Conference Table for Local Church #10: Breadboards on, Skirt on. Ready to Inlay.

Sorry to be so long in adding to the blog on this project. Down South has been hit by tropical storm after tropical storm. Now up here in Northeastern Mississippi, we have had only rain but the coast, New Orleans, and Houston have been pounded. Our prayers are with you all!!!

When I left you last, I was preparing (down South we say, “fixin”) to work on the breadboards on the big table. Well, I have attached them, and attached the breadboards to the smaller tables also. I have made tables with breadboards before and this time I decided to see if I could come up with an easier more accurate method of cutting the table top. What I did different this time was to cross cut the table top with a router and straightedge instead of a circular saw. I aligned the straightedge on the top of the table and put another straightedge on the bottom. I aligned the bottom straightedge with the one on top. I used a 1/2 inch downcut spiral bit to cut across the grain to the depth of the shoulder of the tongue. I then marked the width of the tongue and plunged the bit to cut the tongue off. Usually, I cut this tongue off with a saw but I have never had much success with this method. Then I turned to top over and cut the lower shoulder on the tongue. After cutting tabs on the tongue, I cut the mortise in the breadboards and used the hollow chisel mortiser to finish the mortises. I used a draw bored tenon method to attach the breadboards with 1/4 inch walnut dowels all the way through the joint. Here is a photo of the top of the table showing the walnut dowels.

I have also finished the skirts…
before inlay

after inlay

The above photos shows before and with the walnut inlay on the big table skirts.

I mitered the corners on the skirts and reinforced the joint with screws and plugged the holes with walnut plugs.

I really like the way the oak and the walnut work together.

The photo above shows the template in place for the cross inlay. I cut the template with a router and a pattern out of a 4 by 8 sheet of 1/4 inch tempered hardboard. The cross will be 62 inch tall and 31 inch wide and 1 inch in width. I think I will use the grain of the walnut inlay in same orientation as the table top. The walnut for the inlay has been under the table for about 3 weeks. The atmosphere has been so humid down here, the table top has expanded about 1/2 mm on each side. Not bad for a 54” table top to expand only 1 mm over its width. I will check the moisture content on the table and the walnut before I cut the inlay. They should be really close now.

Well, next thing is to route the inlay space, cut the inlay, glue in the inlay and finish sanding the table tops. Then, route the edge treatments and start the finishing.

Thanks for looking.

-- Makin' Sawdust!!!