Thread: How do I...

I'd glue up a squarish top and rout it round

by "squarish" I mean you don't need to glue up a full square. It just has to be close enough to a square that the final circle fits within the glue up
then cut close to round with a band saw or a jig saw and then finish with the router
be wary with the router as to avoid tear out you'll probably want to rout part of the circumference using a climb cut

I have never tried to make something like this but here is an idea.

Start with a piece of MDF and make a circle of the correct diameter. Depending on your tools and skills this could be easy or hard, fairly quick or time consuming. This will become a template. Then make an oversize top which you can then attach by screws to the template. If you are thinking in advance, the screw holes will become attachment points or be covered by legs and frame. You then trim the top down with your choice of tools and finish with a flush trim bit in the router.

Let us know how you end up doing it.

Originally Posted by ian

I'd glue up a squarish top and rout it round

by "squarish" I mean you don't need to glue up a full square. It just has to be close enough to a square that the final circle fits within the glue up
then cut close to round with a band saw or a jig saw and then finish with the router
be wary with the router as to avoid tear out you'll probably want to rout part of the circumference using a climb cut

what I should have included in the above

Make the square top from the Maple
Cut it to a circle
use a router to trench across the top ~3mm deep to install the Jarrah inlay which should be strips just over 3mm thick -- these will need to be planed / scraped / sanded level with the rest of the top
do the Jarrah surround using short strips that are curved on the inside to match the curve of the table edge the joins between the strips will need to be accurately mitred
trim the surround to the final curve

This will give you a "a Jarrah surround with maple inlay"


If you want to stay with the dodecahedron look I think your best option for the top is to use veneer on particle board or MDF edged with solid wood

Thanks for your suggestions guys, and this is what I am trying to do. The problem I am having is with the shaping of the surround to match.

Making the round table is easy, making the surround for the table is driving me nuts

Darce
I think part of the answer is to use the round table (without the surround) to make up a template that represents 1/10th of the table's circumfrence

then use that template to make a second template that is again 1/10th of the circumference, but which has a radius less than that of the table.

how much less? enough so that your router bit cuts a curve that exactly matches the curve on the outer edge of the maple table -- there's a formula for working out what this should be. Rather than me get the formula wrong, do you mind looking it up?

then cut the inside radius on the 12 pieces of edging you need, mitre the ends and attach to the maple top using glue and biscuits.

Once the glue is dry, use a trammel to rout the outer edge to be concentric with the rest of the table

Hi,
I find that instead of cutting it nearly to to size and trying to trim it I make it larger and trench cut with repeated light cuts (less than 3mm). Because the bit is inbeded in the job and cutting on both sides you can cut in any direction. You can leave the last couple of mm and cut it with a knife or jig saw and use an edge trim bit with a bearing to finish off flush with the rest.
The thing is light cuts and the bit being in the timber it is not trying to push it in any direction as the forces balance each other.
Hope that makes sense.
Regards

I guess most of your routing problems would have to do with the direction you are going in. Which ever direction you router it, at the points where your 12 jarrah blocks are jointed it will get tricky. Maybe if you were to saw or sand right to your line at these 12 points you can router the rest without problems, still making sure you are going in the right direction.
Good luck!