Lying lens?

This table top has been causing me a few problems lately, not the least of which was that the last frame that I made for it ended up ignominiously being consigned to the bandsaw and ultimately the land-fill. The main difficulty (and this is something I should have taken into account before) is that it's just not been made accurately...all the flats are different sizes as well as being 'out' by up to a cm across the diagonals, so it's very difficult, if in fact almost impossible to make a standard 'square' frame of any sort and expect it to fit.

So how to get round it?

I decided in the end to make a much more simple affair (it's what SWIMBO wants anyway) that would fit the top accurately, so if you look at the pic you'll see that all the underframe cross members (dotted in red and black) are actually fitted at odd skewed angles...it's no fotographic distortion! Whilst this is going to be simpler in many respects, there will still be some tricky parts because of the odd angles in the underframe.

The next awkward bit would, I hoped, go without mishap and that was the consultation with SWIMBO over the proposed design. I'm happy to say that the design has been passed by the d' management as doable and so work needs to start forthwith.

The third and final obstacle to overcome was the choice of material...oak or teak and SWIMBO opted for teak, one of my favourite timbers. The only really annoying thing about it is that it can't be stuffed through a planer/thicknesser.

Strictly speaking of course, it can...but I'd need to hone the blades every ten minutes, which quite frankly, doesn't get me overly excited. It looks like the LA Jack is going to get some serious use over the next couple of months.

....could be a long, hot summer in the 'shop.