# Definitely out of my comfort zone



## mmayo (Aug 15, 2019)

This is a yellow pine table top for a 36” square cafe table for our den/bar. Those are my biggest clamps. It started out as ten 1x4” boards. After gluing up each half I drum sanded them flat and now I have joined them as one top. It will be glued to a 36” square Baltic birch base. Later trim will hide the sandwich.

The tiny object in the center is a partially turned Saturn pen body for scale.


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## MRDucks2 (Aug 15, 2019)

Just a big cutting board, Mark. No problem. [emoji4]


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## MPVic (Aug 15, 2019)

More proof Mark, that you can't have too many clamps!!!!    That will make a beautiful piece!!


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## DrD (Aug 15, 2019)

Great work!  in joining the individual did you use anything else besides glue - dominos. dowels, biscuits, Kreg screws?


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## mmayo (Aug 15, 2019)

DrD said:


> Great work!  in joining the individual did you use anything else besides glue - dominos. dowels, biscuits, Kreg screws?



Long grain to long grain with smooth surfaces told me that glue and clamps would be sufficient.  The entire pine panel will be glued to the stable plywood too.  It is not going anywhere.


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## DrD (Aug 15, 2019)

Super!


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## Curly (Aug 15, 2019)

mmayo said:


> The entire pine panel will be glued to the stable plywood too.  It is not going anywhere.



Wanna bet?  The plywood will resist movement but the solid will move seasonally and it will either curl concave or convex with the plywood bending. Or the boards glued to it will shrink and crack. Or the boards will break free of the plywood. I suggest you research wood movement. Try this shrinkage calculator and see how much the pine will move with just 1% moisture change. http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/shrinkulator/


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## leehljp (Aug 15, 2019)

What Pete (Curly) said! When wood is veneered about 1/8" or so and layered onto solid wood, it will stay, but just a tad beyond that in thickness,  solid wood from 3/8" and up - glued or screwed onto plywood will crack. That is Mother Nature in action. You are not going to stop it with those methods.

My first two tables from 45 years ago are still around and both have cracks in it because I did exactly that and did not understand wood movement. A friend has one and a daughter has the other. They overlook the "mistakes" and claim that the tables have "character".

There are ways around it to allow it to be firmly attached and for the wood to move. Search for "Attaching solid wood table top to a frame to allow for wood movement." You will get two or three primary methods with more minor versions of each.

Edit in: - Also, there seems too be a specific size (smallish in size) in which you can do what you planned, and it will work but at what point, I don't know. For instance, I see people making checker boards and chess boards along with cutting boards with solid blocks of wood and sometimes put a base on the bottom and solid trim around it. For some reason smaller pieces such as a cutting board / chess board sizes don't react the same way but somewhere around 2ft by 2ft and above, movement makes itself known!


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## mmayo (Aug 15, 2019)

As I said in the title, definitely out of my comfort zone.  Worst case, it is a mess and we buy a new top somewhere.  Wives want things and we make them.  Sometimes we replace the things we make with stuff we buy.  For now, we will see.

Take no offense from my decision to continue; you are both right. I am sure you are right.  I have no other options other than buying a premade top which will not match the pine wood in our bar.  We have shopped for three years before deciding to buy a base and construct the top.  People in CA do not sell pine stuff, they just give you strange looks when you ask for it.

Many, many folks have told me how my tackle boxes SHOULD have fallen apart or warped due to my disregard for wood movement.  We still all of have them 26 years later...so the rule sometimes can be broken and you survive.  Those boxes face extreme variations in temperature and humidity.  They are however, much smaller.

I promise stay away from table tops and concentrate on tiny pens.


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## Curly (Aug 16, 2019)

You don’t have to stay away from tables or anything else for that matter but you could ask about ways to make a piece before you tackle it. Much the same as you would if you were going to take on something new in pen making. You can still go your own way if what you hear doesn’t suit you.


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## leehljp (Aug 16, 2019)

mmayo said:


> Many, many folks have told me how my tackle boxes SHOULD have fallen apart or warped due to my disregard for wood movement.  We still all of have them 26 years later...so the rule sometimes can be broken and you survive.  Those boxes face extreme variations in temperature and humidity.  They are however, much smaller.
> 
> I promise stay away from table tops and concentrate on tiny pens.



Don't stay away! Those excursions into something new or different is what makes life interesting!  As to your experience above, on your items above - smaller items than roughly 2ft by 2 ft come into their own set of rules that don't apply like it does on larger items; And, having watched you make those tackle boxes you also do something else that keeps your boxes together - precision fit and finish. "Precision" or "Precise" cuts and joints like you make do far more for reinforcing and strengthening -  than do "close enough" + more glue and nails/screws.


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## mmayo (Aug 16, 2019)

Thanks to all


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## mmayo (Aug 22, 2019)

My “doomed” project is in the finishing stage. After four coats of Wipe On poly I’ll attach it to the base. I still have hope. All joints are as tight as I can make them.


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## MRDucks2 (Aug 22, 2019)

Lookin’ good. 


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## leehljp (Aug 22, 2019)

I hope your"'doomed" project works out. You do have one thing going for it - every time I say what nature "does;" - it does the opposite to show me up!


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## mmayo (Aug 28, 2019)

Well, it made it to the finish line.  The top is just over 1-1/2” thick and 37” square.  Right now it is flat as tested with a very thick stainless engineering rule.  Time will tell...

Tall bar stools are being made and will be here soon.  Let the football games begin and bring out some beers.


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## mmayo (Dec 5, 2019)

The top has yet to warp, but it has a new base to match the the existing bar/den woodwork.  Add some time and the pine will match.


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