How to make a round dining table with hand tools?

[tibi]

Hello,

As I am in the middle of building a king-sized bed for our master bedroom, my wife already wished that the next thing should be a round dining table. It will be 120 - 130 cm in the perimeter. I can use a nail, batten and a pencil to draw a circle, but what is the best strategy to cut out the wood, if I do not have a power router? I have not seen it done with hand tools.

First I will create some tangent lines to the circle and saw the waste away. Then I would need to round somehow the tangent edges to the line so that the cut is perpendicular to the top face of the table. What is the best tool for the job? No.4 or spokeshave or drawknife? How it was done historically?

I do not know if I am brave enough to do it like this guy

Thank you.

 

[pe2dave]

How's your patience? A plane (#4 sounds right). Just keep at it, one segment at a time? find a way to hold the top so you're working comfortably.
Good question, how did they do it last century.

 

[Jacob]

A turning frame or bow saw Frame saw or bow saw, what's the difference? - Paul Sellers' Blog i.e. you can turn the blade in the frame.
Thicker the wood the coarser the TPI.
Tighter the turn the narrower the blade.
Cut the radius on board ends as close as you can, before you join them.
Finish with spokeshave - doesn't have to be curved. Or draw knife etc other tools depending on what you've got.
https://www.google.com/search?q=tur...me&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_j8KxYtPyHYKA8gLd-4WoAw16

 

[tibi]

A turning frame or bow saw Frame saw or bow saw, what's the difference? - Paul Sellers' Blog i.e. you can turn the blade in the frame.
Thicker the wood the coarser the TPI.
Tighter the turn the narrower the blade.
Cut the radius on board ends as close as you can, before you join them.
Finish with spokeshave - doesn't have to be curved. Or draw knife etc other tools depending on what you've got.
https://www.google.com/search?q=tur...me&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_j8KxYtPyHYKA8gLd-4WoAw16

Thank you Jacob,

I will try the frame saw.

 

[thetyreman]

cut off the big pieces (corners) with a standard handsaw, the refine it with drawknife and chisels final finish with a spokeshave, you could also use rasps, like the japanese shinto rasp is really rapid at removing loads of wood.

 

[tibi]

cut off the big pieces with a standard handsaw, the refine it with drawknife and chisels final finish with a spokeshave, you could also use rasps, like the japanese shinto rasp is really rapid at removing loads of wood.

This is a rare event when I can say that I have all the tools required, even the Shinto rasp I will be doing it no sooner than in August, so I will see then.

 

[Droogs]

The guy in the video is using power tools rather than hand tools. If you want to make it using hand tools then get a compass plane and a hand fret/scroll saw (looks like a coping saw but with a much deeper frame up to 24"). Use the fret saw to get a rough shape fairly close to your marked diameter line and then finish up with the compass plane with the sole set to the arc of the diameter you want.

 

[tibi]

The guy in the video is using power tools rather than hand tools. If you want to make it using hand tools then get a compass plane and a hand fret/scroll saw (looks like a coping saw but with a much deeper frame up to 24"). Use the fret saw to get a rough shape fairly close to your marked diameter line and then finish up with the compass plane with the sole set to the arc of the diameter you want.

This is not power tools vs hand tools now for me. I just wanted to use what I actually have. I can use jigsaw as well. It will be slow, but it will get the job done. I need to produce this rather quickly and then I will experiment more with hand tool-only approach for smaller projects. I would rather use the spokeshave as I would have very limited use for a compass plane for future projects and I do not want to buy it just for this job.

 

[TRITON]

Buy a router.
If you're into this kind of thing and enjoy making bits of furniture in wood, a router is invaluable.

Don't struggle. It's fun to make stuff, but if its just offering up problem after problem it will kill the enjoyment, put you off starting more advanced projects, and limit your potential creativity.

 

[Jacob]

You can make a large round table with thin boards, say 20mm, very easily if you do the classic design - basically a 4 piece frame screwed on (no glue!) with slots for movement and the m&t joints between them also loose, which extends to 4 equal points around the rim but without actually touching the apron.
The apron separately constructed in two or more layers segmented and veneered, also screwed on (no glue!)
Saves a lot of wood and work, dimensionally more stable (allows for movement), much lighter than the modern tendency towards massive timbers, can be tilted if on a pedestal.
Still a good design if you don't have a pedestal e.g. sub frame with 4 legs etc

PS table picture from the net, nowt to do with me

 

[Jacob]

This is not power tools vs hand tools now for me. I just wanted to use what I actually have. I can use jigsaw as well. It will be slow, but it will get the job done. I need to produce this rather quickly and then I will experiment more with hand tool-only approach for smaller projects. I would rather use the spokeshave as I would have very limited use for a compass plane for future projects and I do not want to buy it just for this job.

Compass planes aren't very common because there's nothing you can do with them which you can't do with more ordinary tools.

 

[TRITON]

Compass planes aren't very common because there's nothing you can do with them which you can't do with more ordinary tools.

I'd love to see you plane the inside of a barrel with a bench plane Jacob

Anyway, I think in truth these planes were more carriage makers tools, when curvy inside shapes and faces were more prevalent.

 

[tibi]

Buy a router.
If you're into this kind of thing and enjoy making bits of furniture in wood, a router is invaluable.

Don't struggle. It's fun to make stuff, but if its just offering up problem after problem it will kill the enjoyment, put you off starting more advanced projects, and limit your potential creativity.

I do not want to go that way. The sound of a router kills the enjoyment for me, but everyone is different. Morticing with a router is a breeze compared to a chisel, so it has large benefits, but it is just not for me.

 

[tibi]

You can make a large round table with thin boards, say 20mm, very easily if you do the classic design - basically a 4 piece frame screwed on (no glue!) with slots for movement and the m&t joints between them also loose, which extends to 4 equal points around the rim but without actually touching the apron.
The apron separately constructed in two or more layers segmented and veneered, also screwed on (no glue!)
Saves a lot of wood and work, dimensionally more stable (allows for movement), much lighter than the modern tendency towards massive timbers, can be tilted if on a pedestal.
Still a good design if you don't have a pedestal e.g. sub frame with 4 legs etc

View attachment 138072

I am going to build a sub frame with 4 tapered square legs or round legs, depending on which design will my wife like better (as it is her order) and I do not mind both versions. I would love to include a drawer for cutlery as well. I will then surely ask people here on the forums how to make proper drawer runners and guides so that it will work with my design.

 

[dzj]

Historically?
Possibly a lathe. With some kind of faceplate attachment.

 

[TRITON]

Historically?
Possibly a lathe.

That would likely be a pole lathe.

Can't have the sound of that whirring motor breaking the peaace and quiet.

 

[Wood4me]

…… before I explain the method I used ; is the use of a belt sander acceptable?

 

[Terry - Somerset]

There are two approaches - plywood sheet would mean the table top would need no joins as it could be cut from one sheet. Edge can be refined by sticking on a rim. Could be veneered or stained.

Alternative is to use "proper" wood with the complexities this brings - warping, moisture content, grain direction, joints used etc.

Modern approach for DIY would unquestionably be a router, rotated around a screw centre. Possibly around block fixed with double sided tape or veneer would cover the hole. No problems with joints, differential expansion and contraction, grain direction etc.

Hand tools would be much slower and need a much higher level of skill to produce a satisfactory quality. Planes, spokeshaves, abrasives, saws all cut wood so it is a question of what tools are available and sharp enough.

In days gone by the apprentice may have spent years refining skills, work holding and technique to deliver at both speed and quality. Tackling a job like this for the first time is likely to be more of a "learning experience".

 

[morqthana]

If you could somehow schlep back in time with power tools and a way to make them work, and show Thomas Chippendale or William Trotter how a skilled craftsman could turn out equally fine furniture but at a faster rate, I wonder what they would say?

 

[Adam W.]

Make boards up, scribe circle, chop the corners off and make an octagon, then plane it round.

All done by hand....

Before carving.