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Now that my boards are all cut to width and all the edges are jointed, I am going to mark the locations from my biscuits. You do not need to use biscuits when you glow up a tabletop. The long grain glue joint is plenty strong for these things lifetime. But using biscuits in a case like this keeps everything aligned from this. So, if there is a little bit of a bow here or if one of the bow wants a lift up, it keeps them aligned using the top as your reference point so it will be as flat as possible making my life a whole lot easier after this thing dries, the glue is dry and then it is time to sand it down.
So I am going to start marking my locations. Usually, in a case like this, I like to put one near the end then go in maybe 16 or 18 inch. I really, really want no more than 4 per board, any more than that is an over kill.
I already have my boards in the order that I like, so I numbered them avoid any mix-ups slowly. Now, it is time to create my biscuit slots. I line up the biscuit joiner with a pencil marks and plunge. I highly recommend a good dove extraction system for this operation. Since the bows are so large, I am able to make my slots without clamping the board down, and for added safety, clamps are always a good idea.
I decided to glue up my top in two haps, this makes the project quite a bit easier to manage. Now, I place each board on end, add glue to the edge and slots, and spread the glue with my roller. Next, I add a number 20 biscuit to each slot. I also add glue to the other edges of the middle boards. No need for biscuit here since the adjoining boards already have biscuits and yes I have made that mistake in the past. We are now ready to clamp the boards together. All I really need to do is make sure my pencil mark is line up and the joints look tight.
This is where biscuits really prove their worth. We are really counting on them for added strength here rather than making sure our boards are properly aligned. And since the biscuits were all cut using the top of the boards as reference, everything should line up nicely. If you do ever particularly have slab that wants to stick up, do not be afraid to use a clamp to force it into position. Other options you could use if you do not have a biscuit joiner would be dowels or long splines cut with a router. I had a extra clamps for good measure.
I find the best way to remove squeeze out is to wait about 30 minutes after the glue up and scrape it away. Look Ma, no stain-inhibiting residue. I follow the exact same glue up procedure for the second half of the tabletop and after about two hours, it is time to glue the two ups together. I had few extra clamps and let the tabletop sit overnight. The next day, I remove any high spots using the number 80 cabinet scrapper. This tool itself fits this job and is far more effective than a sander.
I then go over the entire table with my random orbit sander. I start with 120 grid and finish out with 180 grid. I do this to both sides as well as the edges of the table.
Now, I selected my boards for the long aprons here and I am about to give him quick cut to bring him down to length. It is always a good idea to cut real pieces first because the cut offs from those cuts may actually serve as our smaller pieces. So for instance the slots in the side aprons themselves, and actually going to use the cut offs from the tabletop and even the ones from the long aprons and use those for our smaller pieces, just a much more efficient way to go.
I rough cut my apron stock and side let us stock at the chop saw. It is always a good idea to let the blade come to a complete stop before returning it to its starting position. After jointing, plaining and ripping them to width, I trim one end of each piece square with my minor gauge. Using a stop block, about to cut each piece to the appropriate length.
Okay, now that all the parts are cut, let us just do a quick recap and make sure we had everything we need. We got our eight slots. These guys are 16.25 inches long by 3 inches wide by a 0.5 inch thick. I got four side aprons from top and bottom. We have not cut the arc in this yet, we will. These guys are 28 inches long by 3.5 wide by 0.75 inch taking factor, a little bit over 0.75 inch. I was able to maintain a little extra thickness and when you can you may as well, it just makes everything sturdier and heavier.
Our long aprons are 64 inches long. They are 3.5 inches wide, and again 0.75 or in this case just over 0.75 inch thick and our four legs. These guys are 3 x 3 and they are actually 29.75 inches long.
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