Maple Dining Room Table - Top, Chamfers, Crosscuts

After noticing one of my wider top panels had cupped, I made another trip to the lumber yard. When I returned, I noticed my newly purchased board came from the same tree as a previous board I had. Cool! I called Brek and asked his opinion on book matching within a table top. He didn't like the idea of two book-matched boards next to a third; said the balance would be off. He suggested ripping the third board and bordering two center book-matched boards. That's what I ended up doing. I think I will appreciate the table so much more if I can always see the book-match and remind myself of my happy accident.

After firming up the table top boards and sides it was time to run them through the jointer. I carefully marked the edges to run each matched edge through the jointer the opposite way. This little trick will ensure matching joints, even if my jointer fence is not perfectly square.

Chamfers - I knew I needed them on this table. People will be moving around chairs and dishes and feet and knees and hands. There would need to be no sharp edges anywhere. So I angled the jointer fence at 45% and ran each edge through twice. I used three passes for each table leg edge to make the chamfers a tad deeper. Deeper leg chamfers will also hopefully deter pets from thinking they can chew a chunk off.

Finally, I screwed my trusty Nobex to the workbench and crosscut the legs and aprons. The Nobex is way more accurate than the table saw. It did suck, making all the cuts in 95 degree Georgia humidy, however.

Ebony Plugs

I wanted to use something fun and interesting for the plugs because I knew it was a good opportunity to use a scrap. I wanted something really dark to contrast with the Walnut. The guys at the lumber yard sold me a small cut from a piece of macassar ebony for about $10. It was a steal considering macassar ebony costs about $75 per board foot, making it one of the more expensive woods one can buy. Apparently a tax recently added to the wood in India, has made this wood extremely expensive. Below is a picture of my piece. It has black and chocolate brown stripes.


I converted the Shopsmith to a drill press and used my plug cutter bit to cut several plugs. I'm sure the scrap will yield plugs for projects to come, as there is much left over.


After using my router to add a chamfer around the top perimeter of the table, I glued and tapped the plugs in with a hammer. Next week, I'll cut them flush and do some sanding. Then it will be time for my least favorite phase...applying finish.

Six Simple Doors

I finally cut the six doors. These are the doors that will conceal the bottom shelf storage area. They are just solid wood pieces. I decided making six frame and panel doors would drive me nuts (and probably be overkill). Yeah, they look a little plain. But part of my design is to use fancy external hinges to help bump up the cosmetic appeal a little.


I cut each set of three from the same plank so the grain would line up and make a continuous pattern. Those were the last cuts I'll have to make for this project. I almost feel sad.

Attaching the Top

Drilling pocket holes below the table will not be possible because the second shelf is in the way. I decided, instead, to use counter-sunk screws covered with flush-cut plugs. Each breadboard end is attached to the glued panel top with only two screws, two inches apart, in the center. Anything else would prohibit the top panel movement.

Each breadboard end will have four screws holding it down to the carcase's top rails. This, right here, is the beauty of Brek's table-top design. If these breadboard ends were simply attached to the glued panels, the breadboard ends would be much weaker. Especially with my crumby tongue and groove job. But with Brek's method, they are solid. If someone tries to move the coffee table by lifting up on them, they won't break off (hopefully).

Center Table Top Support

The ends of the top will be attached via breadboards. The long sides of the top can't really be attached to the carcase due to seasonal wood movement. That would fine until someone tries to lift the table using the top or if warping begins. It would also be nice to have a little support in the center.


I'm using my brother's technique. I made a center brace with a walnut scrap I had left over. I ran it through the jointer to square it up and cut it to length. Then I attached it via pocket holes. I also drilled and added some figure eight screws. These can screw the top down without prohibiting movement.

The trick with be drilling the pilot holes in the underside of the table top. My drill won't fit between the top and the second shelf so I'll have to carefully mark and pre-drill the holes.

Breadboard Ends

Look around. Most table tops you see today are plywood or laminate. Rarely do you see solid wood tops. Apart from being cheaper, non-solid wood tops are easy to construct because they're stable. You could just screw the top to the carcase and it would be fine.

But solid wood tops are more beautiful and interesting. They also require some fancy planning to last. This is my first attempt at a solid wood top. I decided early on I wanted to use breadboard ends to keep the top panels flat over time, to cover the end grain of the glued-up panels, and to allow the solid wood panels to expand and contract with the seasons.

It seemed the simplest way to attach the breadboards was tongue and groove, one of the few joints I can cut (with my router). It was more difficult than I imagined. The main problem was my table top was not perfectly flat (see previous post). That means, when I ran my router base over the table top, it moved up and down in waves, with the panels. Cutting the tongue involved some frustration and lots of router passes with slight adjustments. In the end, I got something I can deal with.

Coffee Table Top

I ran the glueable edges of each plank through the jointer, and glued them the same way I glued the second shelf. These pieces turned out to be more warped and uneven than the pieces I selected for the second shelf. That was the trade-off for clean looking, prettier pieces.

This time, instead of sanding the hell out of it, I decided to get out my hand plane. Of course, this also meant I had to get out the Japanese water stones my brother had given me; the water stones I pretty much destroyed by not understanding how to use. I read up on sharpening planer blades and got the best edge I could get with the stones.

I don't really understand hand planing, but after playing around with the settings on the plane, I found myself kind of liking it. Cutting the wood with a sharp blade is much more gratifying than scratching the hell out of it with a power sander. Each smooth pass with the hand plane leaves a beautiful glass-like surface trail. Now I understand why my brother said he never uses sand paper.


I spent the day rotating between planing and sharpening. In the end, I think I got a suitable top for my coffee table. Next, I'll have to cut the tongues and grooves to attach the glued planks to the breadboard ends.

Second Shelf Attachment

Yes, the second shelf appears to be attached just fine, resting on two rails and a tongue and groove. However, the shelf was a tad warped and needed to be pulled down in the center of its long spans. Also the tongues and center could use extra support.

I glued two new side rails under the tongues for support, being careful not to glue the shelf, itself, because it needed freedom to expand/contract. The center support would be tricky because I can't use glue and I need to pull the shelf centers down without prohibiting movement. I decided to use figure eight screw mounts. A forester bit made a quick slot for the figure eight...

...which must be countersunk below the bottom of the shelf.

Using pocket holes to attach the center rail, the figure eight screw mechinisms allowed me to pull the warpped areas down onto their supporting long rails, without prohibitting movement. We'll see!

Bottom Shelf

The bottom shelf will be hidden by the cabinet doors so it was a good place to save time and money. I went to Lowes and fished through all the 2' by 4' 1/2" pieces of birch plywood until I found the prettiest piece.

Then I glued new rails on the inside of the walnut rails to support the bottom shelf, using the brad nailer instead of clamping. These new rails are lower than the walnut rails, so the plywood top will be flush with the walnut rail tops.


Next, I flipped the carcase on its side and drilled pocket holes to attached the bottom shelf with. Then I cut the plywood with my circular saw, applied some glue, and screwed it down from the bottom.


All came out well except the gap between the plywood bottom shelf and the bottom walnut rails. I knew about this before attaching the plywood shelf but there was nothing I could do.

The 2' plywood was about 1/8" shy of spanning the rails, but I was not about to buy a full 4' by 8' sheet just for the 1/8". My plan is to fill the gap (1/16" on each side) with homemade wood filler.

Creative Clamping

Do you think all those clamps in the previous post's picture are mine? Ha! Yeah, right. Those ridiculous Bessy clamps are $50 a piece.

My longest clamps are 30"; the inexpensive, but adequate orange Jorgensen clamps. For the final carcase coffee table glue-up I needed at least six clamps that could clamp 45" each. My plan was to buy a bunch of 50" Bessy clamps from Lowes and return them afterwards. Come on, I spend so much money at Lowes, it's the least they can do. Besides, they'll be good as new after one use.

Unfortunatly, Lowes only had two in stock. Thus, I had to get creative for the other four joints. I just linked my shorter clamps together. It worked great. And my two Bessy clamps are happily back on the shelf at Lowes.

The Big Glue-Up!

After talking to my brother, Brek, at our Christmas visit, I decided to shorten the six long rails. In theory, this would eliminate the gap between the second shelf and its slotted rail, as described in my previous post. Before doing so, I slapped the slot bit on my router and tried to clean up the long tongue. Apparently, my homemade router guide has become unreliable and warped because groves above/below the long tongue got cut too deep. Of course, I didn't discover this until after my final glue-up, when it was too late to fix it. Oh well. After all that work, I've got the damn grove back (gap between the second shelf and its slotted rail).

Okay, so time for the big glue-up. I hate this part. I stood staring at all the pieces, trying to figure out how I could pull it off by myself. Six rails with twelve mortises and the second shelf would all have to be inserted simultaneously. That would almost be possible, if it weren't for the glue. All these pieces must be put together before the glue dries. Impossible. At least for me. I called for help. Melissa assisted with glue spreading and inserting floating tenons. We put one side of the carcase on its side, so the long rails and second shelf could rest on one side vertically. After several panic attics, we got through it.

Wondering About the Shelf Gaps

The next step is either to glue the full carcase or shorten the long apron pieces to eliminate the shelf gap. I'm concerned about a gap between the shelf and the legs/side rails. So is Melissa. She thinks they will fill with crumbs and dog hair. The gaps were not intentional, but they probably lend themselves to better wood movement.

So I dry fit the shelf between the sides and attempted to set the length between the sides to be what it would actually be. My main purpose here was to see if the gaps on either side of the shelf are acceptable, or if I should shorten my long aprons to eliminate the shelf gaps.


I'll wait until after next weekend because I'll see my brother, Brek. I'll get his opinion before moving forward.

Glueing-Up The Sides

After some light sanding, I went ahead and glued-up the left side. I used Titebond III glue for the first time. Apparently, it has a longer workable time before it dries; perfect for these carcase glue-ups. The pieces went together well.


So I glued-up the right side as well.

To Chamfer or Not to Chamfer

I've never cut chamfers before. Instead, I usually sand the hell out of edges to soften them. But I've always like the modest chamfers on my brother's furniture. While reading the manual for my new Shopsmith jointer, I discovered I can set the jointer fence at 45 degrees and cut chamfers.

Seemed easy enough, so I decided to give it a try. I tried to keep the chamfers on most of the pieces less than 1/16". However, on the legs, I cut them a little deeper. I'm hoping it will give it a nice subtle elegance.

Finishing the First Shelf

After cutting the ends off with my circular saw, I used my orbital sander, with some 60 grit, to get the planks flat and even. I used my router to make a tongue on both ends. I'll have to remove about two inches of the tongue on all four corners so the shelf will fit within the legs. I know, it's weird but that's what I came up with.

I cut slots on the inside of these apron pieces to hold the shelf top in place. I'm already starting to think this may not work. Stuff is never going to fit right.

Clamping the First Shelf

I wanted to join the panels for the coffee table shelf and glue/clamp them together first for two reasons. One, it needs to be completed before I glue-up the carcase because it floats between the sides. Two, I wanted to practice before I tackle the coffee table top. The top has to look good! The shelf is fairly hidden so it doesn't really matter if I screw it up.

I had a problem finding a flat surface for the glue-up/clamping. Melissa suggested our dining room table. I took her up on her offer. The water jug and car battery (in the trash bag) are used as weight to hold the shelf slats down as the glue dries; two of the slats would not lay completly flat. I put down paper on the bottom of the slats as a glue barrier from the table. I know I can always sand off the glue that drips out and any paper stuck to it.

Making the Side Panels

Two sides will be frame and panel. I cut the tongues on the panels with my router. The router slots in the legs were too close to the mortise holes for the top and bottom frame pieces so I had to sand the tongue corners away. The disc sander did this in seconds. Love it!

The New Jointer!

Each new project deserves a new tool. This time, I finally added a jointer to my collection. I bought an old ShopSmith jointer off ebay. Utilizing my existing ShopSmith motor alowed me to get a pretty solid jointer, at about 25% the cost of new stand alone jointers. Plus it will save space this way.


I spent most of the day flipping through the manual, re-aligning all the blades, the fence, and several other pieces. Once it was all ready to go, I turned it on and passed a practice board through. The cuts were impecable. I grabbed another scrap board and passed it through. This one made a weird sound. When I completed the pass I took a look at the edge and discovered a huge staple cut in half. Dumb! I had paid attention to every operational and safety proceedure in the manual. But somehow I forgot to check the board edge for foreign objects. And just like that, I had ruined my perfect blades. Unbelievable.


Fortunatly, I was able to move the fence and use the other end of the blades becaue I only needed to edge join. Boy, did I feel stupid.

Making Panel Slots with Router

Each coffee table side will have a solid wood panel in a frame. I used the router to slot out the frame in the apron and legs. The slots in the legs were scary to cut because they were so close to the mortises. I also used the router to make the tongues on the two side panels.

I love the piles of router shavings and nothing beats the smell. Wonderful!

Mortise and Tenon Depth Oversight

Most of my coffee table joinery will be floating mortise and tenons. But I'll cheat and make them using the BeadLOCK system. Today I made the easy mortises; on the apron pieces.

I discovered an oversight in my design. I had the aprons too close to the same corner of each leg. I had not accounted for the depth of each tenon. The only fix I could think of was to make my tenons shallower and move my front and rear aprons further from the corner. This little oversight may mean I don't have enough wood for the shelf. Right now, I'm too lazy to come up with a solution. Considering I don't really have a choice, I'll deal with it later. Worse case, I buy another board. More likely I'll just come up with another design for the shelf. Darn.