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Pie Crust Table #1: Starting with the top.

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Blog entry by GaryK posted 1481 days ago 5647 reads 5 times favorited 22 comments Add to Favorites Watch
no previous part Part 1 of Pie Crust Table series Part 2: Machining the outside edge of the top »

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 - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX





22 comments so far

View Dan'um Style's profile

Dan'um Style

10790 posts in 2151 days


#1 posted 1481 days ago

Wow … that’s some beautiful lumber. Very thoughtful tip on the material utilization.

-- keeping myself entertained

View a1Jim's profile

a1Jim

87138 posts in 1746 days


#2 posted 1481 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.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

View Joe Lyddon's profile

Joe Lyddon

6393 posts in 2221 days


#3 posted 1481 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"

View Joe Lyddon's profile

Joe Lyddon

6393 posts in 2221 days


#4 posted 1481 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"

View Gary's profile

Gary

3546 posts in 1601 days


#5 posted 1481 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 only 4 miles from the mill

View PurpLev's profile

PurpLev

7749 posts in 1817 days


#6 posted 1481 days ago

very good use of lumber

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

View TopamaxSurvivor's profile

TopamaxSurvivor

13192 posts in 1844 days


#7 posted 1481 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!

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

View Russel's profile

Russel

2199 posts in 2108 days


#8 posted 1481 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

View Karson's profile

Karson

34370 posts in 2569 days


#9 posted 1481 days ago

Gary: A great way to increase the length of your boards.

Nice job.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

View sIKE's profile

sIKE

1268 posts in 1922 days


#10 posted 1481 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"

View lew's profile

lew

8982 posts in 1924 days


#11 posted 1481 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

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

View Charles Mullins's profile

Charles Mullins

94 posts in 1880 days


#12 posted 1481 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.

View pommy's profile

pommy

1695 posts in 1860 days


#13 posted 1481 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 SKPE: ANDREW.CARTER69

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

10263 posts in 2157 days


#14 posted 1481 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 - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX

View Dick, & Barb Cain's profile

Dick, & Barb Cain

8681 posts in 2468 days


#15 posted 1480 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

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