Custom TV Tray Tables – Spreaders: routing

Today I complete the task of making spreaders for the 8 TV Tray tables.

The two nail punch marks I made on the face of each upper spreader now come into play as center marks for a pair of holes drilled so their adjacent edges just touch.  Using a Forstner bit allows me to go back and drill out the wedges of waste wood between the holes, then nibble out any lumps that remain.

The result is a perfectly shaped oval hole.

Once that step is completed on all upper spreaders,  I set up the router table with a round-over bit

I use this to produce a bull-nose on both long edges and to round out the oval hole.

The last step is to lay out the pilot hole locations on the ends of the spreaders using my handy-dandy lay-out  jig and use the drill press to drill the pilot homes in each end of all the spreaders.

A little construction sanding to remove milling marks, and these parts are ready to assemble to the leg pairs to form table bases.  We will get to that next time.

Custom TV Tray Tables – Spreaders: smoothing

This afternoon’s woodworking time is spent routing the spreaders U cut out last time. To do this I use a special fixture I made that serves as a lay-out jig and a fixture to hold the spreader and guide the router bit.

I use a straight flush-trim but with the guide bearing on the top (the end) of the bit.  This bearing rides along the smooth shape of the fixture causing the bit to cut away all excess wood and leave the part shaped exactly like the fixture edge.

I cut carefully and make sure the part does not slide in the fixture as I’m working it.

At the end of the day I have all 16 spreaders shaped and ready to go to the drum sander for a little final smoothing to remove the tiny wavy pattern left by the router bit.  That task will close out the day.  Next time I’ll finish these parts up.

What We’re Building:

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly – In Progress

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P. – In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Custom TV Tray Tables – Spreaders

Today I start with the parts blanks I roughed out previously.  First up will be the spreaders.  These fit between the legs to hold them at the proper distance apart and stiffen the table against racking.

I plane them to thickness, rip them to width and finally trim both ends to bring them to the proper length and make sure the ends are square.

My standard template is made so it not only lays out the arches, but also the center points for the holes that will become an oval hole for the latch tab and the pilot holes in the ends where crews will come through the leg and into the spreader.

To make Shelly’s oversized tables I must make an oversized template out of scrap wood.  This one is not fancy for after this use it will end up as firewood so I don’t want to put a lot of time into making it pretty, just functional.  Fairing the arch so it is symmetrical from end to end take about an hour.

when it’s done I use it to lay-out the arches on the walnut spreaders just as I did on Jeff’s maple spreaders.  Then I take them all to the band saw and cut away the bulk of the waste.  This consumes the rest of the afternoon, I’ll pick it up here next time.

What We’re Building:

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly – In Progress

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P. – In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Custom TV Tray Tables – Sanding Their Legs

Once all the legs are shaped and bored for screw holes I do the construction sanding.  This involves 100 and 120 grit papers.  I’ll do the finer grades by hand after the leg sets have been assembled and the screw holes plugged.

Making sure I keep the leg pairs paired up during sanding, I take each completed pair into the assembly room, pre-finish the area inside the pivot and install the pivot screw and rub washer.

When this is finally done (I had many interruptions) I have enough legs for both tables and a spare pair for the maple set.

The rest of this day will be spent milling parts blanks for the spreaders and mount blocks.  I’ll get into details on making those parts next time.

Thanks for dropping in!

In The Shop Notes is available on Kindle so anyone with a Kindle or Kindle app for their computer, IPad, Blackberry or Android can follow along without having to log onto the Internet and this blog.  [Click Here] for details.

What We’re Building:

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly – In Progress

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P. – In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

Custom TV Tray Tables – Making Legs

Things have been a little crazy here for the past little while.  All good crazy though: I got an award, published a book, celebrated a birthday and have been writing my little fingers off.  I also got this blog published on Kindle so anyone with a Kindle or Kindle app for their computer, IPad, Blackberry or Android can follow along without having to log on. 

To check that out, or if you'd care to leave a review of Smoky Mountain Woodworks'
In The Shop Notes, please [Click Here].

 But now it’s time to get caught up.

Making the table legs starts with ripping the table leg blanks on the table saw.  I cut them just a hair fat to I can sand them down to finished size to remove milling marks.

After each cut on the table saw, I take the blank over to the jointer and joint the cut face to be sure it is straight.  The blank can bow a little as I cut away it’s width, this insure I start with as a straight surface.  It will also take off any burn marks should I pick up any from stopping the feed to change my hand position or get a push stick in place.

I cut all I need of the maple and the walnut - plus a few extra in each in case I mess something up.  The walnut leg pieces are longer because those tables will be custom –oversized.

Then the legs come over to the chop saw where I set a stop block and cut all the maple legs, reset the stop block and cut all the walnut legs.

Determining the length of the walnut legs meant pulling out some high school geometry.  I use the Pythagorean Theorem (A squared plus B squared = C squared where A and B meet at a right angle.  The height of the tables is known (dimension A) and the width of the top is known) dimension B, the leg slanting from under the table top to the floor forms the hypotenuse of the right triangle and is the unknown: dimension C.  By squaring the two known dimensions, adding them together and getting the square root of the product (thank goodness for calculators!) I arrived at the needed length of the legs.  Piece of cake!

Then I use my templates to lay out the array of pilot holes and counter bores needed by the screws that will hold these table bases together and bore those holes on the drill press. 

A quick stop at the stationary belt sander to shape the tops and bottoms of the legs completes this process.  I have about 40 legs to do before the day is over, so I’d better get cracking!

Thanks for reading!

 

What We’re Building:

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly – In Progress

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P. – In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.

TV Tray Tables - Chunking Lumber

First, my apologies to Jeff for stating that is table set was to be walnut, it is in fact to be maple.  Jeff was paying attention, caught my error and pointed it out before I got off track too far.  Maple it is Jeff, Thanks!

After running all the boards through a surface planer to skim off the rough wood so I can better see the grain patterns, I choose the boards I want to use for the first parts.  That would be the legs. I start with the legs because these are the most sensitive to wood movement, so I want to use the best, straight-grained portions of the boards to make these.

After marking the sections of each board I want to use for leg blanks, I use the chop saw to chunk up the board, then set aside the sections until I get enough walnut and maple blanks to do 8 tables.

Then I run through the usual stock prep process of using the jointer to flatten one wide face and one edge.  This also squares this edge to the face.  Then I run all the blanks through the surface planer (shown here) with the jointed face down on teh bed.  The cutter above the board smooth the rough face and make it paralell to the jointed face.  Getting the surfaces all squared up is important so we don't end up with odd shaped parts.

That will consume my woodworking time for today.  Tomorrow I'll continue making legs.

What We’re Building:

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress
4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly – In Progress
4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P. – In Progress
Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design
Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.
Printer Cabinet for Marie B.


Custom Tray Tables - getting started

Today I launch into the next pair of projects: a set of custom TV Tray tables (our final custom order) all walnut and 25” x 25” trays for Shelly and a set of 4 Classic TV Tray Tables with stand for Jeff.

I start on by clearing away my work bench and digging into the pile of walnut lumber I bought in to acclimate a while back.  I’ll sort through this and decide which boards are best suited to making which pieces, chunk up the boards to rough length blanks and begin the process of milling this lumber into parts blanks.

I'm building both projects together because they are both TV Tray Table sets and both will use walnut in their construction.

What We’re Building:

Utility Trailer Make-Over for David B. - In Progress

4 Tray Tables, all walnut (custom size) with stand for Shelly – In Progress

4 TV Tray Tables and stand in maple for Jeffrey P. – In Progress

Kitchen organizer - Marie B.- Producing Design

Computer Desk for Laptop for Marie B.

Printer Cabinet for Marie B.