Coffee Table Construction. About the Maker. Name: Rob McGilp Location: Melbourne Australia I began woodworking about April 2005, using some inappropriate tools to create picture rails for a house I was then living in. From there I started to build up my tool selection, often selecting cheap tools over expensive ones, mainly because I didn’t think this hobby was going to go anywhere. When the bug took a serious hold, I began to make more complex projects, bought more appropriate, quality tools and began using much more beautiful and challenging timbers of which, Australia is lucky in having many different types. I have now begun establishing myself as a maker of individual furniture pieces, primarily through the Internet at; Damn Fine Furniture. Prior to my life as a woodworker, I was a Research Scientist and spent approximately 5 years working at Harvard University, Boston. I returned home and decided I needed a change of direction and so here I am.

Part One: Preparation of timber for the table Top. The table is to replace one bought 6 years ago, which consists of poorly veneered MDF. Rather than attempt to repair the veneer, I decided to replace the table with one made of real timber. The timbers I chose are Australian. Red Gum and Huon Pine (Birds eye). The Red gum was bought rough cut and needed to be dressed and squared before it could be used.

Dressing consisted of using a Malaysian generic planer/thicknesser to remove the rough coating. Also used was a Makita LS1214 12" SCMS to square the ends. The edges of the boards were squared using a Festool TS75. Since I do not have a jointer, I rely on this saw to give me straight square edges and it usually gives me edges good enough to join without further work.

The TS75 and rail system work best as follows: As the saw has good weight, it will sit on the rail and track very well. A steady, consistent forward pressure, not too fast, will give best results when sawing. I used the 1040 and 800 rails joined together for this. I have found that using two Veritas Hold downs to gently keep the center section of the rail from moving works very well Even when hitting knots or other variations in grain, the urge to pull back and push again must be resisted. However, if the vacuum hose and power cord are not kept free of obstruction while you are sawing, you can end up with variations and saw marks in the surface as they drag the saw out of line. I have found it best to hang them overhead. If you do find saw marks on the surface, usually these can be taken away by simply running the saw down the face again, without resetting the rail.

The picture shows the timber placed in order, as the top frame will be. You can see how smooth the saw cuts with the TS75 are.

Page two