jgfore Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 I amattempting my first very large and HEAVY project of this sort. The project is anew live/natural edge dining room table made of Black Walnut. As you can see inthe picture, the table top will be made up of three 2" slabs. The two onthe outside will have the natural edges and the one in the center has been cutto a 2" x 13" slab, to make up the desired width. My quagmire is howto join the three slabs together. I know that no standard joinery is going tohold the slabs together by itself. I will have three boards running crosswaysto hold the table top together from underneath, as well as the table legshelping to support the three pieces together. Before anyone throws the standardanswer of -*Dominos*- out there, I do not have one and cannot afford one rightnow. So, the next choices that I can see are to use a dozen biscuits or dowels.I have also considered using steel dowels to joint them together and use anepoxy for the binder. Any suggestions would be helpful!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenMinshall Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 My quagmire is howto join the three slabs together. I would consider some floating tenons/splines made from 0.5" or 0.75" plywood. Use a spiral bit in the router to cut grooves in the mating pieces and cut strips of ply to fit in them. Basically do-it-yourself oversized Dominos. Once the pieces are glued-up the tabletop will be remarkably strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgfore Posted July 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 I would consider some floating tenons/splines made from 0.5" or 0.75" plywood. Use a spiral bit in the router to cut grooves in the mating pieces and cut strips of ply to fit in them. Basically do-it-yourself oversized Dominos. Once the pieces are glued-up the tabletop will be remarkably strong. That sounds like a really strong option. How deep would you cut the grooves? possibly 2" deep? Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 I've seen a few live edge slab tables with butterfly dutchman's (dutchmen?) I might use splines to align the edges and dutchmen to hold them together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onboard Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 How about a sliding dovetail? Just kidding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 .I have also considered using steel dowels to joint them together and use anepoxy for the binder. Any suggestions would be helpful!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semmons23 Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 I would agree with Ben. I'd route out some mortises about 3/4" x 4" wide x 2" deep and then make some floating tenons. I'd use a hard wood and round over the edges on a router table. Just make up a couple of feet of tenon stock and then cut them up on the miter box or table saw. Steve http://www.thedustydeveloper.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semmons23 Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Another option you could try would be a bench bolt type setup. That table is going to be very heavy and this would allow you to take it apart. the down side is possible alignment issues but you can probably over come those. Steve http://www.thedustydeveloper.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bois Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 I'm curious why you think glue won't hold these two joints together? If these are 2" thick, that's a massive long grain glue joint. For heavier boards like this, as long as they are the same exact thickness I would think that alignment should be even easier than thinner stock, so I'm a bit confused why mechanical joinery is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 I think glue alone would be fine, but I always like to add something for alignment, and with thick boards there will be lots of room for a spline. I think the butterfly would be a cool way to celebrate the joint, rather than try to hide it. And just in case there was a problem with clamping pressure, or glue age, or something, the mechanical joint gives some extra insurance. A slab that big and thick has a lot of strength, but it also has a lot of weight which means a lot of load on the joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bois Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I could see some value in having an alignment aid although I would submit that you can get equal results manually - especially with thick boards like this. Adding splines could even cause more clamping problems if not done to fairly high tolerances. And in the end I think they are a lot of extra work for questionable benefit. As for the weight, the glue joint surface to weight ratio should be no different than thinner stock. And the glue joint if done properly should be the strongest part of the slab, not the weakest. Consider that most workbenches are edge glue laminates and we pound the heck out of them with nary a worry about joint failure. And those are even thicker heavier slabs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgfore Posted July 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 I could see some value in having an alignment aid although I would submit that you can get equal results manually - especially with thick boards like this. Adding splines could even cause more clamping problems if not done to fairly high tolerances. And in the end I think they are a lot of extra work for questionable benefit. As for the weight, the glue joint surface to weight ratio should be no different than thinner stock. And the glue joint if done properly should be the strongest part of the slab, not the weakest. Consider that most workbenches are edge glue laminates and we pound the heck out of them with nary a worry about joint failure. And those are even thicker heavier slabs. If you believe that the joints will hold without any type of mechanical joinery, then I guess that just using biscuits to help with alignment would be ok? I am going to have a support (on the bottom) that spans most of the width of the table anyway so the top will only need to be supported during transport and setup. Any other ideas would be helpful. By-the-way Bois: I like your web site and videos. As soon as I finish this dining room table, I am going to tackle the 21st Century Workbench. I have a stack of White Oak in my basement that is big enough to build two of them. I just hate being in the middle of a project and running out of stock. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael B Harris Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Little late to this thread but have a question. I am just starting to do some live edge work and was wondering how I would clamp up the joint without damaging the live edge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 Little late to this thread but have a question. I am just starting to do some live edge work and was wondering how I would clamp up the joint without damaging the live edge? I have cut blocks of a soft wood like pine or basswood into a " u " shape that roughly matches the live edge where each clamp will go. Put a scrap of cloth inside it. The" u" keeps it from twisting off a sloped edge under pressure. If your live edge is soft punky sapwood make the blocks as long as possible to spread the load and prevent crushing . Do a dry run before glue- up. Get your joint to fit perfectly before you apply clamp pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guillaume Breton Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 I will have three boards running crosswaysto hold the table top together from underneath, i'm going to be making one of these pretty soon also, let me know how it turns out. but if you put boards crossways underneath make sure you come up with a system that will allow these massive boards to expand and contract. like having screws but having a bigger screw hole than the screw itself so it pulls down, but can still move a little Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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