- [Presenter] The Wood
Whisperer is sponsored
by Powermatic and Titebond.
- This past summer, I had the honor
of teaching a class at
the Marc Adams School
and I decided to do a scaled down version
of the gaming dining table.
It would be much more feasible
in a five day class format.
Well, the problem was I hadn't
actually built the thing.
So, just a couple weeks
before the class I built
what I considered to be a prototype
and already had all the details
worked out for the big one,
just had to make sure they made
sense on a smaller version.
So, I filmed it as I was
building that prototype
and that's what we've got here for you.
Now, folks who want to build this,
the actual plans are in the guild
and they are free for anyone who bought
the gaming dining table series.
So if you're interested in that
that's where you gonna wanna go,
but I also thought it'd be
nice to make a shorter version
of the video here so you could
see this thing go together.
Let's get to it.
I'll start by milling up the leg stock.
The coffee table legs are only two
and a quarter inches thick compared
to the three and a half inch
thick legs on the dining table.
(miter saw cutting)
(bandsaw cutting)
(jointer cutting)
(planer cutting)
(wood tapping together)
Each leg will be glued up from two pieces.
(wood tapping against each other)
(glue roller sounds)
(wood tapping against each other)
(clamps coming together)
(metal of the clamps making noise)
After the glue is dry,
the legs are squared up
and planed to two and a quarter square.
(machine buzzes)
Then I cut them to
length at the table saw.
(table saw buzzing)
Next, I'll mill up some
stock for the rails.
(planer buzzing)
(table saw buzzing)
(table saw buzzing)
Here, I'm cutting a
three quarter inch groove
for the bottom panel.
On the outside of the rail,
we'll cut an accessory groove.
First, I make a single curved
groove to remove some material
and lessen the stress on my t-slot bit.
I can then plow the
t-slot all the way across.
Back at the table saw,
I carefully cut away
the bottom section of the t-slot.
(table saw buzzing)
Because I was trying to save as much time
as possible I used
dominoes for the joinery.
(Domino whirling)
Now I could lay out the taper.
Remember, the two tapered
faces are the ones
that receive the joinery.
The first taper is cut at the band saw,
the off cut is then taped back on
and the second cut is made.
(bandsaw buzzing)
A lot of times, I'll use
a hand plane for clean up
but when time is of the
essence I just use the jointer.
I clean up the mill marks with a scraper,
round over the edges, and sand.
Because I notched the
corners of the bottom panel
to fit around the legs
on the dining table,
I decided to try notching the leg instead
on this coffee table build.
Well, it turns out it's actually
not a better way to do it.
This method works just fine
but it's a lot of extra work.
Notching the panel corners is just easier.
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
I'll glue the two long rails
to their respective legs
to reduce the number of variables
I have to deal with at this point.
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
With a quick dry assembly,
I can measure for the bottom panel
and cut it out of a sheet of
three quarter inch plywood.
(table saw buzzing)
To match my notched legs,
I dog eared the corners of my panel.
If the dry fit looks good, you can proceed
to the final glue up of the base.
(hammer bangs)
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
Next up, the top frame
parts are cut to size.
To cut the bridle
joints, I use the bandsaw
in the dining table
series but here I decided
to try a tenoning jig.
Turns out, this wasn't a great idea.
Because the table saw blade is thicker
than a band saw blade, the wide cut allows
for small amounts of
movement in the joint.
So, when I go to make the second cut
the wood may have moved
one way or the other
which results in a bad fit
and an inconsistent gap.
So, my suggestion is to
just use the band saw.
As you can see here, I did the rest
of my joints using the band saw method
which requires chisel
clean up after the fact.
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
The male side of the joint
is cut as one large tenon,
so be sure to scribe the
shoulder line beforehand
and you'll get a nice, clean cut.
(machine buzzes)
After finessing and fitting,
the frame can be glued together.
Not only do we want
pressure in both directions
to close up the shoulders, we
also wanna clamp each corner
to bring the bridle joints together.
With the top frame on the base,
we can measure and cut the filler strips.
(table saw buzzing)
You'll need two long strips
and two short strips.
(table saw buzzing)
The long strip is glued on first,
flush with the inside edge of the frame
and extending about an eighth of an inch
on each side into the short rail area.
The short filler strip is then cut to fit
in the space between the long rails.
When the glues dries,
the frame should drop right into place.
To make room for our tabletop pieces,
we'll cut a rabbet on the
inside of the top frame.
(router buzzes)
The router leaves rounded corners
so let's chop them square with a chisel.
(tap, tap)
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
Only after the bulk is
removed can we go back
and cut right on the
line by chopping down.
(tap, tap, tap, tap)
(scrapping noises)
For the top, I'm going
to cut individual boards.
They'll be cut for a
snug fit along the grain,
but from side to side we'll need
to experiment a bit for a perfect fit.
When you butt them up side by side
they should hang over
quite a bit on the frame.
At the table saw, I'll cut rabbets
in the edges to create shiplap joints.
Now, back at the table we
can do a test fit again.
If it's too tight, we can
cut the boards down slightly
and then recut the rabbets.
Once they're nice and snug,
I'll take a few passes
with my jack plane on each
rabbeted edge of each board.
This will hopefully provide
enough slack for wood movement,
considering the orientation of the grain
is definitely not doing us any favors.
Now we can glue the top in place.
Just a bead of glue on the
filler strips will do the trick.
For the coffee table, I'm
include a simple finger hole.
This can be carved by
hand or done very quickly
at the spindle sander by
first sanding a semi circle
and then tilting the
board up at a sharp angle
to give it a cool shape
and it makes more room for the fingers.
All sides of the top pieces
receive a light round over.
Now, very quickly I wanna show you
the prototype accessory
that I created here.
Now at the stage that
we're in with our kids
we don't really make a
whole lot of use of these,
so that's why I never got further
than just this proof of
concept that I have here.
So, we give you the
dimensions in the plans
so you could make this.
You basically have to
have a round over bit
to create this little edge here.
You can use dado stack or a
router bit to create the dado,
and you just wanna make sure that you get
this material that's let
over to the right dimensions.
So, it will take a little
bit of experimentation
to get a good fit so it pops in there.
You also wanna relieve a little bit
of material from this edge right here.
You could just use your
block plate for that,
and don't remove any
more than you need to.
That is what's going to allow us
to essentially tip this up to pull it out.
For the finish, I'll be using OSMO Polyx.
This is a hard wax oil that
I wanted to experiment with.
It's not quite as protective as something
like a wiping varnish but
it does a pretty decent job.
I paint the finish on and then come back
with either a paper towel
or a white Scotch Brite pad
to buff it into the grain.
Once dry, I'll sand the
first cut with 320 grit
and then apply a second coat
the same way as the first.
(light guitar music)
So remember, if you're
interested in building this
you might want the plans.
We've got a sketch up
and PDF in the Guild,
but you have to buy the
gaming dining table to get it.
And the video that I included in there
is just a little bit more detailed,
but it's still an overview like this.
Most of the deep construction
details you'll find
in the gaming dining
table series, alright?
So, check that out over at the Guild.
Thanks for watching.
(light guitar music)
Wanna come in Mateo?
There he is!
Of course, everything is
just generally smaller.
