What to do, What to do.

[Will Hon]

Okay, so i bought some extremely rough stock oak, to make some craftsman table legs, for a bargain price earlier this month... I didn't really know how much I was going to lose jointing and planing, and it turns out i lost a little more than expected. I need my legs to be 3" x 3" and i was planning on gluing up two 1.5" blanks... but my flattened stock is now 1.25" which would make the legs 2.5" finished. NOT GOOD!

so, i want this project (shuffleboard table) to look good and last, but I dont want to spend an arm and a leg either. Should i just get some hardwood that is .5" thick and put it in the middle of the other two blanks, (planning on putting .25" veneers over joints between blanks) or should i get something cheaper like MDF, or will it pose future problems.

Thanks, Will

[Jeff Heil]

I would use oak for the 1/2 in the middle, everything will move together rather than MDF sandwiched between two layers of oak and covered with veener. You may be ok, but I would keep everything similar.

[Sue Wise]

You could use a contrasting wood for the leg lamination. That could look cool depending upon how you orient it.

[Paul Atkins]

Miter the legs together, you can make them as wide as your boards and no ugly lamination lines. You can glue a filler on the inside if you want or leave them hollow. I've made QWO legs with flakes on all sides this way.

[Jerry Olexa]

IMHO use matching oak for center....

[Ben Martin]

Will,

Care to share any pictures of your shuffleboard table? I have a 6' piece of bowling alley in my garage waiting to become a 12' table. I would love some pictures and some details of your techniques.

[Kevin Godshall]

Not sure if this idea would help or not.....

Could you glue 5 of your 1.25" pieces together and then rip them to end with 2 - 3" pieces? You wouldn't have equal laminated pcs, but you still end up with your 3" legs and you use the stock you have already worked with. Just an idea.

[George Bokros]

Why not glue up five laminations and then resaw to the to the 3" thickness you need. Even using a table saw the loss of the saw kerf likely will get you the 3" you need. After resawing run it through the planer or face joint it to smooth it.

George

[Kevin Godshall]

Why not glue up five laminations and then resaw to the to the 3" thickness you need. Even using a table saw the loss of the saw kerf likely will get you the 3" you need. After resawing run it through the planer or face joint it to smooth it.

George

Wooohooo! Beat you to the punch by 1 minute George.

Fabulous idea, if I do say so myself.

<high 5's George>

[Will Hon]

Hey, thanks for all the suggestions, been to busy to get back online and check the thread. It turns out I happened to have enough rough stock left lying around to be able to fill the .5" space with more oak... which is really what I wanted to do.


Care to share any pictures of your shuffleboard table? I have a 6' piece of bowling alley in my garage waiting to become a 12' table. I would love some pictures and some details of your techniques.I wish I could, but the playing surface is over an hour away in the dad's barn, and I dont have any pictures of it on hand. Its a 14' playing surface I picked up for a whopping $40 off of craigslist! :) An older couple had bought it years ago without a cradle and the project never materialized so now its on me.

I plan on doing a Greene and Greene craftsman style cradle. It should be quite an experience.

Out of curiosity i have a little bit of splitting on the ends of the boards, and I was going to recut and put anchorseal on it... but i've never used it, does it stain at all?