for your intended use.
regards - Bill

[David Eisenhauer]

I would think that you have planned a fairly beefy base structure that will not be overwhelmed by an 1-1/2" thick table top. Typically, something around 7/8" - 1-1/8" works pretty well as a table top thickness, which would allow you to go with 5/4 material. I have built lots of issue-free furniture with the long-side running strips of contrasting wood, but, as Brian said, the end (cross) strips are going to need to be thought about. Something about gluing the solid to plywood just does not seem right to me, but I am willing to be convinced by others who have successfully done it.

[Brent Eversole]

Oh good call Bill... I thought that was automatic when I registered but I went and updated it... thanks!

[Brent Eversole]

How did you do the edge banding first?? From the couple examples of veneering how to's, they've shown the veneer being attached to the substrate first and then the edge banding being being glued to the sides and then trimmed to the same height as the veneer face. I'm thinking this might be the approach I take... it seems simpler then the other options.

[Brent Eversole]

Now that you mention it... it does look a little small... I'll go back and and play with the thicknesses until it looks more proportional. Good idea.