4 Common Mistakes That Ruin a Flat Table Top

It's not hard to make a flat table top with the right techniques, you don't need a giant flattening machine. You just have to avoid these 4 common mistakes that'll turn your table top into a taco.

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#woodworking #table #tabletop

[jazzdad]

Re: When you cancel out the deviation from 90 degrees cutting the edges on the table saw, you said you cut one edge on right side of blade, then move the fence and cut other edge on left side. I've been leaving the fence on the same side, just cutting one edge, marked "up" then marking the other edge "down" and flipping it over to cut the other edge. When I glue them, I glue "up" edge to "down" edge. Seems faster to me, unless I'm missing something?

[handyseth]

Caleb seems like such a freaking nice, genuine guy. good on him

[chrissecrest]

I work in a reclaimed lumber mill and go through these steps many times a week in our fab shop, but I’ve gotta say that the way you explain the sequence of operations and the reasoning behind it all, is beautifully illuminating and fundamental. It’s pretty much a master class in a lot of ways. This should be a first stop for those initially wrapping their minds around the how and the why of turning raw (or poorly milled) lumber into straight, flat, useable boards.

[slapmeharder]

Quick tip with the cauls, use a rubber bands on each side to temporarily hold them in place before you clamp. I make a little notch on the top side of each caul to hold the bands in place.

[barryirby]

Thanks for the video. I made up cauls out of hard wood about two inches thick and two and a half wide. (wood rescued from pallets) They are curved so the center is about a 1/4 inch taller than the ends. Drilled through them at the ends and installed long carriage 3/8" bolts instead of using clamps. The cauls are long enough to use on what might be a typical table top. Instead of tape, wax them heavily. I may drill more holes for bolts to keep the bolts nearer the edge of the work. If the bolts are too far out the pieces will arch and not touch in the center. they work great. Thanks for the great ideas.

[davidbarnett]

I followed your guidelines on my current project and it made a big difference in the quality of the build. Thanks for your video

[stevenwilliams]

I have no unsolicited advice or corrections to offer. I just enjoyed this video and your presentation style. Thanks!

[davetarrant]

I must commend you my friend for the way you handle answering comments! It’s incredible how many people ask the same question comment after comment and you graciously answer them all respectfully. Great video with tons of great information that will be very helpful. Keep up the good work and I wish you the best.

[SylvanWorkshop]

Holy smokes, a Shopsmith planer! Great to see. I started on Shopsmith and still have a few tools left that haven't been replaced. Great video.

[duckydrummer]

Boy did I learn alot from this video! I was having tons of frustration trying to glue up boards. If I glued up 4 boards at 4" wide and 3/4" thick, my middle boards would always raise up a little. Then I'd spend a lot of time sanding the crap out of them! I don't have any planes, electric or manual. Anyway, can't wait to glue up some boards the right way.

[felixreali]

the power of wood-glue always surprises me. I never thought, in a million years, that those boards were gonna stick together just by glueing them. Thanks for sharing this. Will be doing a much smaller sized version of that for my newly built fish-tank-stand :)

[JusBidniss]

Great set of tips! Another really useful one I saw somewhere (I think the Jords Wood Shop channel?) was for flattening a twisted board with an extreme cup. Instead of removing all the material from the top and bottom faces, leaving a very thin board, he struck a line along the peak of the cup, ripped the board on the bandsaw (safer than tablesaw for a warped board), jointed the bottom face and then the cut edges in the middle, then glued it back together before doing any further milling or flattening. Instead of removing a ton from the faces, he only removed a thin V sliver from the middle, preserving a lot of thickness.

[TomKaren]

4:45 - this is the first video I have seen that correctly describes how to joint edges of your glue-up boards to cancel out any slight deviation from square between the jointer fence and table. I commonly make desk tops that are about 22x44. To get the 22 dimension I use four 1x6 boards. I do my layout and then, when I joint them, I put the odd numbered boards through the jointer with the top toward the fence. The even numbered boards are put through with the top away from the fence. Contrary to the video, you don't have to worry about the boards sliding along each other when they are half a degree out... or even more. I use cauls anyway.

[davidowens]

Great video. I am a part-time woodworker and have made many tabletops, but these tips helped out a lot. Thank you!

[DannyPops]

Where has this video been??? Most comprehensive subtle tips about glue ups I've seen yet.

[KomarProject]

Great info on making the calls. I always used flat calls and from now on im going to make a hill in them. Thanks brother. Great video

[aljundating]

I am just making my first build, a dining table last Saturday and Sunday. The thickness of my table top is only less than an inch and I have difficulty gluing and clamping them. I realize that I can't do it with haste lol. I have to go into the details much more that I just learned woodworking in YouTube three months ago and bought some power tools lately. Thanks Bro for the ideas. I hope you get more likes in the coming days.

[markquinlan]

Very well done. Doing a 6/4 maple top right now. Milled over 3 sessions and looking forward to moving forward. Your videos have helped a ton. Thanks for the content, please keep them coming.

[BrettsWoodshop]

I have some white oak slabs that are air drying. Whenever it is that I'm ready to make a live edge table, this information will come in handy. Thanks!

[joeatkins]

Thanks man, I'm new to the channel, but I really like the style and approach. I'll be back.