Sometime when you do it yourself you may ask yourself in the middle “what the hell am I doing?” I just said that looking at the pile of parts sitting in a pool of gas in my driveway repairing a fuel pump for my car. According to YouTube this $300 job would cost me just $30.
Fingers crossed.
I got a new tablesaw this week. I won an online auction for a school board in Toronto that was getting rid of all their tablesaws in favor of the new Sawstop models with flesh control auto stop. This one was about a year old and to buy new cost $3,500. I got it for a fraction of that price so I put mine up for sale right quick. I got it not only for the price but because it has a newer riving knife which my saw didn’t have so it’ll help against kickback issues. I have a few scars from wood being snagged against the fence/blade and launching back at me. A little work to get this but it’s well worth it. I consider it a free upgrade in the end.
It’s a 3hp General 350.
I’ve applied the first coat of finish, polymerized tung oil sealer. It really brings out the grain pattern well and makes the natural color pop.
This is a shot of the top after I put on the 1/4″ roundover edges and sanded it down.
I gave all but the center tenon a coat of wax to help free movement, then glued the center tenon and clamped both ends on. Once tight and in final position I drilled the 1/4″ pin holes 3/4 way down and hammered in the dowel pins. Only the center pin was glued, the ends were left to float. My clamps weren’t long enough so I had to improvise. Tomorrow I’ll fill the holes with ebony plugs and sand flush.
Before attaching the ends I needed to drill holes to accept the dowel to pin through the joint. To allow for expansion all tenon pin holes except for the center (which will be glued solid) needs an elongated slot hole. Since the end will always remain stable, and the main table will expand or contract widthwise the unglued dowel pin will ride back and forth within the slot. If we didn’t allow for movement the end could crack away or the table could warp.
After all the mortises are cut in the end pieces as well as the tabletop, the maple floating tenons can be glued in the tabletop end. Then the end pieces will slip on.
With the edges glued up and dried I’ve trimmed off the ends straight to prepare for the end pieces. In order for the main walnut slab to be able to expand and contract widthwise from climate change it has to float within the end caps. If they were fixed tightly the ends would crack or warp under the force so breadboard ends are required. I begin cutting the mortises with my router and mortising jig on the table and end caps using 5 x 3″ mortises per end.
You can never have enough clamps.
Here’s what the table will look like upside-down with the thick edges loosely fitted.
