Hello all, I’m new to this, so here goes! I’m building all new furniture for a local restaraunt. One of the pieces is a 60″ diameter table. It seats 6 people and the client wants the top to look like slices of pie. With wood movement being a big concern, I am thinking of using 3/4″ MDF overlayed with 1/4″ hardwood plywood for the wedges and divider strips between the wedges. I would finish it with laminate edge banding around the perimiter. I’m asking for a little advice to determine if this combination would address the issue of wood movement seeing as how the MDF and plywood should remain stable. Any thoughts?
Edited 2/4/2008 7:38 am ET by Pelmo
Replies
If I were making it, I'd veneer both sides of the mdf, and forget about using 1/4" plywood.
Jeff
I don't think that there's any concern there with movement, but I'm with Jeff - veneer directly on the MDF substrate.
Chris @ flairwoodworks
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
If this is a traditional pedistal table in a restaurnat, I assume that you are using a metal table base common to restaurants. With a 60" base, you might get a little sag at the edges when using 3/4" mdf. There is thicker mdf at 1" which would help with the sag at the edges, or you can get 1 1/8" fibreboard. I used the latter to make an 84" round table for a bar a few years ago, and it has held up very well though the abuse. This was in two pieces as opposed to one.
As one of the other posters said, I would skip the 1/4" plywood and use a good quality veneer. This will open up a whole lot of cool design possibilities for the "pie" top. You can do a traditional radial, a sunburst, book-matched, or straight or others. The design will be somewhat determined by the type of veneer used.
One thing to keep in mind is that even with the laminate edging around the perimeter, make SURE that the edge of the table is sealed very well, because we all know that in a restaurant, things will be spilled, cleaned, abused etc... and you absolutely do not want wet getting to the mdf or things will come apart in a hurry.
Good luck
Peter
www.jpswoodworking.com
Another thing to be watchful about is that some kinds of particle/strand boards do not do well with gluing and lamination, and will warp badly. Also, it appears that some supposedly glue-able brands are having q/c problems. I am aware of melamine laminate cabinets installed in at least 5 new schools that had severe door and drawer warpage within months of installation. The exact cause has not been pinpointed, but it is generally agreed that the problem is in the materials. Unfortunately, the small cabinet shop that made them is under the gun to make repairs.
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