Table top advice

[Tom Bender]

Be sure to make the base really strong so someone big and strong and clumsy can lean hard on it.

Also plan on it being lifted by the top.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

So far, I have the 4 table legs milled, turned and ready for mortises. Earlier this week, I sharpened my 3/8" mortising bit and chisel and installed them. Monday I inventoried my walnut and realized I didn't have enough to build the tabletop as I wanted so I made a mad dash to my supplier in Walla Walla, WA and bought some more after checking with a supplier in Spokane. Most of the wood has been sitting in my shop since October except for the small amount I cut and glued up for the table legs. Yesterday after getting some devastating news about a young family member, when my wife left for a planned dinner date with 3 former coworkers/friends, I went to the shop where I cut all the parts for the tabletop field to rough length, jointed one face, jointed one edge and then planed it to rough thickness. Thank God, to turn to work off the stress! This morning I returned to the shop to joint and plane my 6/4 leftovers so I would have sized scrap to turn to as I begin getting ready to final size, plane and mill for breadboard edges.

Photos of the legs ready to be mortised later today, maybe.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Here's my plan for laying out the table top on this butterfly extension table.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

IF anybody's interested, here's a screenshot with the rough design for the table I am building.

[Brian Runau]

My plan for the top is to run the grain of the boards across the table with breadboards on each edge. That coupled with the two equalizing extension rails should keep them aligned. I don't have a dominoe to it's either biscuits, dowels or just glue to join them.

What say you?

I have a domino and a biscuit cutter. I prefer to use biscuits for table tops since they are longer. Domino for leg joinery. Brian

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Here's a photo of the 4 octagonal table legs. They have a 5" tapered foot above which is a 3" turned area. If you look closely at the leg on the left you'll notice the turned collar on that one is smaller/shorter than the one on the other 3 legs. I had a catch with my skew so I had to turn it smaller to remove the area where the catch damage was. The 2nd photo shows the recessed area and the corresponding leveling leg that will be inserted with screws securing the threaded base to the foot.

TL3.jpgTL2.jpg

[Ken Fitzgerald]

If you look at the screen shot of my table top plan, the breadboard edges will run the length of the table, down each side. Where the field boards meet the breadboard edge, I am toying with the idea of putting an almost unnoticeable chamfer on both members where the two meet in an effort to hide any irregularities in the joint should they occur. Any opinions?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Last week I glued up 2 of the tabletops that will ride on the rack & pinion assembly. Saturday I spent the afternoon removing the excess glue from 1 of the two pieces, sanded it and then made a dump run some of the stuff that is taking up valuable real-estate in my shop. I was tired of climbing over a large box to get to the off-side of my outfeed table. Today, I removed the excess glue from the other piece of the tabletop and then standing it on edge, I jointed one edge going with the grain to remove some really rough surface. The results were worth the effort.

All 3 of the pieces fo the table top will be mounted using threaded inserts. Having never made anything significant out of walnut, I am surprised by the weight! By mounting the tabletop parts using screws and threaded inserts, I can remove them to move the table base into the house independently. Then I can carry the 3 parts of the tabletop into the house and reassemble it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

This afternoon I completed mortising the 6 pieces for the breadboard edge on the 3 sections of the table top. Wow! What a mess that 3/8" straight cutting bit caused! I will be putting a 3/8" upcut router bit on my want list for my next tool order! This afternoon, the DC connector delivered for my Makita 6 1/2" cordless circular saw. Now I have to find the right size screw to mount it. I am betting it's metric and probably M5.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Running the grain across the table top and using breadboard edges has been a really extensive learning experience for me. The table top is in 3 segments, 2 are the extending/retracting segments and the 3rd is the butterfly segment. On the couple big projects I have built, the top was just a glueup, cut to length, square, treat the edges and then finish. If the grain ran the length of the table, I could have built the segments slightly oversized and the cut to size and shape. Now with the grain running across the table, I have to struggle to size the 3 segments so the inside edge of the breadboard edges align before I actually cut the tenons on the field of the three segments. The value of a marking knife has really increased in my shop!

For the record, I chose to run the grain across the table to maximize the usage out of the 8/4 walnut boards I was able to purchase.

As my signiture states, so much to learn, so little time.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

In my previous post I mistakenly said the tabletop was made of 8/4 but it's really 6/4 walnut.

I just installed the Soss hidden barrel hinges. The butterfly section is made up of 2 sections hinged with Soss hidden barrel hinges. Drilling the 16mm holes for the hinges to the tight tolerances demanded by Soss was an interesting challenge! Installing the new 16mm Forstner bit in my drill press, as I reached for something, I accidentally brushed the back of my left hand across the point of the new bit. I tried liquid bandage on the resultant slice on the back of my left hand, but the bleeding would not allow it to adhere properly. Later I was able to get the liquid bandage to work. After installing the hinges, the 2 sections function properly. A marking knife, properly supporting material, a drill press and tighter tolerances have improved the results but it's never perfect. So much to learn, so little time!

The last 2 weeks our adult daughter has been visiting from Hawaii. The wife drove her to the airport in Spokane this morning. The house is quieter. I need to pick up the speed on my build before our summer travels begin.