I am going to make a kitchen table of quarter sawn white oak (5/4). I have glued up and flattened panels for raised panel construction and smaller table tops using an orbital sander to reduce and blend height differences in the glued up boards. I am wondering (and concerned) about what the best bet is for ensuring that a large surface such as a kitchen table (48″ circle w/out leaves; with leaves, 48″x 72″) that will be highly visible is flattened with no or minimal raised surfaces or valleys. Thanks.
Mike Miller – Downingtown PA
Replies
Mike,
White oak will be tough to flatten with an orbital sander. Personally I like to hand plane smaller table tops, then scrape, and then sand with a fine grit. If you don't hand plane, then I'd either take it somewhere to get it drum sanded or get a belt sander and flatten it that way. But belt sander marks and drum sander marks will have to be taken out with a series of grits on your orbital sander. A cabinet scraper will help here as well to keep things flat as you remove sanding scratches. It's a job, but the more you scrape the flatter you'll keep things. Good luck. Gary
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled