[JackDuren]

I haven't decided if I will do the Zombie or not. To do the Zombie I have to spend a little money, if I don't I'll build with what's in the shop. The chip tray will be walnut, the question will be Ash for the outer ring, Cherry or a padded rail.. I try not to get locked into one wood as it dominates too much. I DO NOT LIKE WALNUT OR ASH, but will try and use walnut and the some of the 8/4 Ash up. I'm not so much in to spray anymore either. I have one of the two HB sprayers cleaned and working. Right now I think S&W precast is around $40 a gal and I don't think they sell the poly anymore..

So things have changed since I built the last poker tables. Material prices have increased. Online now is the way to find hardware. I'm older, slower and much dumber than in the past. So have a lil patience with me on this build.

So to start I stopped construction of the Texas Hole table. I really don't want a 10 man table in my rec room( later build)I intend for this to fold next to a wall and a 10 man table takes alot of space on a wall. 8 person is rather large and the 6 feels right. I'm not really a Texas Holden plater but platy because everyone else does. I prefer dealer calls games.

I had a 6 many table already started from years ago and rather than start a completely new one, I reused what I have. I numbered and removed the oak chip trays , center pin and layed to the side. The plywood looks a little ignored so I had to sand it smooth. #1... the plywood is still flat after all these years.

 

[JackDuren]

Things I have to think about…

#1...Money in this project.
#2...space. I have limited space.
#3...holdem table take 10 chairs. This would be a problem for storage. 6 would be better
#4...it must fold up.
#5...I may build the walnut/cherry table and let it fund the Zombie table..
#6...been out of the game for awhile, trying to get back into it..

 

[JackDuren]

Why I keep old patterns?

I'll reuse a radius from a previous Yin and Yang build.

 

[JackDuren]

First step after removing and sanding is putting painters plastic on the top.

 

[JackDuren]

So I'm gonna have to clip the corner of my jig. . I use Bosch T101B blades almost all the time. have bulk of three clamps for glue ups but I need 2.5 and up. The 2" squeeze clamps are out. This is where k Body and pipe clamps don't have much value.

 

[JackDuren]

K Body and pipe clamps not much value?

Daddy has been tappin into my college fund to buy K Body's

 

[JackDuren]

With the corners clipped and the center block reinstalled I can put the router on and test for center of radius..

 

[JackDuren]

The pattern lays on the plastic . This gives me a protective barrier from glue between the plywood and walnut radius. Because 8 need to break this pattern loose from the form, I will install painters paper as a second barrier protection in case I rip the first plastic barrier.,it's not hard to tear thin plastic or paper, but better to have double protection.

I have three temp clamps on. I will in lock one at a time and slip the paper underneath working around as to not disturb center and have to relocate it. Tape anything loose so you don't tear later.

 

[JackDuren]

have a lot of 8/4 walnut scraps ranging from 12"- 50" long. Some of these range from 2" wide to 13" wide. Some have knots, some not.

I just recently installed the Unisaw sp litter on my saw. I bought saw 20+ years ago and just now tried to install the factory splitter. After some modification to the outfeed table I finally got it installed. The longest part of process it's the manipulating of the table and alignment. I stopped once before because of the long installment.
I finally got it on and aligned.

 

[JackDuren]

Remember..... "Older, slower and dumber "

After all the years working in shops without any splitters or riving knife and no longer under the influence of production I thought this is the best thing I could do next to stopping woodworking altogether to protect myself. I now had a blade protect , anti kickback paws and a splitter. This was great for cutting sheet goods but not for cutting 1/4 scribe with short boards. I end up taking the splitter off , taking a hammer and knocking the pins out to remove all the extra stuff from the splitter. I now have a naked splitter.

 

[JackDuren]

With the pattern secured to the table to prevent warpage as I glue pieces and the splitter installed.

I will add this. Years of watching woodworkers post start and finish pictures A, B and then Z without completing the alhebet inbetween left me with the impression they #1.. Don't think k it's important, #2 Don't care if you learn anything, #3 .... Not worth their time , #4 ... Need you to think they are perfect and don't make mistakes or the usual " I made my mistakes, now it's your turn"

I feel the more details and photos you involve in a project the more a new worker can learn. He/she can decide it if takes more tooling than they have or more work than the have allowed for.. You have to allow for mistakes, complete project failures, etc.

What you get out of of a project depends on what your willing to put into it..

 

[JackDuren]

Your only as good as the mistakes you fix.

 

[JackDuren]

I cut up as much at one time to get started using smaller and some larger boards.Ran the boards through the planer on both side starting with 3/16 on one side and finishing the other side at around a hair larger than 1/8.. Some boards off the tablesaw were flat amd straight, but rough sawn and when they went thru the planer not all of the rough came off. These pieces are " no good". You also have to watch snipe as well on the planer. We will address this on the build a bit later

 

[JackDuren]

In order not to glue the strips to the pattern I will used tape at the joints to prevent this.

 

[JackDuren]

On each radius I try and go a few longer pieces, then shorter. This gives me time to put smaller pieces inbetween the longer pieces without interrupting the seams as much. I'll wait an hour on smaller and an hour in the the larger, but I'll start a few inches in with a smaller opiece allowing time for other sections to dry as I go.

As I mentioned before.." Older , Slower and Dumber". I make mistakes, even our hero's of woodworking David Marks, Sam Maloof, etc make mistakes. I'm not perfect and neither are they. If they ever said they didn't make mistakes I'd say" liar, liar pants on fire" with a Jim Carrey grin.

On the inside radius laminations pieces at the end get tight. The more pieces the more tired and lazy you get. I cut this piece and decided it was a good oportunity to show how atleast I will fix this. I have plenty of smaller pieces I've cut off as I go. From a sliver to 1". I keep them around till the job is complete.

Here I have a small gap. About 1/8. I could have recut the piece but the radius is so busy you would be never notice.

 

[JackDuren]

The goal..

 

[JackDuren]

The glue I'm using is older. The TB2 is atleast 5 years old and is before they started dating in 2019. I believe the TB- is 3 years old...

 

[JackDuren]

Starting the second stage of the chip ring. First piece will have no glue followed by glue. The scribe is thinner this time around as the radius gets tighter.

 

[JackDuren]

Give you an idea what’s invoked in 1/8 laminations…

 

[JackDuren]

I'm at about 3 3/4 now. Goal is 4.5 on the second ring with a beauty ring to follow., Hard part is the chip cutout.

2-3 more days. This is the where you'll need the most patience...