How to build and finish a desk top / DIY Table top

[00:00] what's going on everybody i'm brandon

[00:01] from walker's woodworks welcome back to

[00:03] the channel i've been getting a lot of

[00:04] questions lately on how i put together

[00:05] these big desktops and table tops and

[00:08] today i'm going to show you how i do it

[00:15] [Music]

[00:22] the client for this build wanted maple

[00:23] so i went and picked up some nice eight

[00:25] quarter stock this will be used as a

[00:27] desktop but the same process can be used

[00:29] for a table as well

[00:30] the width of this desktop will be 32

[00:32] inches so each board will be ripped at

[00:34] just under six and a half inches to make

[00:36] it look symmetrical i buy most of my

[00:38] lumbers surfaced on three sides or what

[00:40] they call s3s with s3s lumber you really

[00:42] only have to trim one edge to get your

[00:44] final size since the other three are

[00:46] already surfaced buying it in this form

[00:48] will really save you a lot of time

[00:49] especially if you don't have a planer in

[00:50] a joiner to take it down from rough

[00:52] lumber to this state

[01:00] once it's all ripped to final width i

[01:02] lay out the boards and make sure the

[01:03] grain pattern on the ends is rotated on

[01:05] each board this helps combat twisting or

[01:07] warping later on

[01:09] after i have all the boards laid out how

[01:11] i want them i label them so i know how

[01:13] they go back together yes i already had

[01:15] them labeled i hate when you push record

[01:17] on the camera and it decides not to

[01:20] i put all my tops together using

[01:21] biscuits they help keep the boards

[01:23] aligned during glue up you can also use

[01:25] dowels or dominoes if you want to get

[01:26] real fancy here i'm just marking where

[01:28] i'm going to put them i usually start in

[01:30] about four inches from the end and then

[01:32] about every 10 to 12 inches after that i

[01:35] use a t-square to mark a line all the

[01:36] way across for a reference when it's

[01:38] time to cut the slots i always use

[01:40] number 20 biscuits and just try to get

[01:42] them in the center of your material they

[01:44] make expensive biscuit joiners but this

[01:46] ryobi has worked great for me for years

[01:49] you want to cut slots on the inside of

[01:51] the outer two boards and then on both

[01:52] sides of all the inner boards

[02:03] once i had all the slots cut i laid the

[02:05] boards back out in order on the clamps

[02:07] and got them all lined up starting at

[02:09] one edge i stood each board up to expose

[02:12] the edge and biscuit slot where my glue

[02:13] will go leave the last one laying down

[02:15] though it doesn't need glue i've been

[02:17] experimenting with this roller

[02:18] attachment on a glue bottle from rockler

[02:20] it seems to work really well and spreads

[02:22] the glue out evenly i'll leave a link to

[02:24] it and all the other tools i use in the

[02:26] description below for you guys to check

[02:27] out

[02:29] i like to use quite a bit of glue on my

[02:30] joints and i only put glue on one side i

[02:33] prefer tight bond 3 because it's

[02:34] extremely strong and has a long working

[02:36] time i put a little extra glue in all

[02:38] the slots where the biscuits go and then

[02:40] go back over everything with a brush to

[02:42] make sure everything is covered

[02:48] here's where it can get messy lay each

[02:50] board down and fit them together and

[02:51] then lightly tighten the clamps until

[02:53] the piece is drawn together but don't

[02:55] tighten them yet just snug them up a

[02:57] little bit

[03:05] then you're going to want to use clamps

[03:06] on the top between the bottom ones to

[03:08] distribute the pressure evenly once you

[03:10] have them on tighten everything down a

[03:12] little bit at a time alternating from

[03:13] the top to the bottom making sure it

[03:15] stays flat as you go

[03:19] i'll usually allow the glue to cure for

[03:21] about 10 minutes and then go back and

[03:23] scrape off any excess i can with an old

[03:25] chisel this saves a ton of time later

[03:27] scraping glue

[03:30] the next day i came back after

[03:31] everything was nice and cured and took

[03:33] it out of the clamps this is kind of a

[03:34] challenge with one person in large tops

[03:37] the last top i did was a 10 foot long by

[03:39] 44 inch wide top that sent me the

[03:41] chiropractor

[03:43] be careful guys

[03:48] all right so there's many different ways

[03:50] but this is how i flatten my tops i used

[03:52] to use a belt sander which works fine

[03:53] but the rotex works so much better i

[03:56] started out with 60 grit to get

[03:57] everything flat on both sides and then

[03:59] move to 80 grit to really smooth it out

[04:10] i did the same flattening process on the

[04:12] other side

[04:14] if it's a really wide top or a long top

[04:16] like this one i like to use c-channel in

[04:18] the bottom to help keep it from warping

[04:20] or cupping over time you can purchase

[04:22] this at any metal supply yard or even a

[04:24] local home store usually has some

[04:26] for this top i used three pieces of

[04:28] c-channel

[04:30] i laid them out where i wanted them

[04:32] making them even on each side and then

[04:34] marked each one you want to make sure

[04:36] the holes in the channel are elongated

[04:37] as well width-wise to allow room for

[04:39] wood movement

[04:46] talk about good timing on this shot

[04:53] here i'm using my router with a quarter

[04:55] inch bit to cut the slots for the

[04:56] channel delay in following my marks i do

[04:59] this in several shallow passes

[05:02] [Music]

[05:16] [Music]

[05:23] [Music]

[05:33] hey

[05:40] i also cut an eighth inch of depth out

[05:42] of the center to allow the channel to be

[05:44] flush with the bottom of the top using a

[05:46] big flattening bit and a chisel to clean

[05:48] up the ends

[05:50] then i can install the inserts that will

[05:52] accept flat machine thread allen bolts i

[05:55] really like these ones by rampa they're

[05:56] probably the best ones i've used

[06:02] [Music]

[06:12] i like to use ca glue when i install

[06:14] these just to make sure they don't back

[06:16] out even though i'm pretty sure they

[06:17] never will

[06:18] i like to run them in a little bit back

[06:20] them back out run them back in just to

[06:22] get the threads nice and secured in

[06:24] there and not strip the wood out

[06:35] after they're all installed i laid in

[06:36] the seat channel and test fit all the

[06:38] bolts

[06:50] one thing i should have mentioned before

[06:51] is i always leave about an extra two

[06:53] inches on all my boards so i can come

[06:55] back later and square them up after the

[06:56] glue up i use my track saw for this but

[06:59] you can use a straight edge and a

[07:00] circular saw it'll work just fine

[07:04] i made a few passes on this because

[07:06] maple is really hard and doing this

[07:08] makes it easier on the saw and the blade

[07:23] i removed the channel and went to my

[07:25] favorite sander the mercaderos you guys

[07:27] are looking for a high in sander highly

[07:29] recommend it as i always say

[07:31] but i went from 120 all the way up to

[07:33] 220 to finish sand the bottom and then i

[07:35] took a router and went around the outer

[07:37] edge with a quarter inch round over bit

[07:39] just to soften all the edges

[07:49] this is what people call water popping

[07:50] or raising the grain because i'll be

[07:52] using a water-based finish on this it

[07:54] would bring the fibers of the wood up

[07:55] and make it feel kind of rough so using

[07:57] water beforehand and then re-sanding to

[07:59] 220 keeps this from happening

[08:02] basically you just spray a light coat of

[08:03] water rub it into the wood let it dry

[08:06] and then re-sand

[08:08] [Music]

[08:10] off camera i blew off the top with some

[08:12] air and then wiped it all down clean as

[08:14] i said i used the water-based

[08:15] polyurethane on the top it will not

[08:17] yellow like oil base does over time and

[08:19] keeps the maple looking really natural i

[08:21] like to apply this with even coats using

[08:24] a foam brush

[08:31] i also learned to make sure the coats

[08:33] aren't very thick as you put them on

[08:34] you'll be tempted to do it thick but

[08:36] just do thin coats and sand in between

[08:39] about two to three coats you'll be good

[08:41] to go

[08:45] looking back i should have installed the

[08:46] channel before flipping it over oh well

[08:49] live and learn

[08:54] [Music]

[09:03] [Music]

[09:11] i used the same process on the top side

[09:13] but i applied four coats and i sanded

[09:15] with a scotch brite pad in between them

[09:17] it makes it a lot smoother

[09:46] i always brand my work and everyone

[09:47] always asks me where i get my brands

[09:49] from i get mine from a place called

[09:51] gearheart industry i highly recommend

[09:53] them great people over there

[09:59] 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