I've been out building a table. I had some scrap 3/4 ply (the top), some
1x4 (undertable support) and a couple of 33" long 2x6es and a gallon of
Titebond wood glue (after a long discussion on a woodworking list Titebond
looked like a good choice. I buy it by the gallon as this small bottles
just go too fast). Looked like enough to me!
I have a tablesaw (bought used), a jig saw (bought new 19+ years ago to
build a cradle), an orbital sander, a router (a Christmas present many
years ago) & a dovetail jig. As a plus I have a couple of drills and a lot
of drill bits. Looks like enough to me!
I hadn't used the router much in the last few years and seem to have left
my router bits in MN, I did find one bit in with the router.... This seemed
like a good time to try some different things.
I made the undertable support by cutting dovetail joints in the ends of the
1x4's and gluing them. I had some scrap wood and practiced with that until
I got making dovetail down... still room for improvement but they'll work.
I laid the legs out in the 2x6's, two legs from each 2x6. I cut them out
with the jig saw (spent $2 on new blades). One side of the leg is a
straight line and the other side is a taper. Using the jigsaw left kinda
rough cuts, tool marks that had to be taken out. I had a few 7" 50 grit
disks laying around but no way to use them and keep the surface flat, what
I needed was a disk sander. I took an old 7" circular saw blade for a
backing, put the 50 grit disk on it and mounted that in the table saw. Once
I fired the saw up the disk lay flat against saw blade and worked great as
a disk sander, taking the tool marks out was a snap.
Next I wanted to use the router and put rounded edges on the legs. I
borrowed a bit from a friend but was not able to figure a way to anchor
the leg while I routed it (needed to do all 4 sides and it's an odd shape).
I needed a router table to hold the router while I moved the legs over the
bit. Did I mention that I have a few woodworking books? I pulled out "The
Router Handbook" and another book on "Jigs & Fixtures", that showed me the
basics on a router table, plus I had watched a couple of shows on PBS
"Router Workshop". I knew what I needed to do. I took a 17x19 chunk of 3/4
ply, cut a square insert (1/2 ply) to mount to the router and made a table.
I used the 1/4 straight router bit I had to cut an insert depression into
the router table to allow the square insert to sit there flush. I cut a
hole into the center of the insert and marked where I needed hole to hold
the router. I needed to get some 10-32 screws 3/4" long to hold the router
to the 1/2 insert (89 cents).
I mounted it to my saw horses and was ready to go. I'd really wish I'd had
some more scrap to practice on but most of my scrap went into this
project... After a few passes for learning I was ready. I used the 1/2
round over on all 4 sides of the legs, even the curve at the top & it came
out really well. Not perfect but I like it. After I sanded the legs (100
grit then 220) they came out looking great.
One thing I can use is more clamps, I have a bunch but could use more. In
the spirt of "you can't have too many clamps" I picked up another 6 "C"
clamps at an auction while in MN, those came in handy today, plus the eight
24" bar clamps I've picked up over the years for other projects. My 2 vice
grip clamps didn't fit.
The table support has been glued & screwed to the top and it's drying. Once
I get done putting it all together I can see how the poly-stain in a can
works...
FWIW I'm still not sure how I'm going to attach the legs yet. I'll let you
know how it works out.