How to Build a Wood Kitchen Table Top

A wood top can make an attractive and practical surface for a kitchen table. To make a large enough surface several individual boards must be assembled together into one laminated piece. The process of lamination involves gluing the boards together under pressure. Given the proper tools and attention to detail, a fine result can be achieved. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Lay out the boards. On a flat workbench arrange the individual pieces to cover an area slightly larger than the desired table dimensions. Align the boards all in the same direction edge to edge. Mark the location of each piece to make it easy to reassemble later.

2

Plane the boards to a consistent thickness. Run each board through a planer so they are all uniform. The planer will remove small imperfections in the wood and result in a smoother finished surface.

3

Square the edges. Rip a small amount from both sides of each board. This will provide a clean square edge for gluing.

4

Glue and clamp the pieces to form a solid table top. Apply glue to each edge and reassemble the table top. Use the markings that you made earlier to help align the pieces. Clamp the assembly tightly using bar clamps and allow to dry for at least 24 hours.

5

Trim to fit the size of the table. On the table saw trim the table top to the final dimensions. Finish the table top by sanding the surface with a fine grit sandpaper.