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Part Two: Assembling the table top.
Once all timber is trimmed and planed, it is time to join the pieces together. I use Festool dominoes throughout for this purpose. As the top pieces will need to be able to slide along each other during glue up, I cut one board of each pair using the Domino at cutting width mark 1 and the second of the pair with cutting width mark 2. For this table, I have used 5x30mm tenons for the Huon Pine pieces and 6x40mm for all other joints. The mortises can be set in two ways. The first is to use the alignment pins on the domino plate and simply go from one end to the other, then back on the second piece, or to simply mark in pencil where the joints will be and cut accordingly. This is my preferred method.
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For the Huon Pine insert.
I place the dominoes into the mortises and, with the Red Gum frame element they will be joined to at one end. Tap with a hammer so that all are even. The boards for the insert are cut longer and slightly wider than the gap they will fill, so as to allow trimming to correct size.
Once the boards are flush with the frame, they can be glued and clamped. Use a hammer to tap them into place and then tighten the clamps.
Once they panels are dry, they are ready to be measured to fit and the glued into the frame.
Ensure the frames are clamped and dry fitted with dominoes (Also make sure that the diagonal measurements from inside corner to inside corner are identical.)
Take at least two measurements from one side to the other and two from top to bottom of the space the panels will occupy, mark on the panel and cut appropriately. Again the TS75 will give extremely clean cuts. The panel should then slide into the allotted space with no gaps. As an alternative, the panel can be placed under the frame, squared up and the edge traced and cut.
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The whole top can now be dry fitted to check all joints and measurements, then glued together.(Pic 8 and 9) On a small piece of work, there is no need to glue the panels into the frame, but on large pieces, which will suffer stress when being moved, this is essential.
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