Pie crust table top

Archibald | Posted in General Discussion on December 2, 2007 01:41am

I have some wide-board walnut and I’d like to make it into a round pie-crust style table top. Can anyone recommend a book or article that covers this process? Or can anyone whose done it offer a quick run through of how to do it.

Replies

danmart | Dec 02, 2007 04:17am | #1
I have a couple older books on lay out instructions. I'll try to dig them up and get back to you. I have done them in the old days on the lathe. Now I see lots of guys using a simple jig(lonnie bird "shaping wood" with a router. In the end, you still need the lathe to turn the center spindle.

I'm sure there are guys on the knots list that will have inputs.

Found a site with some interesting designs/ideas.

http://www.woodcentral.com/shots/shot699.shtml

I believe I got my first lay out from an Andy Marlow feature in an early FWW?? Someone out there that's smart at index searching might find the article in a second. I'm slow.

dan

BenM | Dec 02, 2007 07:52pm | #5
As already mentioned, Issue 67 has a good article. It's by Eugene Landon and he definitely knows his stuff. A pretty good step-by-step book is this one:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?r=1&ean=9780887406164

joinerswork | Dec 03, 2007 03:55am | #8
Ben,

So there is no misunderstanding, I wasn't referring to the esteemed Mr Landon, but that other hack.

Ray

Napie | Dec 02, 2007 05:04am | #2
There have been a couple of articles on it in FWW over the years. I'll look in some back issues for them.
joinerswork | Dec 02, 2007 05:40pm | #3
Archie,

If you can get back issues, #67 had an article by some joker on this topic. The short version is that the outline of the piecrust edge is typically eight segments. There is a short section of the "original" circular perimeter, interrupted by a serpentine profile flanked by a pair of semi-circular cutouts. Some old tables have as few as six, or as many as ten repeats, and there are also variations with shells or other carved ornaments between the repeating proflies. Thickness of a typical top is probably 1 1/8" or so, but really, whatever your stock can accomodate, from maybe 7/8" to 1 1/4". Thinner tops will require more care to keep flat, there is a real danger of running a screw thru the top when applying the battens, and the piecrust edge must of necessity be less "tall" . About 1/4" is a minimum depth to shoot for in dishing out the top, 5/16" would be better, particularly if a larger diameter top, 3/8" may be the max. It is surprising how effective a relatively shallow molded edge is, and of course, the carving goes faster, the less of it there is to do! In old work I've seen, the molding is relatively wider than it is deep; the "fillet" that raises the cove portion from the dished -out surface is little more than a scribed line in many instances, and the height of the 1/4-5/16" wide bead that finishes the top edge might be 3/32" or so. This on a mold that is perhaps an 1"-1 1/8" in width.

I made a pattern for the profile, and sawed it out, then routed the depth of the dished out portion. (When making the pattern, be sure and go ahead and draw the cove and bead of the molding, not just the outline that looks "right" to you. The radii of the various arc that make up the serpentine get larger and smaller as you go from the edge of the top to the dished out surface. What looks like a good curve at the edge may well be too tight on the inside-- or too straight.) Routing seems easier to me than turning the dish away, particularly for a larger top, as the top tends to want to move as all that stock is removed from one side. If you are routing, you can hold the top flat, with battens or cauls, but if the top moves while it is in the lathe, you are in a vicious circle that keeps getting thinner and thinner...

I also routed the "step" for the fillet dividing the bead from the cove. This is probably not needed, as it is just about as easy to carve it in to depth "by eye" as you go along.

Carving is pretty straight forward. Let the profile of your gouge determine the shape of the cove, and just be mindful of the ever changing grain direction as you go around.

Ray

saschafer | Dec 02, 2007 07:43pm | #4
"If you can get back issues, #67 had an article by some joker on this topic."

Oh, I don't know if I'd trust any articles by that joker. He's a known punster. He probably made his piecrust table out of flour, butter and shortening.

-Steve

joinerswork | Dec 03, 2007 03:41am | #7
steve,

Graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. I'm a real sweetie.

Ray

DonC | Dec 03, 2007 07:47am | #9
Hi Ray,

For routing the depth on a job like this, I like to use a router bit referred to as a tray bit. It has carbide on the bottom on the bit as well as vertical. This style bit helps eliminate the little micro-steps you get with straight bits when routing out the recess.

joinerswork | Dec 03, 2007 03:37pm | #11
Don,

Will keep that in mind for next time.

Ray

DonC | Dec 03, 2007 05:12pm | #12
I read you article in #67. Very well written and informative.

joinerswork | Dec 04, 2007 01:33am | #14
Don,

Oh, that old thing? Thanks for the kind words.

Ray

BOBABEUI | Dec 02, 2007 10:13pm | #6
How about 'Making a Piecrust Tea Table' by Tom Heller and Ron Clarkson, Schiffler Press, ISBN 0-88740-616-5. The book is a step-by-step guide with pictures and patterns. I think it cost ~$20.

Good luck
philip | Dec 03, 2007 11:32am | #10
Arch, if you would like to make it via the turning method there is a nice little lathe ideal for the job on eBay right now-check it out-item 290186653337.(;)

Philip Marcou
Bradbird | Dec 03, 2007 06:16pm | #13
Archie,

Definetly and thanks for asking...how ya been..I'm just keepin busy. Hey, wow, where to start? for the pie crust top I'd start with possibly the Porter Cable router with a squart circular butt bit. I used to cut the seperate designs by hand until I chipped away at the old pinky. Neverless try it once. My uncle used a widdlespoon and ancient hack piece but they are harder and harder to find. Crimson circles are now the most difficult. If using your own molds I would hesitate and purchase some at Hobby Lobby, Woodcraft etc. Leave enough time for bringing back design features and move on it when necessary. Hope it helps...hang in there.

Talk atcha later

Bradbird