Pro Woodworking Tips.com-Build A Dining Room Table, page 3

Build A Dining Room Table

Part 3

Once the glued up top is removed from the bag, the veneer tape is removed by wetting it, and then peeling it off with a putty knife. Take care not to scratch or gouge the veneer. Patience is helpful, although it comes off pretty quickly. You want to allow the table to dry for several days before sanding. If you skip this step you'll end up with low spots after the moisture evaporates.

The same form that was used for cutting the field veneer is used for the apron. The veneer is applied with the grain running vertically on the apron, as it looked better. The fastening technique was coating the back of the veneer and the substrate with Titebond Type II yellow glue. After the glue has dried on both surfaces, it was ironed on with a household iron, stolen from my wife. This is a great way to veneer a surface like this. The top trim piece was added later. Between the vertical height of the apron, and the honeycomb core, the table is very rigid.

The legs are made using premade plywood 1/4 rounds, available at commercial outlets, and will be made available through this site, as will most specialty items, described in the site. This was a decision which I made just now, as I was realizing many items are not readily available to the general public. I can fix that, so I will. We had to jump through hoops to be able to buy at certain suppliers, and I didn't appreciate that at all. They actually sent sales people to our shop, to see if we qualify to buy from them! Funny, they now stop by the shop with gifts! I guess we qualified. The first time I tried to buy Corian from them, they told me they wouldn't sell it to me. When I mentioned I wanted 150 sheets, a sales person was at my HOUSE at 7:30 the next morning. (uninvited, I might add).

The inside curves of the legs, I tried to use contact cement for, but the results were the veneer cracked about a week later. So I had to redo them using the Titebond II and the iron. The problem with the contact cement was it swelled the veneer enough that after the moisture escaped, they tried to shrink, but were stuck so well that it tore the veneer. Live and learn.

After testing several leg placements, we came up with what we felt looked best, and unfortunately, it didn't include the center round leg. More time lost, but it happens. Several coats of finish was applied, and sanded with 300 - 2500 grit paper, followed by auto polishing compound, and a buffer. A very high gloss was desired by the client, and that's what they got.