Habajeeba came and went on Friday. It was a great show, but after the show I was looking forward to the weekend the most to get to work on my table. The table is nearing the completion of the build and I can feel it coming together more than ever before!

I got a lot done on Saturday! I finished the second and final sprung triple wedged through mortise breadboard end. The tongue of the table top is cut to 9/16" and then cut in at 1/2" to allow a wedge to hold the breadboard into place to allow for wood movement of the tabletop, yet holding the boards level across the entire table.

Matt Sparx
Matt Sparx
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Now that the ends are complete, I can now join the middle support board to accompany both ends of the tabletops. I don't have a long enough jointer to run 8 foot long boards, so to err on the side of caution and safety, I had to split the boards into two equal lengths. The center support was tenoned and doweled to allow for movement on both panels. This is the exact moment where it really felt like a table instead of parts of wood.

Matt Sparx
Matt Sparx
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Don't mind the mess in the garage... I work better in a disaster area.

Matt Sparx
Matt Sparx
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Sunday morning I got to flattening the top with my trusty Stanley No. 5 hand plane. After about an hour of hard labor of getting the router grooves out of the initial flattening, the top was smooth enough for my liking, so I eased the corners to remove the sharp edge with a 1/4 round over bit in my plunge router and them it was time to get to work on the sanding. I hit the first round with 60 grit then worked my way up to 120 and then to 220 grit. The top of the tabletop is now super smooth and silky! This week the focus is on the bottom of the table top. I will now flatten the underside and proceed to sand. To tie in to the legs, I will put a 45 degree bevel on the lower edges.

Before the top gets sealed and ready for many dinners, I have a few more tricks up my sleeve for the top... Stay tuned!

 

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