Thread: how to build this ?

Originally Posted by la Huerta

i would likee to build a table top like in the pic here

What pic?

Too vague... The URL doesn't change when you navigate through the site.

Click to the page you want then right click on the page and select Properties. Then copy out the link under address.

Know what I mean?

Damien

got it this time...

Plywood panels

You could possibly do it with floating solid wood panels, but then you would have to leave quite an expansion gap on the side of each panel. Not a good look in a tabletop.
Plywood could simply be fixed onto a rebate inside each frame and wouldn't come apart with expansion.

Cheers

Ian

Yeah - The construction method is highly suspect - doesn't look like any allowance was made for seasonal movement in that piece! I give it a year or two to show signs of self-destructing. From the look of the crude planing/sanding job, it doesn't fill me with confidence the rest of the joinery would be up to scratch.
If you want the look, it might be safer to do as Ianab suggests and use thick veneer on plywood panels.
Cheers,

I made a similar top years ago.

I used rail & style router cutters on the frame and top panels.

You must have 1/4" thickness on the top part of the frames as this must slot into the 1/4" rebate on the floating top panels.

The panels must have 1/4" thickness on the bottom part of the panels as this must fit into the rebates on the frames.

I rounded over the top of the panels with a rounding bit.

You must allow for timber movement so the panel can expand/contract sideways. To prevent the panel from slopping around in use I pinned the centres of the panels from underneath with the panels centrally located. That way they can move but without floating around.

Originally Posted by IanW

Yeah - The construction method is highly suspect - doesn't look like any allowance was made for seasonal movement in that piece! I give it a year or two to show signs of self-destructing. From the look of the crude planing/sanding job, it doesn't fill me with confidence the rest of the joinery would be up to scratch.
If you want the look, it might be safer to do as Ianab suggests and use thick veneer on plywood panels.
Cheers,

that's odd you say that because the table is made from one of the most highly respected companies in sydney, i'v seen there tables in boardrooms which have been using them for many yrs and the tables had no signs of problems, i also know of another company that makes them and theres last too...

If the panels are plywood (and I suspect they are) then it will hold together fine. The plywood doesn't move like solid wood, so no cross grain join problems. Looking at the picture I cant see any expansion gaps around the inset panels. Gluing solid wood into that sort of frame would self destruct next time the weather changed. Floating panels would work, but there would have to be a small gap around them.

I'd also suggest the builder took a lot of time getting the nice straight boards he started with looking so rough and rustic

Of course I can get that sort of look too... without trying

Ian

as far as i know it would be a floating panel, if not as you say it would self destruct, i looked at traditional chinese cabinet and table top construction and thay use a floating panel with no gap around the edge, some of there pieces are over 100yrs old...

Originally Posted by la Huerta

that's odd you say that because the table is made from one of the most highly respected companies in sydney, i'v seen there tables in boardrooms which have been using them for many yrs and the tables had no signs of problems, i also know of another company that makes them and theres last too...

Well, sorry about that, La Huerta, but I thought from the look of the crudely finished surface it was an import, that is supposed to look 'rustic'. If what you say is true, then one hopes their joinery IS up to scratch.

I know Pterocarpus (which is what it looks like to me) can be a bear of a wood to plane, but I still reckon you could do a bit better than that! Maybe you're right, Ianab - someone had to do a lot of work to make it look that rough. It's a very strange conceit, IMO - don't they expect it to last long enough to get genuine wear marks?

And yes, you can sometimes get away with flouting the rules - for a time. I recently spent a fair bit of time fixing a table made like that - from bluegum. It self-destructed after a few years, despite "modern" glue and heavy dowels driven through each corner. The owner insisted it be put back more or less as was, despite my pointing out that that was the cause of the disaster. All I could pursuade him to accept was a bit of an expansion gap at the sides. Needless to say, no warranties were given or implied!

Cheers,

I've made similar tables in Jarrah all be it on a smaller scale.

You could get away with doing that and not allowing for expansion if the humidity of the environment didn't change much if at all, I suppose a large office block boardroom might fit the bill, but even then only if the timber was allowed to acclimatise to that environment before the table was made.

In a normal environment you have to use some sort of man made sub straight for the center panels, I used 4mm thick book matched jarrah on a plywood sub straight, but you could just as easily use MDF or even veneered chipboard.

I have to say that when I saw that photo I thought of that nasty (but practical) "Teak" stuff thats been imported in huge quantities in recent years. But I doubt the photo does it justice.

Is that a crack I see on the nearest panel to the camera?

Cheers


Dave

As I read through this thread I had my inital reactions being echoed in the responses from the members. This table looks rustic (maybe not ruffly) and yet it comes with high credentials. Why then did the maker choose to use the panel technique- cost of a long slab? looks?
I can't see any other way of construction apart from floating panels and you must allow space for movement....and when it comes to advice on making the breadboard ends... well there's a story in itself.
Best wishes in your attempts,
Carry Pine

Probably 2 reasons,
They were looking for a way to use all their shorts.
And the styling thing, it does look different but ok.

looks like trouble to me