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In Part 1 I wrote about laminating the melamine and particle board, and building the stand.
Here I'll talk about the finishing the stand, installing Rockler's T-Track (at the time of this writing, the kit with bolts and knobs is on sale for $10.99. I paid $21.99...), edging the top, and putting everything together.
In Part III I'll go into the router mounting, cleats for wall mount storage, and the fence.
Once the glue dried, I gave the particle board legs and the pine stretcher a thorough sanding. I had a can of Deft "Step Saver" in Cherrywood that I've had so long I don't remember buying it. At least 15 years... Ugh. I need to get rid of this stuff.
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The color was unbelievably ugly, even on the pine. But I hate throwing stuff out if I can avoid it, and since it's a shop piece anyway...
I applied it to every surface except the tops of the legs that will be glued to the table top. I taped those off. But it didn't matter. BORG (Big Orange Retail Giant) particleboard is crap. It was so porous that the stain/finish soaked right through. Sanding just revealed more stained particle board.
So I let it dry a bit more with the help of a heat gun.
While that was drying, I turned my attention to the top. I attached the front facing edgine (a 1x2" piece of BORG "select" pine) and realized I didn't have enough for the sides. Whoops. Poor planning on my part. Off I go to Lowe's (I needed some hardware for a picture frame for my daughter too).
Anyway, when I got home I discovered a few things. Home Despot's "Select Pine" is nowhere near as nice as Lowe's pine with the same designation. Lowe's was slightly larger in all dimensions, it was a lot smoother and denser, it was free of knots, and the grain was darker. These two stores are 12 miles apart so I doubt it is a regional issue. Just a big difference in quality.
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I attached them with dowels and Titebond Original Wood Glue. It also used up the last of my bottle. I need to go to the store!
After the glue dried, I went at the top with my table saw and a really crappy Craftsman dado set. I've only used this set a few times and I have yet to get a smooth cut and a bottom without lines. I'm saving my pennies...
I used a scrap piece of the T-Track as a plane inside the dado to smooth out the bottom. It worked surprisingly well at this task! I discovered another poor planning issue though. Stopped dadoes need to be squared off. Whoops. I don't own a chisel! Or anything else that would work that I could think of. So there is a little dado ramp at the forward ends of the fence T-Tracks until I have the money to buy a chisel and sharpening stuff.
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I then used my Harbor Freight 1/4" trim router with a 1/2" round over bit to round the top and bottom edges of the pine, as well as the corners. I skipped past where the T-Track ends were exposed, as the picture shows. Then a quick sanding with the melamine taped off.
For the last picture, I put all the bolts and knobs that came with that T-Track kit. I really like this stuff. I've already got some pretty slick fingerboard sketches waiting for me to finish this table.
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I've decided to go with something a little more standard. Either making a plate from more acrylic, or (gasp!) buying an aluminum plate and making my own holes. Part III will have more discussion on this topic.
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