# newbie is building a dining table



## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

So I thought it was going to be all sooooo easy and now I am wigging out. I am building a very wide table 45" (and a bit) x96", yeah I am getting ready to invite the whole neighbourhood for thanksgiving this year. I am using 8/4" x 2" x 8" rough hewn white pine to get rustic look to it. I figured glue the sides, perhaps add some biscuits, use 3 clamps going across and then sand and stain as required. 

Boy, was I wrong. So now I am wigging out...the first thing is that the 48" clamps are not wide enough, and trawling the internet has become even more confusing. 

I definitely need any advice anyone can give me. My 3 clamps dont fit and I can't figure out if I even need to add the biscuits.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Welcome, being you are pretty new to the forum.


I'm headed for the bed - but rest assured that I'll help you in the morning.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

You might post a sketch of what you are building so everyone will be on the same page. Normally when someone makes a table top 45"x96" they run the wood lengthwise so your 48" clamps would work. Anyway if you go to a plumbing supply you could pick up 3 pieces of 3/4" black pipe 10' to make pipe clamps long enough to make a glue up that long. Then later you could cut them in two and it would give you the pipes for 6 clamps. My opinion of biscuits is they add strength to the joint but they are so small it adds a very small strength to the joint. A spline joint would be more effective.


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## MissionIsMyMission (Apr 3, 2012)

Just make some clamp extensions from some scrap 2x material and some deck screws...









I agree that Splines would be the way to go for alignment and strength.
Pics of the project would help a lot too!!!


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

*Thanks everyone, here are my pictures*

Again, i appreciate everyones help here, hopefully I am not trying anyone's patience. I have probably bitten off a bit too much...but hey I've done worse things that mess up a few planks of wood.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Your not trying anyones patience. We would like you to get all the information you need and you've only bitten off too much if you give up. 

To me it looks like you need to true up the joints. The glue joints need to fit tight without clamps. I'm wondering if you have a jointer to straighten the wood for the glue up. This would be very helpful. If not and you have a table saw you could attach a straightedge to the wood and trim them straight. I see you are using bar clamps. You might consider making the top a little smaller or purchase some pipe clamps. With pipe clamps you can make them up to 10' long.


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks Steve for the kind words. The mill cut each piece to be straight, so i do feel relatively good about that. Unfortunately, as you can tell by my garage, I dont have a jointer or a table saw. The bar clamps are about 1/4" too narrow, even though they are 48" the internal measurement is only 44 3/4" (as Seinfeld would say....Newman!!!). I am going to explore getting pipe tomorrow, again I am new at this so I'm blundering through. Do you think that I need to do spline joints or could I get away with not doing that?


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

"The mill cut them straight"... while I appreciate what you are saying, that's never really "straight" once you bring that into the furniture world. 

If you knew someone with a jointer, planer and table saw 90% of your problems would disappear. Have you considered contacting a local cabinet shop and outsourcing it for a couple bucks?

Pipe clamps are certainly a great option - are those bar clamps from Horrible Fright? I tried those a few years back and they were pretty bad. Their 3/4" pipe clamps are not bad at all though.


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

firemedic said:


> "The mill cut them straight"... while I appreciate what you are saying, that's never really "straight" once you bring that into the furniture world.
> 
> If you knew someone with a jointer, planer and table saw 90% of your problems would disappear. Have you considered contacting a local cabinet shop and outsourcing it for a couple bucks?
> 
> Pipe clamps are certainly a great option - are those bar clamps from Horrible Fright? I tried those a few years back and they were pretty bad. Their 3/4" pipe clamps are not bad at all though.


Thanks firemedic. You've opened my eyes. I'm going to call around tomorrow. I'm in the clothing industry so I can completely relate to what you're saying. Thanks for the advice.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you are going to purchase pipe clamps for this project I would recommend you make the top 46" at the time of glue up because the wood will never glue up in a uniform width and even if you pad the edges the clamps usually damage the edges. It's best to make a top oversize and then trim it down after it is glued. Anyway what I said earlier, if you would go to a plumbing supply house they will stock 3/4" black pipe in 10' lengths and you can cut them in two and make two clamps. It's cheaper to buy the pipe in that length than buy short pieces. The black pipe is better for clamps because the steel wall is thicker than galvanized water pipe. The black pipe is made for natural gas lines.

Pine because of the closed grain and sap content doesn't glue as well as many other kinds of wood. A spline would help a lot however I'm not sure how you could do it with the way you are equipped. You could pick up a router and a spline cutter bit but I don't know what you would use for the spline. Most of us just rip a strip of wood on a table saw for this purpose. Maybe you should turn back to the idea of biscuits, just use a bunch of them.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Pine glues just fine. You don't need splines and you certainly don't need biscuits - much less a bunch of biscuits. Biscuits are useless unless you are building with plywood or they are covered in butter and jelly. 

This is your first go at it. Don't over think it and just take your time when you get to the glue up. The biggest problem first timers have is keeping the panel flat for the glue-up. Neither splines nor biscuits will keep a panel flat - ie not bowed.

Once you get the lumber ready to go it might be less overwhelming for you to glue the top up into two sections of approx 24-26" and then glue the two smaller sections together last.


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

*overthinking*

THanks for all the great advice. I think I am overthinking this project. 
I remember being in a design meeting with a client, their boss walks in right in the middle of the presentation. One of the underlings felt the need to chime in, to make themselves feel important. They rattled off for 45 secs, which seemed like a lifetime, and finished off by saying "...or am I overthinking this?". The boss, without even pausing, said "Yes you are, please don't think..."

I am back in the saddle and will try to post pictures as I go along, it will look great in the end. If it doesnt look great...then it's not the end. To be continued


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## Jakedunn (Feb 7, 2013)

So after looking over your pictures I believe I found your problem. Your whole shop is upside down. Makes everything much more difficult to clamp and work! Ha ha.


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks Jakedunn...that explains everything.....hahaha


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## MissionIsMyMission (Apr 3, 2012)

Without a jointer, tablesaw, Router or planer it's gunna be real difficult to make a somewhat decent table top. Just my humble opinion.
If you have a lot of skills with hand tools I suppose it could be done with some effort.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Glue up your boards two at a time. Then glue the panels up in pairs. You wont need lo.ger clamps until the last glue job.
Hope you have a bunch of clamps...some for the bottom and some for the top side...alternating as you go.


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

MT Stringer said:


> Glue up your boards two at a time. Then glue the panels up in pairs. You wont need lo.ger clamps until the last glue job.
> Hope you have a bunch of clamps...some for the bottom and some for the top side...alternating as you go.


Thanks for the words of advice, I'm looking forward to this weekend. This will be a lot of fun


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks for the words of encouragement? I'm sure it will come out fine, and if it doesn't well...I'm sure it'll still be a fun exercise. However I will make sure to count my fingers before and after


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

MissionIsMyMission said:


> Without a jointer, tablesaw, Router or planer it's gunna be real difficult to make a somewhat decent table top. Just my humble opinion.
> If you have a lot of skills with hand tools I suppose it could be done with some effort.


Thanks for the words of encouragement? I'm sure it will come out fine, and if it doesn't well...I'm sure it'll still be a fun exercise. However I will make sure to count my fingers before and after


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## bobbydacron (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks everyone for all the advice. Here are my pix as I went from rough wood, to clamps ,to stain and now to being in my dining room with legs on. Next stop sanding,staining and upholstering the chairs, that I can handle on my own.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Looks great! :thumbup:


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