Table top help

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  • mchickm
    17 December 2013 at 6:31 pm #24047

    Hi All,

    I am about to laminate a sapele coffee table top over the Christmas period and am after some advice on wood movement if anyone has any ideas..

    I have a book matched pair of boards for the top but they are quite small.. So I have decided to frame the pair with 4 more boards of the same thickness (1 inch) .. 2 at the sides and 2 at each end.. to increase the size in every direction..

    I hope this makes sense??

    I Don’t want to remove any material from the main book matched pair because it will remove some of the figures that I really really like, so creating a frame and panel I don’t think would work?

    However if I simply glued it all together then there would be nowhere for the centre 2 boards to move if they expanded.. Or is sapele stable enough that I shouldn’t worry?

    I was possibly thinking about rebating the central 2 boards (after laminating them together) and dropping them into a rebate on a frame and leaving a reveal on the underside for expansion?

    Does anyone have any ideas / does that make sense?

    Wishing all WWMC members & teachers a very merry Christmas !

    Martyn

    Greg Merritt
    17 December 2013 at 7:54 pm #24057

    How are you adding the boards to the ends? This seams like the perfect application of the breadboard end.

    mchickm
    17 December 2013 at 9:57 pm #24063

    Hi Greg,

    Yeah I would want to do that but I don’t want to cut tenons into the central feature pieces because it will remove some of the figure of the wood.

    Maybe the whole thing is a no go ?

    Ken
    17 December 2013 at 10:05 pm #24064

    Martyn.

    Your original Idea looks like the best way to go buddy, it would make an interesting top.

    Merry Christmas 😉

    Dave
    17 December 2013 at 10:07 pm #24066

    Martin, the frame should work, you’re only talking about 3/8 in off the sides to insert them into a frame right?

    If the panel is big enough you could use buttons underneath to secure it to the main frame and don’t bother with framing it all.

    mchickm
    18 December 2013 at 10:19 am #24091

    Thanks for the help guys,

    maybe for once I should make some solid drawings haha

    BarryB
    20 December 2013 at 7:29 pm #24277

    This link may help:

    Breadboards… and Breadboard Ends

    Also, is there any reason you can’t reverse the tongue and groove (keeping mortise and tenon orientation) to keep as much of the sapele visible as possible?

    David R.
    20 December 2013 at 8:08 pm #24279

    @BarryB: my guess is that it wouldn’t hold the flatness of the boards as well as the “normal” version does.

    mchickm
    23 December 2013 at 11:21 am #24425

    Thanks for the link, I think something like this will be what the piece ends up like.. may actually have to mock up an end in spruce or something this time ha.

    Will post a picture if / when I manage it.

    Thanks,

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