60 Australian Wood Review
PROJECTIt all worked beautifully – what a
relief – so onto the show top. As it
happened, after pressing the top,
resin was forced through quite a few
bird’s eyes and loose knotty bits,
which was good, as they were filled
and cast in place with the clear resin.
The cling film covered MDF sheet
came away cleanly leaving them with
a level gloss surface.The sides of the tabletop along with
the veneers were then trimmed clean
and square with a fine tooth blade
track saw, ready for edge treatment.Ebony inlay
The rough sawn ebony strips from
Greg were straight but a little wavy.
It would be too dangerous run them
on the jointer so I cut reference edges
using the track saw which allowed me
to thickness plane them and cut 4 x
8mm strips on the bandsaw. Although
excessive for inlay, this enabled ease
of handling without risk of breaking.Edge strip
The ebony strips were glued into
rebates routed into Huon pine edging
(photo 1 6 ) then flushed in the drum
sander (photo 1 7 ). The ebony was
only just long enough for the long
sides of the table so every precaution
was taken to avoid chipping when
cutting the mitres (photo 1 8 ).If that wasn’t worry enough, getting
the length right for the mitres to
close up nicely made it doubly
nerve-wracking. Biscuits were
used to vertically align and secure
the edge strips onto the veneered
torsion box sides (photo 1 9 ). The
slots in the torsion box were cut
with the biscuit joiner fence sitting
on tape to raise the edge slightly for
sanding flush later.Wenge frame
Construction of the shelf and legs
was quite straightforward using
floating tenons for all joints (fig.2).
I made sure the machining of the
components and marking of mortise
positions was precise (photo 2 1 ). I
have a shelf unit fixed to the back of- Huon frame components with inlay
fitted are passed through the drum
sander. - A sacrificial board and tape provided
insurance against chipping out when
mitring the frame parts. - Biscuits were used to strengthen
the attachment of the frame to the
torsion box. - Marking out for the table frame
mortises requires precision. - Frame components were clamped
for accurate jointing with the domino
machine. - A dry fit before assembly is essential.
- Dowel centre markers were used on
the legs to locate hole positions for
fitting the knock-down leg fittings
into the top. - The holes for the latter were bored
with a portable drill stand clamped to
the underside of the top. - Assembling the table frame after a
dry fit gave the all clear.
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