Japanese Low Table Part III: Joining the Tabletop Boards

Since I spend a good bit of money on these mahogany boards, I want this done right.

So I was a little wary of putting my own hands to work. But I have Dad! And Dad has Wood Wizard Neighbor! If you want to look at my plans and dimensions, check out my earlier post. Here we go.

Step 1: Join the table top.
Three boards must become one. Flip them around, decide which layout and wood color variation pattern you like. Pinch them together with clamps. Dad dragged the pencil across a few time to make line that can be lined up later if need be.

He sanded some of the rougher inside edges so the board-to-board connection was a little more tight. Once clamped, he and the Wizard also banged these board in place with a mallet for maximum perfect smooth awesomeness. The point here is that you get it the way you want it so you can make the pencil lines at the places you want to put biscuits...

You can wedge these suckers in wide-side-in and the wood will become pretty well stuck together. When I say "wedge" them in, you have to make a biscuit-sized hole to do that. So you need a biscuit-cutter tool. The bottom has a clear plate that you can line up with your biscuit-purposed pencil marks. Like so:

You could start the gluing at this point, but wait: The Wood Wizard had an addition method of making these boards joined together like...like...

...like something really joined. Anyway, that method uses a little silver L-shaped thing that, once clamped on, allows one to drill holes at a diagonal into the wood to that you can actually use screws without the danger of breaking through the top.

You can sand off the rough bit there. Now you have a perfect little tunnel for your screw. Time to glue.

The glue- Gorilla Wood Glue- goes in a line over/down into the biscuit hole. Then apply the biscuits as shown. Then the oozing beads of glue can be spread out and maybe a thin line of glue goes across the whole edge of that board, spread down like jam a little bit. I think once the other biscuit holes on the other board are glued, you don't need an addition line on that side. Speaking of glue, the work surface was covered in wax paper. Good idea, huh?

Note: If you're using quick-set glue, make sure you have a wet rag handy to wipe up the oozey bits. NOW!

Yay! Now all that's left is to clamp it, maybe mallet-whack a little if you're trying to even things out, then screw in the screws after that. The Wizard reminded us that once the biscuits are in, the mallet-whacking will only do so much.  Don't forget to screw in the screws. Dad used a hand screwdriver. You can see below the 6 screw holes along the middle board.

It needs to be clamped for however long your glue tells you- 20 minutes or whatever. Then unclamp and voila!

Once it gets 24 hours of setting, then it's ready for more action. Like sanding. Hope that blue end there goes away.

The Lowrider of Tables: Japanese Low Table Part 1: Making a Plan

A Plan Hatches: In which I decide to build a Japanese low table.

Japanese traditional furniture. Picture a traditional Japanese room, the kind with the tatami floor and all the cool, clean lines.

Not a lot of furniture? Well, traditionally, if you need something, you can pull it out. Space is a premium, and you need to think outside the box that you live in. Your living room can also be your dining room and bedroom. It can be anything! (Except a bathroom- that's the rules, man.)

You can add futons. Easy to drag out.

In the morning, pack them away and you can bring out a table.

Not to say that all Japanese houses consist of one room, but I think I'm pointing out how darn practical Japanese furniture can be. And how much I like those low tables. We had a low table in the last trip at Koya-san in the monastery.

I think to myself- no way I can buy furniture in Japan and stuff it in my suitcase. And no way I'm paying crazy shipping either. Solution: make a table.
To start, I wanted to see what variety there is. I quickly learned that there are distinctions between standard low tables like this that can be desk/dining table/coffee table and other types of tables.
You're probably familiar with kotatsu.
Kotatsu

The major difference here is the fact that it's made to hold a flat heater unit insulated with a thick comforter between frame and tabletop. Heavenly for wintery places! Like, not Florida places. Next:

Chabudai

Translation: tea table. Cool. Looks similar to a regular Japanese low table, except...they're mostly round. And kinda intended for tea. Okay, round it nice and all, but I just want a standard grade A table.

Te-buru
I can't find the name of a this. It is just "table"? I know the name of the cushions one sits on at such a table (zabuton), but what about the table itself? The important thing is I know what it looks like.

And I know what it feels like. And I can measure how tall it needs to be to fit over my American thighs. I can personalize it with shelves. I can pick out the wood I want. I can build it, too, because I have an expert wood craftsman on staff, aka "Dad".

The Plan
Here's my Sketchup mockup:

Now to pick out wood! There's a wood warehouse place in town. Lots of varieties, and it looks like a lot of exotic wood if from Africa, and does not have a Japanese vibe. The teak looks very nice, and is the only Asian wood in the place. I would jump on that if it weren't for the fact that it's $17 a board foot. Okay, so I narrowed it down to:
Mahogany, below

Walnut, above. I went back and forth. Both hardwoods, good for furniture. Mahogany is a little cheaper. Walnut has a pretty dusky brown color. Mahogany is reddish. I decided to go for mahogany. Maybe it was that little girl in me that remembers all the pretty mahogany furniture in historic houses I've seen. Maybe I was afraid the dusky brown Walnut would look too dull in a bright carpeted room. I dunno. We'll see how it turns out. Tune in later as this thing gets off the ground. (But only by 12 inches.)