Building a Mid Century Dining Room Table

How we made a mid-century dining room table in our garage.
Materials:
Top: 1 sheet 1/2 MDF walnut vaneer
Top:1/2 sheet 1/4 " MDF
Legs: 1/2" solid walnut.
Rails: 3/4" poplar
Table Dimensions:
Width 42"
Length 84"
Height 29"
Narration:
My youngest daughter asked me if it would be cheaper to buy a table from Target or if we could make one. I happened to have a good bit of walnut left over from a job so we decided to make one. She wanted it to be “mid century” which we used to call "modern." Either way walnut is a good choice for modern/mid-century style furniture.
Size was really important to them so we cut the top really big 42 " wide by 84" long That is right on the outside edge of what is recommended as normal so if you're making one I’d suggest a few inches smaller especially on the width. The height was a standard 29"
I used a ½" walnut vaneer on MDF because I had it on hand. That would not be my first choice if I was going out and purchasing I'd by a ¾ “ plywood with a walnut vaneer. If you're up to the task and can afford it you can use solid walnut but that’s a lot more expensive and a lot more work. Plywood is a good choice for beginners and it looks great and is a lot more stable.
To determine the shape and size of the legs and how they would be attached I laid things out full size on a scrap piece of 1/4" MDF. This is a really good practice when you are unsure about how things are going to look. Once I knew how the legs were going to be shaped I put together a simple tapering jig to cut them at an 8 degree angle on my table saw. Once again, I had some ½ walnut on hand that I used and which I laminated together to make the legs a full 1” in thickness.
Because I used ½ material for the top I needed to make it look thicker so I cut some 10” wide strips of MDF and glued and stapled them to the bottom side of my top. That made the top look like ¾.” Of course, I needed to make sure I wasn’t letting those staples go through the top. So I used ½ staples.
I cut rails to attach the legs out of poplar 3” wide and used my miter box to cut 45 degrees on the end of each rail. Along the top edge of all the rails I made slots to accommodate the hardware I decided to use for attaching the top. This type of hardware is really important if you are using a solid wood top because it allows for expansion and contraction of the wood. However, sheet goods expand and contract very little. A ¾ “ sheet of plywood will expand across a 4 foot span only about 1/20 of an inch which is not enough to give you problems later on. Those little top hold down clips come with 5/8” screws you can use for attaching your rails to the top.
The corner blocks were make from 1 1/2" poplar that I screwed on from the outside with 2” wood screws. I wanted those legs to fit nice and tight so I worked my way around the table attaching the rails to the blocks using the legs for a spacer as I went. Because the table was so big I put an extra rail down the middle. If there was any crown to the rail I put that crown up. To attach the legs, I held them in position and drilled through my pilot hole in the block. Then I removed the legs and drilled a hole to accommodate the screw/bolts I was using. I screwed in the screw bolt. Then I enlarged the hole in the block and attached the legs with large washers and a nut. I ended up lettering each leg because each one was a little different.
Walnut edge banding went around the edges. I used and regular iron, a roller and a soft sanding block to press the banding in place while it quickly cooled. The banding is somewhat flexible so if you do it right it will bend and stick around the corners with no problems. The safest way to trim the extra edge banding off is by sand it. You can try a flush cutting bit on a trim router or using an edge banding trimmer but that could damage a delicate vaneer.
I finished it with natural Watco brand Danish oil finish and finally sprayed it with 4 coats of satin laquer.
The finished product looked great so we all sat down and enjoyed a some BBQ from our favorite place.