How To Join Wood Planks For A Table Top? – Ultimate Guide

Making a table top is much easier than what you might think. In fact, it’s one of the simplest projects you can do, even if you’re a complete woodwork beginner. 

It’s very satisfying joining planks for a table top. If you’ve never done it before, you might wonder how to join wood planks for a table top and how to join boards for a table top.

In this comprehensive article, you can find anything you need to know about how to join boards for a table top, from joining boards for a table top to how to glue wood together for a table top. We tell you all the steps you need to follow to join wood planks for a table top.

How to Join Wood Planks for a Table Top Step-by-Step 

The following method we suggest you to use is the most well-known, and it’s probably also the easiest. It’s called the lengthwise planks wood joining method.

Edge joining is all about joining long and narrow wood planks by their edge grain. This makes a broader piece of wood, which is perfect for making a table top. You can just join multiple broad pieces together until you get the desired result. As you can see, it’s really straightforward.

You can use glue, which means it’s affordable and cost-effective. Plus, glue is strong enough on its own so you don’t need to use other joining methods or other tools.

For this method, there are 12 simple steps you can follow. You can find out about them below.

Step 1 – Choosing The Wood

The first thing you need to do before you can join wood planks together for a table top is to choose the right type of wood. This will save you money, time, and effort since you won’t have to make the mistakes disappear.

It’s going to be worth it in the long term. To choose the best types of wood planks to make a table top, there are a few things you should watch for. Ideally, the wood should not have any blemishes, cracks, marks, or any other type of damage. 

Also, the wood should be flat, without any bows or twists on its length. Remember that you shouldn’t layer a damaged plank with another type of wood when you join the planks together.

Step 2 – Use A Planer

Then, you need to use a planer if you pick woods with different types of thicknesses. A planer can help you trim them all down to the same size.

With a planer woodworking tool, you can cut through the lengths of all the types of wood you have. You can choose to either use a hand planer or a benchtop planer. With this woodworking tool, you can smooth rough stock, make wood parallel, and help with consistency with thickness.

Step 3- Work On A Large Workbench

Making a table top can be a big project. Even if it’s pretty easy to join wood planks for a table top, it can be messy, and you need a lot of space for this fun project.

We recommend that you work on a flat and large workbench. When you join wood planks for a table top, you need to line up the boards, you need to hold them with some clamps, and you need to do a lot of other things that require space.

If you don’t have a large workbench, you could always use a flipped drywall.

Step 4- Align Your Wood Planks

The next thing you need to do is to align your wood planks, so they all have the same thickness.

Line your selected wood on your large workbench and joint them together. Align your wood planks well. Take the time to examine each piece carefully. You need to decide which piece of wood you want to go where and which final pattern you want.

You can trim and cut any wood pieces that need work done on them.

Step 5- Prepare To Glue 

You’re now finally ready to glue the different wood parts together. To make it easier, we recommend that you mark each different wood piece with chalk or a pencil, so you don’t mix them up and ruin your desired pattern.

Mark them with a ‘V’ or something similar to know which wood parts you are going to glue next. Once you’re done with one piece, turn it on the other side, so you know you’ve glued it. This way, you know what you have to glue next.

Then, you can mark the joint lines with an ‘I’ (or whatever you want) for the boards that are turned inside. Mark the outside ones with an ‘O’. This way, you won’t get confused, even if your wood planks are turned at different angles.

Step 6- Glue The Different Wood Parts Together

Until now, you’ve only done prep work. Prep work is essential to make the process run as smoothly as possible. And all of this pays off. Now you’re finally ready to join wood planks for a table top.

So you can glue the different wood parts together. Keep in mind that you can only glue three wood planks at a time. Since it can take some time for the glue to dry properly, you will need to use clamps. You can also use gluing cauls, which are clamping boards. They stretch all across the width of the board.

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