The Table top from gehenna


Nathan R.

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I have a round table top that is the trying my soul.  Started the project out as any normal glue up.  Domino's set in at the proper depth from the circle outline.  Never took to much off in each pass.  Router jumped out of the groove and of course dug into the table side not the waste side.  Moved the router in 1 inch, hit every domino at the edges, collet nut came apart and again, dug into the table side.  I believe my only option is to place a white oak band around the table.  My thought was to make a jig of MDF, steam the wood and get it close to the exact size of the table.  Most likely 3 pieces. 

If anyone has a better idea I am all ears. 

 

Nathan Rewerts

The humbled wood worker in Topeka, KS

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Welcome Nathan, and take comfort in the fact that we've all had days like this. Pictures would help, but it sound like a solid wood glued up top. If so, then you can't really put that band of wood around the edges. With seasonal humidity changes the wood will expand & contract across the grain & disaster will ensue.

I had a biscuit show on a prominent edge of an oak cradle that I built. I chiselled out a mortise just large enough to catch all of the  offending biscuit & slot & then cut out a plug to fit, selecting the grain to match as closely as I could. I know the patch is there, but it would take me some time to find it. The Dominos could probably be patched that way, but probably not the router damage.

I've had router bits work loose a couple of times, with regrettable results. So now I always make sure the bit is not fully seated in the collett, & then tighten it really good. This is the time where brute force pays off. 

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Nathan, I feel your pain as well. Also building a circular table top, I had similar difficulties with the router. Switching to a jigsaw and block plane saved me a lot of grief, and honestly seemed just as fast. But I had enough material to salvage.

If you really need to salvage the top, @drzaius is right, banding it will be a problem as the panel moves with humidity changes. Unless you allow the panel room to expand & contract inside the band, it will eventually crack.

An option (not a simple one, though) might be to create a flat ring, using material similar to the top, with the same grain orientation. Rabbet the ring and top to create a half-lap joint between them. Glue the ring on, keeping the grain oriented correctly, and perhaps groove the joint line and fill it with inlay. 

This fix WILL NOT be easy to pull off. Making a snug fitting ring of table top size is a challenge. But if you choose the right scraps to make it with, could produce a top that appears solid, with just a decorative inlay line.

Me, I would just start over. Less work.

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Um turn the damage into a feature and try something like inlay? I'm not sure the end resting place for the table but if you damaged the show side you could try a bowtie inlay or even something a bit more complicated.

For the edge, that's a bit more difficult I think some of the others above have had good advise.

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Here's another thought (and I'm not saying it's a good one).  If you have precise knowledge of the domino locations you might be able to cut the round down to an octagon, trimming off the injured areas.  But, you gotta weigh all of these suggestions against starting over.

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Route a groove around the whole side of the table to remove where the dominos are and maybe either put in a contrasting wood or put a profile on the groove so it looks like you did it intentionally? I'm almost thinking Greene and Greene style inlay but I have no idea how you would account for wood movement doing that.

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9 hours ago, Nathan R. said:

Thank you for all of the suggestions.  I am going to go with some sort of inlay and space them so it appears I meant to do it.  Luckily its form my office and it will be a great lesson learned. 

That's the ticket, turn a mistake into a feature.  I like it.

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