On Apr 8, 12:53*am, "Lew Hodgett" wrote:
Currently the NYW is running a rerun of Norm making a small, 32"
diameter, table from recycled pine.

The stock for the table top comes from a piece of 12" wide barn
siding, from which three (3), 36" long pieces were cut to make the top
glue-up.

So far so good; however, as would be expected, the board was cupped.

Norm's solution was to make a kerf cut on the concave side of each
board about 2/3-3/4 thru the board.

That works for me with the following caveat:

When the top is finally glued up and cut to size, the kerf cut will
still be visible.

Norm proceeded to surface the boards by pressing down on the feed
rollers to flatten the board while going thru the planer.

Next these boards were jointed, and biscuits were added prior to the
glue up.

While the top was in the clamps with the glue still wet, Norm
proceeded to fill the kerf cuts with an epoxy putty to strengthen and
stabilize the top blank.

Now comes the bone.

Trying to machine these boards before the kerf is filled and allowed
to solidify, is like trying to machine a flexible piece of "stuff".

How he managed not to close the kerf cuts with the glue-up in the
clamps, I'll never know.

OTOH, if each individual board had been clamped to a flat surface or
even curved cauls that would force the kerf cut open, much like a
keystone or trapezoidal cut, then filled with epoxy putty and allowed
to cure, you end up with a stable board which makes future machining
easier.

As far as the final kerf cut being visible in the table edge is
concerned, Norm used a poly/stain product which, IMHO, is basically
the same as paint, so maybe he was able to hide the epoxy in the kerf.

BTW, forgot to mention, need some tape to dam up the ends of the kerf
cuts and prevent the putty from oozing out.

OK, I've picked the bone.

Off the box.

Lew

Who knows? Maybe the top will not be planar in a few months. Norm
rarely goes back to critique past projects. But the bottom line is,
he's a force for giving a lot of woodworkers inspiration and usable
techniques, despite, a few brads until the glue sets.

Joe G