A Table for Two - Part I

 This next little project came along as a request of my former employer.   They needed two tables that would fit in the back of two different work areas.    The only specs given were that each table needs to be 30 inches in height, 17 inches deep, and 49 1/2 inches long.    There are no plans to look at for this project so this is one where we plan as we go.   There will be no other tables in the world like these two.    These kind of projects are fun.   The tables will either turn out just like what they had pictured in their mind, or...  

  I was troubled by what and how to do this project.   So I called in one of my engineers and advisors from the family business to see what her thoughts were.   (This is Blair, my three year old granddaughter who just happened to be staying with us last week.)    Her suggestion was that we make the top out of MDF board and we make the legs and trim out of oak.   I liked that idea as it meant rather then going to the wood pile to find my boards, we could hop in the pick-up and get some new lumber at the lumber yard.    Maybe pick up a new tool while we are there.

   We lucked out as they had some MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) white laminate shelving on sale that was 48 inches long and 25 inches wide.   A couple sheets of that along with 5 oak boards and a can of stain and we were on our way back home.   (No new tool this trip. Dang it.)    First we made a phone call to see if anyone would rather have a 25 inch wide table.   Nope - guess not.   So we rip the MDF board down to 16 inches with the idea that we would wrap the white laminate MDF with 3/4 inch oak trim.   The end result is that we would have a table top 17 1/2 inches wide and 49 1/2 inches long.    We went ahead and cut all the oak pieces for the trim and legs as you can see above.     We did all right.  Once we were done cutting, there were not a lot of left over scraps to add to the old wood pile.   (The bad news is that there are no extra pieces to use as a re-do in case of a screw up.)

   The layout to the right shows the white laminate MDF laying on our carpet surrounded by the oak trim.   On the oak trim, the corners were cut at a 45 degree angle and I used biscuits - those little football shaped things you see in the picture - during the glue-up to help bond the oak to the MDF.   (After taking the picture, I noticed a little left over saw dust on the carpet.   Maybe my wife will think the cat drug that in.)

    The glue-up was a little tricky.    I'm one to admit that no matter how careful I am about cutting 45 degree corners, only 3 of those corners fit perfect.   (Where is that tube of wood putty.)   Another problems was that my longest clamp is 48 inches which will clamp a 44 inch board.  So I had to join two of my pipe clamps together to make one long one as the table was almost 50 inches long.     A little pressure here and a little pressure there and those 45 degree corners came together. 

    After I got both table tops put together and glued, I wanted to protect the white laminate top from any stain, varnish, or even an accidental scratch as I continued to work on the project, so I tape and covered that top with plastic.   In this picture you can see one table before the protection and the other table after the protection.   (The protection is made up from a pricy material that is called "left over softner salt bags" and painters tape.)  

   Next week I will be working on making tapered legs and applying the stain and a few coats of varnish.    Until then, I just want to be sure and say "Thanks" to Blair for your help this week.    We had fun.