The Panels - Completion

As of last post the panels were built but they still need some mortises for assembly.  The first is to excavate a quarter inch recess on the underside of the panel for where the mounting plates will be let in.  The original templates used to create the panels also had the mounting plate profiles so they were held in place with double sided tape again and the perimeter defined with a quarter inch bit.  

Verifying Depth of Perimeter Routing

Perimeter Routed and Template Removed

Once the perimeter was defined the template was removed and a half inch bit was used to remove the remainder of the waste.  It is a little bit painful to watch all that beautiful veneer disappear after having so recently applied it. 

Recess Completely Excavated

The panels also need alignment slots and tabs.  I will be installing custom milled solid brass inserts which will mate with each other and help ensure that the panels are aligned with one another and also help support each other. The slots are 3/8 of an inch deep, 1/2 an inch tall and 3.5 inches long.  To create the mortises a rabbetting bit was used and a jig to control the length of the cut was built.  The jig references to the ends of the panels to make sure that the positions of the mortises remains consistent time after time.

Template and Mortise on a Panel

All the Mortises for the Alignment Inserts

The panels are now ready for sanding.  Oh my gosh soooo much sanding.  I spent three days listening to country music on the radio over the weekend but when it came to sanding, country music just wasn`t cutting it anymore.  I had to switch things up so I decided to go to some techno.  This led to a good friend at work discovering perhaps the best woodworking pun I have yet heard.  Simply the name of a song - Sandstorm, by Da Rude.  Nuff said. 

Once the sanding was complete it was time to add some edging to the perimeter of the panels.  This serves a couple purposes.  The edging protects the fragile end grain of the panels from some of the wear and tear that could prematurely affect the table.  The fact that I was able to use of beautiful ebony for this detail adds just a little punch visually as it really helps frame the table.  

The edging is just a little over 1é8 of an inch square.  The rabbett for its insertion was made with a trim router and the oversize edging was then clamped into place with masking tape.  

Trimming the Ebony Edging to Length

Routing the Rabbett for the Edging

Clamping the Edging with Masking Tape

All the Panels with Edging in Place

Once the edging has been glued in place the tape is removed and the edging needs to be flushed to the panels.  The trim router was used bring the ebony close to flush, then a scraper card to finish the flushing process.  The edges of the card scraper were taped to prevent scratching the veneer surface.  

Once trimmed flush the area was lightly sanded to blend the surfaces with the existing finish. 

Flush Trimming the Ebony

Using the Scraper Card to Finish off the Flushing

The Finished Edge

The Panels Mocked up in Their Places with Ebony Edging