Problem: 8 people yesterday for Xmas dinner, table only 2' 6" by 4' 6",
seats 6 at a push, but fine for the other 364 days in the year.

Solution: 2 sheets of 2' by 6' MDF held together by wooden battens, giving a
4' by 6' table top, will seat 10 to 12 with plenty of room. Even my wife had
to admit it was a blinder. Total cost about £15, had enough clear varnish
left over from another job.

Buggerlugs wrote:
Problem: 8 people yesterday for Xmas dinner, table only 2' 6" by 4' 6",
seats 6 at a push, but fine for the other 364 days in the year.

Solution: 2 sheets of 2' by 6' MDF held together by wooden battens, giving a
4' by 6' table top, will seat 10 to 12 with plenty of room. Even my wife had
to admit it was a blinder. Total cost about £15, had enough clear varnish
left over from another job.

I've made tables from 7mm 3ply, with 50x20mm timber around the edge.
They are very light and can be put on trestles or a smaller table.
Cost: about £3 excluding varnish or paint.

Matty F wrote:
Buggerlugs wrote:
Problem: 8 people yesterday for Xmas dinner, table only 2' 6" by 4' 6",
seats 6 at a push, but fine for the other 364 days in the year.

Solution: 2 sheets of 2' by 6' MDF held together by wooden battens, giving a
4' by 6' table top, will seat 10 to 12 with plenty of room. Even my wife had
to admit it was a blinder. Total cost about £15, had enough clear varnish
left over from another job.

I've made tables from 7mm 3ply, with 50x20mm timber around the edge.
They are very light and can be put on trestles or a smaller table.
Cost: about £3 excluding varnish or paint.

So you see that DIY is not just for people who know what they are
talking about.

Weatherlawyer wrote:
Matty F wrote:
Buggerlugs wrote:
Problem: 8 people yesterday for Xmas dinner, table only 2' 6" by 4' 6",
seats 6 at a push, but fine for the other 364 days in the year.

Solution: 2 sheets of 2' by 6' MDF held together by wooden battens, giving a
4' by 6' table top, will seat 10 to 12 with plenty of room. Even my wife had
to admit it was a blinder. Total cost about £15, had enough clear varnish
left over from another job.

I've made tables from 7mm 3ply, with 50x20mm timber around the edge.
They are very light and can be put on trestles or a smaller table.
Cost: about £3 excluding varnish or paint.

So you see that DIY is not just for people who know what they are
talking about.

I don't know what you are trying to say here. The MDF looks nicer and
won't splinter on the edges like ply. The ply is lighter and cheaper.
When I have to put 10 tables on a truck, the weight makes a difference.

Matty F wrote:
Weatherlawyer wrote:
Matty F wrote:

I've made tables from 7mm 3ply, with 50x20mm timber around the edge.
They are very light and can be put on trestles or a smaller table.
Cost: about £3 excluding varnish or paint.

So you see that DIY is not just for people who know what they are
talking about.

I don't know what you are trying to say here. The MDF looks nicer and
won't splinter on the edges like ply. The ply is lighter and cheaper.
When I have to put 10 tables on a truck, the weight makes a difference.

where do you find 7mm 3ply? And at what cost, £3 all in is remarkably
cheap, unless youre talking about little table-lets.


NT

wrote:

Matty F wrote:

I've made tables from 7mm 3ply, with 50x20mm timber around the edge.
They are very light and can be put on trestles or a smaller table.
Cost: about £3 excluding varnish or paint.

where do you find 7mm 3ply? And at what cost, £3 all in is remarkably
cheap, unless youre talking about little table-lets.

I can get new 7mm 3ply for NZ$7 per 8'x4' sheet. The edges are slightly
damaged. But I don't want a table that big, so I trim the edges to make
a table about 80"x40".
The timber is about 50cents per metre, that's about NZ$3, giving a
total of NZ$10.
The exchange rate has changed since I last looked, so that would
convert to £3.60 in total.
Of course we grow lots of pine timber here in New Zealand so it's
cheap, but MDF being much thicker is several times that price. Of
course 7mm MDF would fall to pieces. What I am saying is that 7mm ply
has turned out to be strong enough for temporary tables if the edges
are reinforced by 2 inch timber (on edge, not flat against the ply).