With all of the different pieces finished, it was now time to put them all together and make a table! I began the process by giving everything a thorough sanding. It's a lot easier to sand individual pieces than trying to wrestle an entire table.
With the pieces sanded, I began by attaching the legs. Although wood glue would have been strong enough to attach the legs, I didn't have any good way to clamp them. In addition, at this time I thought I was still under the gun time-wise (the contest deadline ended up getting extended by a month), and I didn't want to let the project sit for eight hours while wood glue dried. So, I decided to use 5 minute epoxy to attach the legs. That way I only had to hold each leg in place for a few minutes until the glue set, and it would be plenty strong.
Using the epoxy is a little more difficult than wood glue, but not too bad. You squeeze out equal amounts of the glue and catalyst, mix it for a couple minutes until it's good and blended, then smear the glue in place with an applicator. I used a wood scrap as an applicator. I did have to use a different applicator for each leg, as by the time the glue was set on one leg, the applicator had firmly fastened itself to the scrap of plastic I was using to mix the epoxy.
Dealing with epoxy squeeze is a little different than with wood glue. With wood glue you can just take a damp rag and wipe away the excess. With epoxy, I had to wait until the glue was slightly firm (but not too firm!) then use an X-acto knife to trim it away.
With the legs attached, I could attach the birdcage to the top of the column with a screw and two washers. The larger washer goes between the birdcage and the column to prevent them from rubbing together.
I simply screwed the birdcage bottom in place. A drop of CA (superglue) in the column hole keeps the screw from turning when the table is rotated.
Before the top of the birdcage is attached, I first cut a mortise in the bottom of the table top where the hinge would attach. Here's a shot of the test fit:
At this time I also drilled the holes and mounted the latch.
Now I could screw the birdcage top to the bottom of the birdcage assembly.
Finally, I attached the column assembly to the top via the hinge.
And here it is, the assembled tilt-top table. All it needs now is a finish, and we're done!
The assembly is done. Return to the completed pictures.
Or you can return to the page where we built the top.
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This page last updated on 06/28/2018