(cheerful music) (cheerful music continues) - Hi, welcome to The American Woodshop.

I'm Scott Phillips.

And today it's all about games, a gaming table.

So we're going to use kind of a mid-century modern twist on creating our own.

So stay around.

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- I was out antiquing one day and I saw this and I thought, I like the lines.

And I rolled the dice, I bought it, took it home, and Suzy loved it.

And she said like it's mid-century modern twist.

And it's okay, but I wanted to make my own version of this gaming table chess, because each one of these drawers has a different game in it.

There's backgammon, there's a type of marble game.

Here's dominoes.

I mean, it's just cool, but the drawers are too small for me for all the games that we like to play.

And so I built this version.

And I've never done this before in the American Woodshop.

I'm going to deconstruct a piece and then you're going to learn how to make this using simple tools.

First off the top is MDF, medium density fiberboard that's been veneered with Red Oak.

So that's dimensionally stable that allows us to build it the way we're going to build it.

Now, these three drawers right here, not four, are actually out of Osage orange.

You don't see that every day.

So I saved that from a gentleman, Rolin Poppy, that I used to work the woods with.

God bless your soul, Rolin.

Well anyways, watch what happens.

See these White Oak legs right here and here on the corner, those are 25 1/2 inches long inch and three quarter square.

Now to make those, the best tool to use is a jointer.

And so you take rough blanks and you joint one edge running the length of the jointer, and then you rotate that newly fresh square, smooth edge against the fence of the jointer, and then you use a push block, in this case a special jig, and you joint the second edge.

Now those two edges are square to each other.

You put that edge up against the fence, join the third edge, you go to the fourth edge, join it.

As long as they're the same thickness on each surface, then your legs are square.

And that's a good thing.

Now look at this.

So this is a number 20 biscuit, okay?

And it's a wafer made out of a plywood material, textured.

And when you hit that with glue, it expands ever so slightly.

It makes that joint strong.

So it's called a biscuit joiner because you're joining pieces together.

I'll show you how to use that in just a second over here.

Now as you look at these cuts right here, and here, we need one more right there.

So this is a biscuit joiner.

See that blade four inches in diameter.

When you turn it on, (machine whirring) it makes a partial circular cut like this.

I've got a layout mark here where I can bring the biscuit joiner up.

It has a red line on the face that I line up with my layout line right over here.

And I hold this fence down and I make the cut.

(machine whirring) And it makes half of that slot to accept the number 20 biscuit.

Okay, just like that.

Now on the legs, how do you cut the leg layout mark here?

In this case, I have the mark on the top and I adjust the fence backed straight up and down like that.

And I line up my mark here with the mark on the biscuit joiner, and I make this cut holding everything flat to the table.

That's key in lining it up.

(machine whirring) And because that's going into White Oak, well, it slowed down your cut and let those chips be vacuumed away.

And so, what happens now?

We can join all those biscuit slots together.

And the cool thing is, is it lines up the surface and it's helpful to have a good rubber mallet laying around because there's a little bit of lateral adjustment allowed about an eighth of an inch.

And what could be easier?

Now get the rest of the pieces lined up here and you'll see how the carcass goes together.

So now you know how to make the cuts for all those biscuits and on the leg, the front leg.

Watch what happens here.

We bring up this side, this is the right side, and we mate these pieces together and tap 'em home.

This is called the dry fit.

That's what you want right there.

And there are three cuts here and three cuts on the back edge.

So the right side will stand just like that.

This leg will be proud.

And then I bring that up and more number 20, biscuits into the slots like that.

Have two right here.

And this would be the back right leg, okay.

So we ease that up and in on the dry fit and we tap that home.

Sometimes the biscuits swell a bit with humidity.

Now this backboard and all these boards, all these Red Oak medium density boards, were cut out at the table saw.

And the most important thing is use a good sharp blade.

You can use a 50 tooth blade, but a 40 tooth blade would give you a rough edge on this veneer.

So at least a 50 tooth blade.

And take your time as you cut this to the dimensions that you want to create the cube.

Also, you want good dust collection running the whole time.

And in this case with the guard, there's a separate dust collector running and this guard has an intake for dust collection that makes a big difference.

Now see these slots right here, how it lines up?

This is going to be the back piece.

And I line that up like so.

Then this is the back left leg.

And you can see biscuits left and right, three each side.

And some people would say, "Well, that's not how I'd do it."

Well, go to our social media sites and share how you would do it.

This is a really great way to do it because it's easy and you just really need a biscuit joiner to make this all happen.

So now, this is the left side and we're getting ready to tap that home.

And so one final piece is the very bottom, and this front trim board will be glued in here.

All these joints get glue, but I want to do the test fit first.

So once all the glue starts to set, I can click all these parts together and get clamps on it.

And we want one more biscuit in there, but we'll line that right up like that, clicks home.

One more little adjustment there.

And I have to bring this all forward so that it all locks in.

So that all tests out.

So I'll take this apart, that looks really good, and I will get glue in those joints and put clamps on it.

And once that starts to cure out, it's time to do a road trip.

Where's this new project going?

You aren't going to believe this story.

Now I'm excited.

I'm here with TJ Keplinger.

Now tell us the name of this place and what you're working on, TJ.

- This is Keplinger Camper Rentals and Service Center, and we are building this awesome adventure trailer.

- Okay.

And I call this the American Woodshop Land lab.

How long, what are the dimensions here?

- 7 by 14.

- Okay.

And what's going to happen with this?

The non-profit that I've organized, we're going to be planting trees like Johnny Appleseed throughout Ohio, and this is going to help us with that.

So it's going to have a full compliment of things inside that you won't believe.

But right now it's bare bones.

And let's walk up into this so people can see this.

Now, this is a heavy duty outfit.

How much weight can this carry - Up to 7,000, right around there?

Yeah.

7,500.

- With a dual axle.

And that's important because remember, this is a working land lab, which means I'm going to be rolling up four wheelers with tree planting gear on it.

There'll be times a year we're carrying trees down the road.

But right up here, TJ, you're going to fix this up so we can camp in this and stay on site.

And what's going in here?

- You'll have a furnace, you'll have a sink up here, we'll have custom built cabinets.

- Okay.

And of course, a combustible commode.

- Yes, with a toilet.

Yeah.

- Okay.

And so AC's going in the room?

- AC, yep.

We'll have six LED lights to light it up really well.

You'll have a bunk system over here where two bunks fold down and then a fold down table over here.

- In other words, I can live in this thing, if I get in the doghouse.

- Yes.

- Okay, that's important.

And then yesterday they put up the insulation.

So this is insulated all the way around.

And all the wiring, it's going to be DC and AC with solar assist.

And you know Johnny Appleseed did it with just a sack full of seeds.

The American Woodshop is going to do it with this before I'm done in the next 30 years.

Yes, I'm going to make 100.

And we're going to plant over a million trees for landowners throughout Ohio because of this rig.

So we'll be back when you're close to having it wrapped up.

- Yep.

- Can't thank you enough for all your on this.

- Thanks, Scott.

Really appreciate it.

- And you know, it's worth every penny.

This is a dream come true to me.

Thank you.

- Well, thank you.

- You bet.

- Really appreciate it.

So how do you like my land lab?

I'm thinking it's going to shape up pretty well.

You'll see more on that at the end of this series.

So now the case is all glued up for the drawers, and it's 15 1/2 inches square.

And I have the drawer fronts here.

That's the Osage orange.

Wait until I get a finish on that really cool grain.

And so, I'm doing three drawers.

And to build the drawers, something different.

This is very easy to do and it's strong.

I've used this technique a lot.

And just one number 20 biscuit here in the end.

And this is the backboard right here that draws it nice and tight.

And then the sideboards that lay down.

And then you see the slots here for the biscuits to square into, right.

Okay.

But here's the deal.

We have to take that apart.

And on the bottom edge all the way around, we have to take that to the table saw and first score one pass 3/8 of an inch up from the bottom edge on all the boards.

Then move the rip fence and then score another pass, which matches the dimension of the quarter inch plywood, which is nominal.

It's not quite a quarter of an inch.

And by doing this technique, we get a perfect bottom for all the drawers.

So off to the table saw we go.

This is sideboard, this is a backboard now, straight from the table saw.

And another sideboard right there.

Nice piece of birch.

Best grain up.

So when you open the drawer gives you a good look.

Slide it into that groove, line everything up.

That looks really good right there.

This sticks out just the right amount.

Here's the Osage orange with number 20 biscuits that go into the mating slot just like that.

And the plywood's a bit warped, so you have to fuss with it a bit.

But naturally all of that gets glued.

But before I take this out and glue it, I want to make sure everything fits just right.

You'd want it to be just exactly like that.

Now here are the hard maple glides, no fancy hardware glides required for this.

And you take a rule and nice and thin and you bring it up and you lay your glides on top of the rule.

And then on the side of the case you use some thick viscosity super glue with the glides, okay.

That looks good right there.

And you don't need a lot.

You need just enough to hold it in place to do this trick right here.

You take the activator.

You do a quick blast with that, and you hold the glide on top of the rule and you press that maple glide with the rule under it to give you spacing up against the side of the cabinet and you remove the rule.

And that thickness right there is exactly the spacing you need for this drawer to work properly left and right.

Now that's there to stay temporarily, meaning that glue by itself would get brittle and break out.

I'm doing this on the other side, but this is the best way to space the glides so that the drawer on top is going to mate up with the grain on the drawer on the bottom.

So, same deal on the other side.

And it's the little tricks that make a big difference.

And what I'll do is come back in and drill countersunk holes and put screws into these glides three screws carefully selected.

Now I count to one, two, three, four, five holding that piece in place then I ease that out, okay.

I know from experience if you don't do that, you can glue your rule in and it'd be embarrassing.

You don't want to do that, especially if your wife's around.

Don't do this when your wife's around 'cause accidents happen.

So now those are positioned perfectly.

No fancy measuring required.

So up to the work bench now to do this glue up, and this one's already done.

I used some nice walnut veneer to dress up a piece of plywood just because you can.

But you can see glue behind the face of the front board, glue on the ends of the backboard.

And if you get a little bit of squeeze out, that's good.

Let it dry and then use a chisel or a card scraper to scrape it off in about an hour's time before it gets super hard.

So I'm going to pull this apart and put glue in the slots.

And these biscuits do swell up with humidity.

So you have to get vice grips to get 'em out.

No glue in there yet.

But I will get this other drawer all glued up.

And when you're doing the glue up, you always put about four drops of glue into each of the biscuit slots each side.

And then you brush out a little extra glue around the mating face.

That's called sizing the joint, just an acid brush to get that done.

So we'll get this glued up, clamped up, make sure it's square and use same technique to get all the other draw glides in place.

We'll get this done.

(cheerful music) And that's how easy it is to do a glue up.

So I'll let that cure out for another half an hour.

And while this bottom drawer is right out, this is the middle one.

And just like I said, I pre-drilled pilot holes and in the sides of the maple glides that we tacked in place with the cyanoacrylate adhesive.

We now have a place with this front edge dropping down ever so slightly to put the middle drawer, which slides perfectly, okay.

And then what we can do is use that rule trick again.

We bring up the rule.

Actually this is the thinner one.

I want it to be nice and tight.

And we bring up two identical maple glides.

Here in the magic of television we've zoomed this 30 hour project down to less than half an hour.

And what we're going to do is take it outside to finish it because of vapors will be non-existent out there.

And what I'm doing is just putting these cleats in left and right so that it holds two things.

It holds this drawer, which fits perfectly.

And look at that grain.

I love that.

And don't put the hardware on yet because you don't want drips and runs around those holes.

We're going to finish at first, but then let's talk about the top.

Now, this entire project was made out of MDF architectural grade Red Oak veneer, and it's 7/8 of an inch thick.

It's very stable dimensionally.

So it doesn't expand and contract.

So that's why we could do the glue ups without worrying about the grain blowing out a joint.

So right across the top of this cleat, there are screw holes.

And I'll screw this top from the bottom left and right liberally to hold this in place.

21 by 19.

So here's how it goes.

See this iron on edge banding?

And you don't want old edge banding.

Get the new stuff, the glue's going to work a lot better.

Just lay it out, iron it on.

When you come to a corner with the veneer hot, you bend it right around the corner.

Don't cut it and try to match it.

Bend it right on and then iron it on the rest of the way.

And then you can use just a trimmer to ease off the veneer that's overlapping.

And then a little bit of sanding and you tack it clean and then it's on to finishing.

Now the top that's been edge banded is secured to these cleats left and right, that also act as the drawer glides.

And you can see that Suzy's with us, the pro finisher.

- Hello.

- How do you like those apples?

Now look at this.

She's gone ahead and wiped this on.

What did you use for this finish to get this look?

- Danish oil.

And we've got 90% golden oak and 10% walnut.

- Okay?

And all this has been sanded.

That's my job.

And she's ready to finish.

So go ahead and start brushing that out.

- All right.

- And she's working with the grain and I'm getting out of the line of fire.

That's right.

- Okay.

No splashes on these expensive safety glasses.

There you go.

- There you go.

Oh, this is beautiful.

- So I'm going to let her give you a couple tips and I'm going to go get the granite top.

'cause once this dries, and why are we doing this?

If we're going to put granite on it?

It seals the wood, it's just going to do a better job.

Maybe down the road.

We don't want to use a granite.

- Yeah, the oak is absolutely beautiful.

- Well, let's show it right here.

- Yes, look at that.

Whew.

- So this is Red Oak.

All the big panels that have been veneered, it's Red Oak, the rest of it is White Oak.

- Beautiful.

- So I'll go get the granite top.

- All right.

So I'm just going to continue to brush this out, going with the grain, doing a nice even coat.

And boy, it's just bringing out the beautiful grain and the Red Oak.

And I love the mix of the Red Oak and White Oak that he did.

It's just a beautiful, beautiful combination.

And the Osage orange drawers, and this is just going on great.

I'll get around the edges and we've got a beautiful table.

I love a good Danish oil.

All right.

Now that the work's done, it's time to have some fun.

- Ooh, it is fun.

And this is one of the best games going.

- What's taking you so long?

Come on.

- Ah, this is a little bit shaky at this point.

- Oh, come on.

You're a professional.

- Okay.

No, the true test of whether or not my woodworking is up to snuff, can I remove a drawer and put it back in without knocking the Jenga tower over?

Here's the question.

Yes, one handed.

Perfect fit.

- Nice.

-Look at that.

Okay.

So we have the game table for the ages.

Granite top, why?

Because we can be hard on things.

Can't we, Suzy?

- Oh, yes.

- Bring it.

- Let's see what sort of game- Jiminy.

Oh, oh my goodness.

Oh, oh, oh, yeah.

- Oh, oh.

- Now, let's see what you got.

So that's it for this week from The American Woodshop.

The game table with three drawers.

Hard to beat.

And why do you make your own things?

because they're one of a kind and it's fun.

So get to your wood shop, whatever you do.

- And have some fun.

See ya.

- Uh-oh.

- Oh!

Oh!

- Victory!

- I hate losing.

- Nice.

- That was fun.

- [Announcer] Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(dramatic music) - [Announcer] Pro tools for tool pros.

(dramatic music) Rikon Tools.

- [Announcer] "Woodcraft Magazine", projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf, Swedish Silicon Steel, bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- [Announcer] A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home.

The furniture bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information about The American Woodshop, you can watch free episodes 24/7 on our website and you can find us on these social media platforms.

(cheerful music) (cheerful music continues)