http://www.woodreview.com.au 57PROJECTThe table is 1225 x 757 x 450mm high,
the top is 50mm thick and the legs are
50mm square. The rails are 30 x 50mm
and the sixteen slats are 24 x 17mm at
approximately 90mm centres, flush with
the top of the rails and set 120mm below
the underside of the top. Without a veneer
press my first step was to make one.
Veneer press
I decided to make a caul press rather
than investing in vacuum, so this
was the first part of the project.
After studying magazine articles and
extensively scanning the internet, I
came up with a configuration of nine
sets of 65 x 42 x 900mm pine cauls
at 150mm centres and two sheets of
1200 x 800 x 19mm MDF (fig.1).
For clamping pressure I used 18
250mm lengths of M8 threaded rod,
each capped with dome nuts (photo
2 ). Three washers of increasing
diameter under each dome nut
distribute the force. The other end
screws into M8 captive T-nuts secured
into the bottom of the lower caul
(photo 3). Although M6 rod would
have been strong enough, the M8
T-nuts provide a much better bond
into the cauls. It is important to oil
the thread where it passes through
the T-nut, this gives a big increase to
the achievable pressure.The upper cauls have 9mm holes drilled
each end and the lower 10mm to house
the T-nut and provide clearance for23 4 5- The author with the Huon pine
flitches sawn by Greg Collins.
The wenge used rests on the
torsion box that was veneered
for the tabletop. - M8 dome nuts were glued and
screwed onto one end of the
veneer press rods. - Captive T-nuts were secured
into the bottom of the
lower caul. - Measuring the caul curvature
required to apply even pressure
across its length with a small
block placed centrally between
two cauls. - Bandsaw the curve on the cauls.
- Cutting slots for the
interlocking torsion box frame. - The corners of the torsion box
were reinforced with ply.
F i g .1 Veneer press caul arrangement.6 7