Here starts something I always wanted to make. A pie crust table. This picture will give you an idea of what it will look like.
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Now mine will have a top that looks like this one, but I plan on doing something different for the legs. I will be unique. It’s something that just came to me.
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Lets start with the top. I had the perfect piece of 6/4 mahogany that I have been saving for this. The problem is that it was a little too short for the diameter top I wanted to make.
Here is a way to get more from your lumber.
Suppose you are using one piece of lumber to make a round table top, and you want as big a diameter as you can get.
Lets take 3 pieces my example. You could divide the length by 3 and make your cuts. That would work but you are wasting wood. I wanted a 34” diameter top but my lumber was only 97”. About 5” short if I were to cut 3 equal pieces
Look at the following example:
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Notice that the center piece is longer than the side pieces. What I did was to mark the center of the piece of lumber and draw a 34” circle. Cutting the pieces apart following the diameter of the circle allows the lenght to overlap making my effective length longer.
Look at how much wood I would have wasted making a straight cut:
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Now look how much extra lenght I gain. More than the 5” I needed.
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Here they are glued up. I just use my bench for a flat surface with pieces of wax paper to keep the glue off the bench. I let the squeezed out glue dry completely and scrape it off.
In the background you can see part of my collection of PC routers.
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-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.






















23 comments so far
DAN
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6456 posts in 881 days
posted 211 days ago
Wow … that’s some beautiful lumber. Very thoughtful tip on the material utilization.
-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever
a1Jim
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17022 posts in 475 days
posted 211 days ago
Good use of material Gary I look forward to more on your Pie crust. I’ve started my first pie crust also I thought I would give it a go in poplar first then fallow up with a more suitable figured wood on my second one.
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com
Joe Lyddon
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486 posts in 950 days
posted 211 days ago
A very logical way to approach the problem of getting the Mostest out of what you have…
Very good!
How are you going to cut the Special edge sections on the top?
Look like a very nice project…
Will be nice watching the blow-by-blow building process…
Thank you…
-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"
Joe Lyddon
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486 posts in 950 days
posted 211 days ago
heirloomJim,
Did you prepare a 1/4 Pattern and Route it with a router Four times?
If not, how?
Gary, how are you going to attack it?
-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"
Gary
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597 posts in 331 days
posted 211 days ago
Man…do a Norm show..take us thru step by step. I’d watch the whole thing. Looking forward to the end results.
-- Gary, DeKalb Texas
PurpLev
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2763 posts in 546 days
posted 211 days ago
very good use of lumber
-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
TopamaxSurvivor
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3063 posts in 574 days
posted 211 days ago
Good move, More than one way to skin a cat :-)) Guess I’ll have to buddy you to keep track of this. I saw one of these just the other day and thought it would be kool do to!
-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.
Russel
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2063 posts in 837 days
posted 210 days ago
The ability to see a few steps ahead serves you well. This is a great example of the value of planning your cuts.
-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com
Karson
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25806 posts in 1298 days
posted 210 days ago
Gary: A great way to increase the length of your boards.
Nice job.
-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †
sIKE
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1094 posts in 652 days
posted 210 days ago
Gary,
I have to agree with everyone else very nice tip about making longer boards for circles. Looking forward to your progress on this project.
-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"
lew
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4505 posts in 653 days
posted 210 days ago
Gary,
Great to see you you have been able to find some time to get back into the workshop! Looking forward to seeing how you handle the legs/feet on this table!!
Lew
Charles Mullins
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94 posts in 609 days
posted 210 days ago
Gary,
Thanks for posting the idea. I’ve run into this problem before and I think this is just CLEVER!
Love it!
Charlie Mullins
-- God makes the wood beautiful--I simply rearrange it to make it more useful, hopefully.
pommy
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978 posts in 589 days
posted 210 days ago
As always Gary you astound us with your skill and as gary said please do a step by step blog i would love to see this through to the finish
Andy
-- cut it saw it scrap it
GaryK
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9537 posts in 886 days
posted 210 days ago
Joe – I have no idea how I am going to do a particular thing until I get there. We’ll just have to find out together.
Thank you all for your kind comments.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Dick, & Barb Cain
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7043 posts in 1197 days
posted 209 days ago
A board stretcher! ”Unique”.
I did something similar to this once for a curved bed headboard.
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
Gary Fixler
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649 posts in 279 days
posted 209 days ago
I love seeing the collection of PC routers. I was feeling a bit guilty about wanting another, smaller one to go with the 7518 I have in my table. Now I have some justification. I can blame it on you :)
Did you use any extra internal support at the glue-lines, like pegs or biscuits? I like the circle technique, too. I’m always disappointed to lose the corners, but this reclaims some, and gives a bigger piece. I could have made my lazy susan a bit bigger. It was 5 equal-length pieces cut from the same board.
-- Gary, Los Angeles, video game animator
GaryK
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9537 posts in 886 days
posted 209 days ago
Gary – It was long grain to long grain so I didn’t use anything else. Those are 6 of my 7 PC routers. My 7518 stays permanently in my router table. My 7539 usually goes in my Legacy mill.
I have three 690’s. It’s real nice to have them set up for different things all the time.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Gary Fixler
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649 posts in 279 days
posted 209 days ago
Makes sense, Gary. I absolutely love when I have a tool already set up from some previous day’s operations. I think probably 80% of my time in the shop is setting up for a cut that takes 30 seconds. That’s why I want to do a few multiple-run projects, where I make, say, 10 of something. Set up for 10 minutes, then run 10 boards through, then set up again. It’s not much more work to make 5 or 10 of something than it is to make 1 of something, unless it’s very intricate, or hand tool based, e.g. hand dovetailing, or planing work.
And of course, the other 80% of my time is spent in cleanup, so I usually let that slide, and the place gets messier and messier.
-- Gary, Los Angeles, video game animator
TopamaxSurvivor
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3063 posts in 574 days
posted 209 days ago
Our local PBS station runs Norm and Roy; New Yankee & Woodwright on Saturday afternoons. Comparing the technique of a power tool for every move vs. hand tools, I think it is a bit comical at times because Roy would be done before Norm gets setup :-))
-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.
DocK16
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712 posts in 985 days
posted 208 days ago
I have always considered a pie crust tilt top table to be epitomy of craftsmanship. I look forward to the whole series, including your step by step instructions on carving a claw and ball foot.
-- DocK, WV
GaryK
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9537 posts in 886 days
posted 208 days ago
Dock – You are going to be disappointed, because I am not going to do a ball and claw foot. If you are interested in seeing how to do one then John Fry did a good how to here.
I said that I will be doing something different for the legs. You will just have to wait and see.
But think Gothic!
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Woodhacker
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1145 posts in 621 days
posted 206 days ago
Gary, I’m “late in the game” in seeing this blog series, but this looks like a “funtastic” project. I like your tip on making the most of the lumber you have.
-- Martin, Kansas
tom1
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15 posts in 25 days
posted 1 day ago
Your craftsmanship shows. PC routers caught my eye too… with the dove tail jig. Why is it anything of any worthwhile is made in someone’s personal shop? Nothing but trophy here…....