Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Feb 20, 2008 07:33pm | #1

   I would would build the table top as a simple frame with square rather than mitered corners, just as though you were making the frame for a frame and panel cabinet door. After the frame is assembled, use a ball bearing guided rabbeting bit to create a rabbet, 1/2" to 3/4" wide, around the inside of the opening on the underside of the table.

   A piece of plywood or tile backer board will set into the rabbet, from the underside, to form a base for the tile. The ply or backer board's depth should be set so that the tile, when mortared in, will be flush with, or slightly proud of, the table's surface. I would hold the panel in the opening with continuous strips of wood, 1/2" thick and 1 1/4" wide, screwed to the underside of the table all the way around the panel's perimeter.

   If you set the tile into a cut out in a wide glued up top built like the original table, the size of the opening will vary with the humidity and create problems with the mortar lines.

   John White