best way to make tabletop minus planer...

[allan cripe]

I am a novice woodworker who has been charged by LOML to build a breakfast nook and trestle style table. She wants tabletop to be 2" thick. I have basic tools needed for this, and plan to use 2x6's, but I don't have a planer or jointer. Can I accomplish this with a belt sander? I made a work bench years ago with 2 x 4s, but obiously the smoothness of the top for that job was not critical. Suggestions, ideas?

thanks,

Allan

[allan cripe]

By the way, I forgot to mention I'll be using pine........

[Jim Becker]

I'm not sure I could recommend using 2x6 construction lumber...it's way too wet for furniture use. What you could do is to source 8/4 material from a hardwood supplier and have them plane it smooth for you. That will give you about 1 7/8" - 1 3/4" thickness which with light sanding after careful glue up should hopefully be acceptable to the LOYL. (remember 2x6 is 1.5" thick... )

[allan cripe]

the term 8/4 is lost to me (novice, and an aggie to boot!) I was however keenly aware that 2 x 6's were around 1 3/4 thick. thanks

[Jason Brown]

#5 jack plane.

[Craig D Peltier]

I just made a 36x80 oak top 2" thick with a 12" planer an 8" jointer.
Its going to be tough without a planer , jointer etc. You will pay dearly for something that thick thats already planed and squared for you if you can even find, you could also bring it to a lumberyard or cabinet shop that will mill it for you.
My process
Glued up 2 boards at a time so I could keep evenness as best as possible. The local lumberyard here had a 24" sander to pass it through. So i brought two halfs and had then sand it down to same thickness.
Then for length I cut with circular/skill saw with a straightedge.

Hope this helps.

[Matt Day]

I really don't think you want 2x6's from a big box store as a tabletop and I would agree with Jim's suggestion of getting some 8/4 (8/4 is 2", 4/4 is 1", 5/4 is 1.25", etc) from a local lumber yard and have them plane it. You and the LOYL will be MUCH happier.

If you do go with 2x6's, I doubt a belt sander would do it either. If you have a biscuit jointer, the biscuits will help align the boards and keep them straighter during glue up, then some hand planing would be easier.

IMHO, 2x6's are suitable for work benches, storage areas, etc, but not as an eating surface to be displayed in your kitchen.

Edit: Oh yeah, do you have any woodworking friends, or a woodworking guild in your area? You could also ask a local cabinet shop to mill the lumber for you.

[Dan Gill]

8/4 is eight quarters. It's a lumberyard/woodworking term for wood that is nominally 2 inches thick before planing. It's what a 2 x 6 starts out as before it becomes smooth and 1 3/4" thick.

Construction lumber is going to be a big problem, as Jim says. You may be able to find 2" pine that's been kiln dried at a good hardwood supplier. I think M&G sawmill in Huntsville might have some. Most construction lumber says it's kiln dried, but it really very wet.

Whatever you use, you can plane it with hand planes, a router and a sled, or you can get a local cabinet shop to run it through a wide belt sander for you. That last one may be your best bet. Very few folks have a planer wide enough for a whole table top.

[allan cripe]

thank you all....

I haven't really checked for alternative types of wood for this project..there is a lumberyard here that i will inquire at...also, is there another option that is readily available at the big box stores? I have always used plywood and pine 1 x ** for all of my previous furnituresqe projects. I am glad to know about the moisture content of the construction grade pine.... I had no idea.

allan

[allan cripe]

another question.

what is the BEST way to glue up the boards once I decide on the material...clamps and glue exclusivey, pocket screws, straps,

I am looking for the best way for a novice to do this....

[Dan Gill]

The big box stores usually have red oak and poplar, and I've seen aspen at the local Lowe's stores. It is usually very good wood, and you can pick through it as much as you want, but it is very, very pricey. You'll be ahead if you can find a real lumber supplier who will sell you wood that is surfaced on four sides (S4S)

For a tabletop, glue alone will hold the boards together quite well. Pocket screws can work, but you'll need glue with them. A lot depends on the equipment you have or will buy. You can edge joint boards on a router table, and with a good, sharp sawblade, I've had good success edge gluing boards right off the table saw. You'll probably need to clamp cauls across the boards to keep them from shifting and bowing when you glue them up. I'd do it in sections, I think.

You

[Ian Abraham]

You need to be able to plane and joint the boards somehow. Otherwise the glue joints wont line up perfectly and/or the table may not be flat.

A jointer and planer are the best way to do this, but not the only way

Hand planes are an option, but if you dont have a nice set and the skills to use them thats not going to help.

Table saw can help with getting the edges straight and square before glueing it up, but again you will want a nice tablesaw and blade to get good results.

Plan C is to use your router (if you dont have one, get one, you can use it for all sorts of things). Using your router and a straight edge you can 'joint' the edges on each board suitable for gluing up. If you need to plane the face of the boards do a search on router bridges. This is a setup where you have rails on each side of your workbench and the router mounts in a bridge between them. Run the router up and down the board a few times and any lump that are sticking up get trimmed off. Board is now perfectly flat and can be sanded to remove the router marks. Festool and EzSmart sell flash versions of the straigt edge, but you can build your own jigs to use a router. Not as fast as having a jointer / planer / tablesaw of course, but it's safe and it works.

If you are using construction pine, be aware it wont be dried to furniture wood standards. You should stack it on stickers inside for a month or so to let it complete its drying before you strat working it. As for making a table out of pine, maybe it's not fine furniture, but if you dont mind the rustic look it will work fine. It's still a step up from MDF in my opinion. When the top starts looking banged up, just break out the sander and refinish it

Cheers

Ian

[Carl Eyman]

Or can it just look like its 2" thick? Glueing a piece on the underside of the table to make the top look 2" would save you some moneyl If you could find a nice piece of plywood of the variety of wood you want and then glue a thickener molding around the under side, that would solve your planer problem. Of course, you'd have to deal with the edge grain of the plywood. A piece of 1"x2" rabbeted to accept the plywood and applied vertically would do the trick.

[Art Mulder]

Or can it just look like its 2" thick? Glueing a piece on the underside of the table to make the top look 2" would save you some moneyl If you could find a nice piece of plywood of the variety of wood you want and then glue a thickener molding around the under side, that would solve your planer problem. Of course, you'd have to deal with the edge grain of the plywood. A piece of 1"x2" rabbeted to accept the plywood and applied vertically would do the trick.

Carl beat me to it.

If you don't have a planer, jointer, (either hand plane or power plane) then I would not build it from solid wood. Find yourself a nice sheet of plywood -- maple/birch is pretty reasonably priced, but you can also find plywood with oak, cherry, walnut, and even knotty pine surfaces. Then you just need a thick piece along the edge to make it look nice and thick.

I did something like this about 4 years ago when I made a quick/simple kitchen table. No, it isn't "fine furniture", but it was quick, simple, functional, and inexpensive. And having a bunch of young kids who are going to be hard on this table... well I think I made the right choice.

Not the best photo, but here it is.
table-fini.jpg

[allan cripe]

I think that just might do the trick, especially when I explain to the loml that in order to get the wood plank look, I'll simply have to buy a planer/jointer. Although I would love one, it is not in my budget yet!! The thicker edge will giver her the thickness she is looking for.

thanks everyone..

allan