dining table project

Dan Noren

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falcon heights, minnesota
i guess it was a day for tops today. got the parts for the top of the dining table marked and cut.
 

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if it is a race, i had best get a move on, as he has at least a 2 year head start.... :rofl: spent a lot of time planing the boards for the top today.
 

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if it is a race, i had best get a move on, as he has at least a 2 year head start.....

More like 6 years, 5 month and including today, 9 days; but no one around here is keeping track. :) I probably have a uncompleted project somewhere in the same time-frame, it's just that it has been so long ago, I forgot all about it. Good thing I never mentioned it here at the forum.
 
my formula for doing a table.
nothing fancy, no inlays, no curves in the legs, just 4 legs, 4 aprons and a solid top(non veneer)
first morning-plane and joint all tabletop pieces to approx. 2 inches longer than needed, and 1/4 inch thicker.
plane and joint pieces for legs and aprons. (if legs need to be glued up, do all pieces for first afternoon glueup
set up top to be glued up in sections, usually I do 3 so I can fit in planer, 4 if necessary.
Lunch.
1st afternoon- start gluing up tabletop in pieces, whatever youre comfortable with, I do 13 inches or less to run through planer after initial glueup
glue leg pieces together if you need to, preferably, solid piece for legs. but must glue up legs first day.
Cut apron pieces to correct length, making sure you added length for tenons on both side.
Day 2-
morning-plane and joint leg glueups to correct width, then cut to exact length. run through taper jig if tapering them.(if curves are being used, templates must be made and flush trim router bit, will add a lot of time to build, at least half day)
run top glueups through planer just to make sure they are nice and even at joints, no sanding yet. this is where a drum sander comes in handy, start final glueup of top, or in 2 sections, then run through drum sander to equal depths before final glue up and final drum sanding)
lunch
afternoon, cut mortises in legs, (if no curves added), cut tenons for fitting, Once all tenons fit nice, and apron and legs are dry clamped, remove and give sanding to desired grit.
if time left, glup up aprons and legs.
day 3-after running top pieces if not already glued up through drum sander, final glueup, using as many clamps and cauls to keep things aligned.
finish glue up of legs and apron if not done.
Isnt much more to do this day, maybe half a day at most.
day 4-
run top through final drum sanding, then final orbital sanding, I go down up to 180 grit.
clean up leg and apron assembly, sand as necessary, if using z clip or whatever to hold top, cut out slots on aprons.

the table should be done by end of day 4 without any finish. Start the finishing process. but the build should be completed in 4 days.(even if youre routing top edges, or legs, these processes don't take up a lot of time.)
 
i'm going to wait for the movie on that one allen. :D finished up the planing of all of the boards for the top today. who knows what tomorrow will bring?
 

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to keep pop from nagging too much about not seeing any finished projects, just a lot of parts being cut, i changed up a bit, and went full tilt on the dining table. got the last of the leg parts cut, and then the planing commenced. once i got the leg parts planed to thickness, off to the glue and clamps.
 

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  • 006 dining table base parts planed.jpg
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  • 005 top corners cut.jpg
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got a bit more done today. got the legs trimmed to size, and planed for squareness. did the mortises, and tenons for the lower braces. cut the half laps for the top supports, and cut the angled ends. once the mortises are made to fit the leg tenons, it is pretty much over but the finishing.
 

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  • 013 with the top on.jpg
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  • 012 quick setup.jpg
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  • 011 half lap of bottom braces done.jpg
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  • 010 tenons cut.jpg
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  • 009 mortises cut.jpg
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  • 008 legs finished to size.jpg
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  • 015 tenons cut on tops of legs.jpg
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