Gluing joining apitong outdoor table too?

[Patrick Irish]

I bought a bunch of ‘Asian mahogany’ years ago and had some milled into 15/16” x 2.5” x 66” boardswe think it’s apitong. It’s heavy and dense. I want to biscuit join them with glue and make 35” table top. I only have enough for 35” wide. Was thinking of adding a 2” strip of real mahogany on either side and a breadboard end out of mahogany.

Concerns: will titebond III and biscuits hold this table together? Is using a router to make the tenon for the breadboard end possible? I’m guessing I might be throwing away whatever bit I use after.

I could run some stretchers underneath and screw from the top. Table is for my sister for outside, she won’t mind. If it’s 66” I figured 2 stretchers cross the boards spaced 20” apart. Would I have to counter sink a screw into each board? Probably best that way.

[Bob Vaughan]

"...for outside" can mean a lot of things. If it is exposed to the sun's UV rays on a daily basis and/or rain and snow then West Systems epoxies or resorcinol glue would be indicated. My experiences with repairs of things that were glued with Titebond III aren't encouraging. Any wood outdoors isn't going to last more than 5 years anyway if it has a transparent finish.

I might use Titebond III on something that was under a covered patio that could be exposed to occasional moisture.

[Jamie Buxton]

If the table is going to be where rain will land on it, you'd be better off to build the top as slats rather than one big sheet. The slat construction allows water to roll off the table, while the one-big-surface can encourage long-term puddles. Wood survives short-term exposure better than long-term. Also, using slat construction means you don't have glue joints exposed directly to the rain. You can even use screws from the underside to fasten the slats to cross pieces, and you don't have glue joints at all.

[Andrew Hughes]

If what you have is really Apitong that is some narly wood. I would say it's a more durable wood then teak outdoors.
Just not as pretty.
I remember Cutting Apitong was brutal.
I also agree with above outdoor furniture needs to have different construction methods.
It should be a killer table if you can pull it off.

[Patrick Irish]

I only have enough milled for the top, not sure on the base yet.

So no gluing, basically a slat idea. No problem. I'm looking up idea on tops without aprons. Shouldn't be hard. I'm worried in bits and blades getting destroyed by this wood :eek:

[Wayne Lomman]

You will be OK if you use tungsten carbide tipped tooling. Cheers