Big round table help

[Dave Novak]

My SIL owns a bar out in the country. When I asked him what he wants for Christmas, he requested a big round table that will comfortably seat 6 and squeeze in 8 for poker and his Friday night steak dinners. His bar can be a pretty rough and tumble place, so he's a lot more concerned about sturdy than purdy :). I obviously want it to look nice though. I'm sure he got the idea to ask me this because he's eaten at a 74" round dining table I built out of Maple, Walnut and Cherry that would fit the bill perfectly, but there has to be close to $1000 worth of wood in it, so that's out. My initial thought was to square up the corners on some plain old 2 by something borg construction lumber, glue them all together, and cut a circle. But I suspect I should be concerned about this plan warping? The building he owns isn't climate controlled very well. I've never used (or even looked closely at) baltic birch plywood, but might it be something I should be considering? I think I'm leaning toward glueing up a bunch of 5/4 poplar, but any ideas regarding the basic materials and design would be very much appreciated.

[Jamie Buxton]

Using construction lumber for the top will give you lots of shrinkage, and with that a fair amount of warpage. I'd say it is a bad idea.

I'd use ash for the top. It is harder to dent than poplar, and it is inexpensive for hardwood -- only a little more than poplar.

[Dave Novak]

I'd use ash for the top. It is harder to dent than poplar, and it is inexpensive for hardwood -- only a little more than poplar.

Never used ash, great idea! Thanks!

[Mike McCann]

I have made poker tables that were 60" diameter that seat eight comfortablely. I used baltic birch 5 x 5 plywood. You can always put veneer of your choice over it and the sides. Would probably be the cheapest way to go. YOu can also buy premade pedestals at Adams. I find that easier than making your own.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/mackel40/P1010061.jpg

[Dave Novak]

I have made poker tables that were 60" diameter that seat eight comfortablely. I used baltic birch 5 x 5 plywood. You can always put veneer of your choice over it and the sides. Would probably be the cheapest way to go. YOu can also buy premade pedestals at Adams. I find that easier than making your own.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/mackel40/P1010061.jpg

I really thought I needed at least 6' to seat 8, but I did some figuring, and if 8 people each need 24" of the tables circumference, that's 192" of circumference. Defide that by Pi and you get about 60". I hope my lumber supplier has 5 x 5 plywood, as this is looking like not only the cheapest way to go, but the fastest. Thanks for your idea!

[Paul Joynes]

My parents have a round dining table that they have had for years. It is made from 2 thicknesses of 3/4" ply and topped with 5/16" thick parquet flooring. The edge is banded with high pressure laminate or some similar plastic. The 5x5 sheets of baltic birch sound like a real winner for this application. Since the flooring comes pre-finished, there is no additional work to do once it is glued down and trimmed to the final diameter.

Regards,

Paul Joynes

[David Tiell]

I really thought I needed at least 6' to seat 8, but I did some figuring, and if 8 people each need 24" of the tables circumference, that's 192" of circumference. Defide that by Pi and you get about 60". I hope my lumber supplier has 5 x 5 plywood, as this is looking like not only the cheapest way to go, but the fastest. Thanks for your idea!
Dave,
I've built several 8-sided poker tables roughly 58" across. Each side is 24" wide, and the table seats all 8 comfortably. So I can say from relative experience that a 60" diameter table out of baltic birch is plenty big enough. I would recommend going with 1" thick b-b ply, and I personally would double up two sheets. With some good legs underneath it (not sure how sturdy a pedestal base would be for a bar environment), it should stand up to a lot of abuse.

Dave

[Mike McCann]

If you do not want to go with a pedestal. I have also used legs from Robur USA that are shown on hte pic on my last post.

[Dave Novak]

If you do not want to go with a pedestal. I have also used legs from Robur USA that are shown on hte pic on my last post.

I'm afraid a pedastal just won't hold up. I'm certain the table needs to be able to stand up to someone dancing on it. I've purchased table leg sets before, from a place called tablelegs.com. Very nice and very high quality, but awfully expensive. I'm guessing I could slap together some Ash and make workbench quality, sturdy legs. They just won't be as pretty.