Big table....big boards...

[Prashun Patel]

The issue is that it is very hard to manipulate long heavy boards even with a wide jointer. For a one-man shop with hobbyist equipment, I always have to clean up the edge with a hand plane. Even if you think it’s good off the saw or power jointer, beware. When I don’t want seams showing one or two years later, I hand joint the edge and use slow cure epoxy.

Yes, you should use cauls, but not necessarily to keep the boards flat, but rather to keep even pressure along the length of the joint.

You will probably have some seam leveling to do, but this is not hard even with an orbital sander. You just have to take care to feather out your sanding. You will minimize the work by using dowels, biscuits or loose tenons.

[Dave Rosner]

Was thinking to dry fit I the room itself and let the boards acclimate for a few days. Then just do the glue up onsite. My wife isn’t going to love it but that’s the price you pay.

im targeting 2” for final Thickness for the top but agree it’s still going to be a beast....

[Gordon Stump]

I made a table like that out of cherry. I just ran the boards through the planer and joined them by ripping them on the table saw with a power feeder and a very good glue-line blade. Lots of hand planing and sanding and it turned out not perfect but very good. Next tine I would pay for wide belt sanding. But there will be no next time. I made a narrow u shaped cradle on casters to move on level ground but it took 4 people to get it out of the basement shop. Too heavy!!!cherrytable.jpg

[Carl Beckett]

More than once I have done a table top with thinner stock in the center, and only thicker material on the outside. Although I guess those had breadboard ends on it. But it allowed the look of a thick top, but reduced the mass a bit.

You might want to consider alignment biscuits or such, to help during glueup. A large surface like that is going to be work to smooth if it isnt close to start with.

I am not sure gluing up on site is going to be all that much help - where ever there is adequate working area and surfaces and clamps.

Yes, just find someone willing to run it through some larger equipment is a great option. I have done some for members here (but my equipment isnt even big enough for that one!)

[andrew whicker]

I recently made a 40" x 7 to 8 ft long, ~2" thk out of 3 pieces.

I went to a woodworking shop to get the flattening and the jointing done on the boards. The edges weren't perpendicular for jointing, but the turn around time was long so I decided to fix it myself. I got a tracksaw and used the method of pushing the boards together and re-jointing the sister edges together.

I highly recommend using a pro shop. Perhaps they'll be better at jointing than mine was. Regardless, they will get them flat on the sander / huge jointer they have and you'll be very happy to have skipped the milling process. IMO.

[Jacob Reverb]

I bet your wife will love the walnut sanding dust in the dining room.

Good luck!

[andy bessette]

I bet your wife will love the walnut sanding dust in the dining room.

Good luck!

Really. Makes no sense.

[Prashun Patel]

Letting them acclimate after milling is not a good idea. Acclimate before, then mill then glue up quickly.

[Richard Coers]

Really. Makes no sense.

OP Says he's going to glue it up on site. I doubt if he takes it back to the shop after it's glued up to sand it. The dust my wife could live with. The chemical smell of the finish would result in her living in a hotel near a beach for a few days!

[Jacob Reverb]

At 2" thick and almost 10 feet long, I suspect it's gonna be quite tricky to make it look more delicate and refined than something King Arthur would use to slaughter cattle upon.

[Jim Becker]

I'm very much "anti-ripping" wide boards, personally.

To your question, OP, yes, find a local commercial shop that has a wide-belt. Many, if not most of them, will be happy to run a table top for a local woodworker for a few shekels.I recently did that with our new kitchen table top and the result was stellar. They charged me $25 instead of the $35 they originally quoted because the workpiece was easily manageable and I only took one pass on the bottom side and two on the top. The top was "really close" already because I used Dominos referenced to the top surface on all boards to keep the top side nicely aligned while assembling it.

[Jim Foster]

The top you are building is going to be over 200lb. 3/4" plywood weight 60lbs. You might try fastening 3 and 1/2 sheets together in a way that they are 112 inches long and move them around to see what's possible in your situation. If this size top is not manageable, there may be ways to modify the design without losing sight of the end goal.

I had a 6' x 40" trestle table made years ago in Oak. It's 1/25" thick, does not break down and is a BEAST to move, even with 3 manly guys doing the move.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Hi all - I’m building a 112” x 44” walnut dining table with 10/4 boards for the top. I’m having a heck of a time running the 7”-11” boards through my 8” jointer an 12” planner. I’m using the method of partially flattening 8” of the face and then running through my planner using a base that supports the 8” part of the board that was flattened.

Problem is is the boards are so heavy and rough that I’m getting a lot of undulations or a wavy pattern on The faces.

Wondering if anyone else has been through this with a 8” jointer and benchtop (dewalt) 12” planner.

or am I just resigned to expect some heavy hand planing when I’m all done with my glue ups?

Disclaimer: I never made that previously for big tables

If I was at the same situation as you I would consider seriously manual planning the final glued up. I would take a Jack plane with a more aggressive blade to take off most of the irregularities and afterwards I would change the blade for a higher angle one or would use a smooth plane as Stanley no. 4 for finish. I really think it would be the best solution as you do not need to invest a ton of money in new machinery and would be faster than any other solution (as a router jig to plane the board).

Good luck in your challenge - and please let us know the follow up.

[Dave Rosner]

Hi All - OP here and appreciate everyone's input and guidance. For those that are interested i swapped my 13 year old son with a 45 friend to help as I flattened on my 8" jointer. I also removed the rabbet shelf that i think was getting in the way. Results came out great and while it was heavy lifting to get them through my Dewalt 13" planner it did the trick. Below is a picture of a board off the jointer and the other picture are a few boards off the planer.

Given the glue up weight i do plan to bring the individual boards inside and let them sit for a few weeks. Then i'll plane for final thickness (2"), use biscuits, and hope that i get it as close to flat as possible. If all goes well i'd like to stick with my #4 and a card scraper and keep from any sanding. I guess the most important parts to be co-planar is the bottom edges that will rest on the aprons. After that i don't need a perfectly flat top as long as it looks good to the eye.

Welcome suggestions as i transition to the glue up phase if anyone else has been through this before...

IMG_0640.jpgIMG_0639.jpg

[andy bessette]

...the most important parts to be co-planar is the bottom edges that will rest on the aprons. After that i don't need a perfectly flat top as long as it looks good to the eye...

Pretty sure you have this backwards. You'd have to get down on your hands and knees to see the apron joint. The top wants to be flat.