Tabletop joinery - how to?

[Matt Day]

I'll hopefully finish up my trestles tomorrow enough that I can get started on assembling my tabletop for my dining room table. I read in FWW that the trestles should be done first so that the top doesn't sit for a long time, the though being that the cleats being attached will help it stay flat. The wood has be acclimated to the conditions of my shop and are ready to be finally put together. I'm just not sure exactly how to do it.

Are there any good tutorials out there for the basics? What method should I use? Biscuits & glue, Pocket holes & glue, dowels? This is the first top of this size (~8' x 3') I've done and I'd like it to go smoothly. Should I do one board at a time and let it cure for about an hour before the next? I'll put it on sticks after it's all glued up.

A quick step by step list of how you do it would be great!

Thanks,
Matt

[tod evans]

matt, i don`t like to complicate glue-ups with foreign objects like biscuits and dowels. i would just do one seam at a time if that`s what you`re comfortable with. if you have a board or two that are trying to think for themselves prepare crowned cauls in advance so you can force them into alignment. most importantly relax and take it easy they are just boards...02 tod

[Brian Jarnell]

If say the top is 3" wide and am making the top of 6" boards,I biscuit two boards together,wait for it to dry and put it through my 16" thicknesser.
Do that three times and then biscuit the three together,I then only have to sand the two joins to remove any slight discrepancy.
Make sure the biscuits are as deep as possible,as when they expand they show through top,if to shallow.

[Rick Lizek]

I've glued up panels 4' x 8' single handed in one shot. I use curved cauls to hold everything in place and would never waste the time using biscuits or dowels. They don't add to the strength of the joint. Just make sure all the pieces of wood are the same thickness. Then it's just a matter of sraping off the glue and a bit of sanding. For best results I face joint, then plane them leaving them oversized and sticker them for a week or so to see if anything is going to move then reface and finish plane to the desired thickness.

[Tom Jones III]

* If you are nervous about the glue up, get the appropriate glue with the longest open time.

* Use big cauls. I like to cover mine with wax paper.

* How will you flatten the top after glue up?

* More pressure on the clamps is not always better. Use enough pressure to close the joint but no more. More clamps ARE better.

* Take one more pass through the jointer. Make sure the joints look good with just hand pressure.