[0:00] what's going on everybody i'm brandon
[0:01] from walker's woodworks welcome back to
[0:03] the channel i've been getting a lot of
[0:04] questions lately on how i put together
[0:05] these big desktops and table tops and
[0:08] today i'm going to show you how i do it
[0:15] [Music]
[0:22] the client for this build wanted maple
[0:23] so i went and picked up some nice eight
[0:25] quarter stock this will be used as a
[0:27] desktop but the same process can be used
[0:29] for a table as well
[0:30] the width of this desktop will be 32
[0:32] inches so each board will be ripped at
[0:34] just under six and a half inches to make
[0:36] it look symmetrical i buy most of my
[0:38] lumbers surfaced on three sides or what
[0:40] they call s3s with s3s lumber you really
[0:42] only have to trim one edge to get your
[0:44] final size since the other three are
[0:46] already surfaced buying it in this form
[0:48] will really save you a lot of time
[0:49] especially if you don't have a planer in
[0:50] a joiner to take it down from rough
[0:52] lumber to this state
[1:00] once it's all ripped to final width i
[1:02] lay out the boards and make sure the
[1:03] grain pattern on the ends is rotated on
[1:05] each board this helps combat twisting or
[1:07] warping later on
[1:09] after i have all the boards laid out how
[1:11] i want them i label them so i know how
[1:13] they go back together yes i already had
[1:15] them labeled i hate when you push record
[1:17] on the camera and it decides not to
[1:20] i put all my tops together using
[1:21] biscuits they help keep the boards
[1:23] aligned during glue up you can also use
[1:25] dowels or dominoes if you want to get
[1:26] real fancy here i'm just marking where
[1:28] i'm going to put them i usually start in
[1:30] about four inches from the end and then
[1:32] about every 10 to 12 inches after that i
[1:35] use a t-square to mark a line all the
[1:36] way across for a reference when it's
[1:38] time to cut the slots i always use
[1:40] number 20 biscuits and just try to get
[1:42] them in the center of your material they
[1:44] make expensive biscuit joiners but this
[1:46] ryobi has worked great for me for years
[1:49] you want to cut slots on the inside of
[1:51] the outer two boards and then on both
[1:52] sides of all the inner boards
[2:03] once i had all the slots cut i laid the
[2:05] boards back out in order on the clamps
[2:07] and got them all lined up starting at
[2:09] one edge i stood each board up to expose
[2:12] the edge and biscuit slot where my glue
[2:13] will go leave the last one laying down
[2:15] though it doesn't need glue i've been
[2:17] experimenting with this roller
[2:18] attachment on a glue bottle from rockler
[2:20] it seems to work really well and spreads
[2:22] the glue out evenly i'll leave a link to
[2:24] it and all the other tools i use in the
[2:26] description below for you guys to check
[2:27] out
[2:29] i like to use quite a bit of glue on my
[2:30] joints and i only put glue on one side i
[2:33] prefer tight bond 3 because it's
[2:34] extremely strong and has a long working
[2:36] time i put a little extra glue in all
[2:38] the slots where the biscuits go and then
[2:40] go back over everything with a brush to
[2:42] make sure everything is covered
[2:48] here's where it can get messy lay each
[2:50] board down and fit them together and
[2:51] then lightly tighten the clamps until
[2:53] the piece is drawn together but don't
[2:55] tighten them yet just snug them up a
[2:57] little bit
[3:05] then you're going to want to use clamps
[3:06] on the top between the bottom ones to
[3:08] distribute the pressure evenly once you
[3:10] have them on tighten everything down a
[3:12] little bit at a time alternating from
[3:13] the top to the bottom making sure it
[3:15] stays flat as you go
[3:19] i'll usually allow the glue to cure for
[3:21] about 10 minutes and then go back and
[3:23] scrape off any excess i can with an old
[3:25] chisel this saves a ton of time later
[3:27] scraping glue
[3:30] the next day i came back after
[3:31] everything was nice and cured and took
[3:33] it out of the clamps this is kind of a
[3:34] challenge with one person in large tops
[3:37] the last top i did was a 10 foot long by
[3:39] 44 inch wide top that sent me the
[3:41] chiropractor
[3:43] be careful guys
[3:48] all right so there's many different ways
[3:50] but this is how i flatten my tops i used
[3:52] to use a belt sander which works fine
[3:53] but the rotex works so much better i
[3:56] started out with 60 grit to get
[3:57] everything flat on both sides and then
[3:59] move to 80 grit to really smooth it out
[4:10] i did the same flattening process on the
[4:12] other side
[4:14] if it's a really wide top or a long top
[4:16] like this one i like to use c-channel in
[4:18] the bottom to help keep it from warping
[4:20] or cupping over time you can purchase
[4:22] this at any metal supply yard or even a
[4:24] local home store usually has some
[4:26] for this top i used three pieces of
[4:28] c-channel
[4:30] i laid them out where i wanted them
[4:32] making them even on each side and then
[4:34] marked each one you want to make sure
[4:36] the holes in the channel are elongated
[4:37] as well width-wise to allow room for
[4:39] wood movement
[4:46] talk about good timing on this shot
[4:53] here i'm using my router with a quarter
[4:55] inch bit to cut the slots for the
[4:56] channel delay in following my marks i do
[4:59] this in several shallow passes
[5:02] [Music]
[5:16] [Music]
[5:23] [Music]
[5:33] hey
[5:40] i also cut an eighth inch of depth out
[5:42] of the center to allow the channel to be
[5:44] flush with the bottom of the top using a
[5:46] big flattening bit and a chisel to clean
[5:48] up the ends
[5:50] then i can install the inserts that will
[5:52] accept flat machine thread allen bolts i
[5:55] really like these ones by rampa they're
[5:56] probably the best ones i've used
[6:02] [Music]
[6:12] i like to use ca glue when i install
[6:14] these just to make sure they don't back
[6:16] out even though i'm pretty sure they
[6:17] never will
[6:18] i like to run them in a little bit back
[6:20] them back out run them back in just to
[6:22] get the threads nice and secured in
[6:24] there and not strip the wood out
[6:35] after they're all installed i laid in
[6:36] the seat channel and test fit all the
[6:38] bolts
[6:50] one thing i should have mentioned before
[6:51] is i always leave about an extra two
[6:53] inches on all my boards so i can come
[6:55] back later and square them up after the
[6:56] glue up i use my track saw for this but
[6:59] you can use a straight edge and a
[7:00] circular saw it'll work just fine
[7:04] i made a few passes on this because
[7:06] maple is really hard and doing this
[7:08] makes it easier on the saw and the blade
[7:23] i removed the channel and went to my
[7:25] favorite sander the mercaderos you guys
[7:27] are looking for a high in sander highly
[7:29] recommend it as i always say
[7:31] but i went from 120 all the way up to
[7:33] 220 to finish sand the bottom and then i
[7:35] took a router and went around the outer
[7:37] edge with a quarter inch round over bit
[7:39] just to soften all the edges
[7:49] this is what people call water popping
[7:50] or raising the grain because i'll be
[7:52] using a water-based finish on this it
[7:54] would bring the fibers of the wood up
[7:55] and make it feel kind of rough so using
[7:57] water beforehand and then re-sanding to
[7:59] 220 keeps this from happening
[8:02] basically you just spray a light coat of
[8:03] water rub it into the wood let it dry
[8:06] and then re-sand
[8:08] [Music]
[8:10] off camera i blew off the top with some
[8:12] air and then wiped it all down clean as
[8:14] i said i used the water-based
[8:15] polyurethane on the top it will not
[8:17] yellow like oil base does over time and
[8:19] keeps the maple looking really natural i
[8:21] like to apply this with even coats using
[8:24] a foam brush
[8:31] i also learned to make sure the coats
[8:33] aren't very thick as you put them on
[8:34] you'll be tempted to do it thick but
[8:36] just do thin coats and sand in between
[8:39] about two to three coats you'll be good
[8:41] to go
[8:45] looking back i should have installed the
[8:46] channel before flipping it over oh well
[8:49] live and learn
[8:54] [Music]
[9:03] [Music]
[9:11] i used the same process on the top side
[9:13] but i applied four coats and i sanded
[9:15] with a scotch brite pad in between them
[9:17] it makes it a lot smoother
[9:46] i always brand my work and everyone
[9:47] always asks me where i get my brands
[9:49] from i get mine from a place called
[9:51] gearheart industry i highly recommend
[9:53] them great people over there
[9:59] off camera i reinstalled the channel
[10:01] flipped it over and this thing was ready
[10:02] for delivery
[10:30] well that pretty much does it i hope the
[10:31] video helped you guys out if it did give
[10:33] me a thumbs up leave me a comment down
[10:34] below with what you think about it and
[10:37] uh subscribe if you haven't already i
[10:39] really appreciate it also check this
[10:41] video out i'll see you guys on the next
[10:42] one