Lagoon of Mystery - Home Tiki Bars

PP Prikli Pear Tiki Socialite New Braunfels, Texas Joined: Jan 04, 2017 Posts: 982	PP Prikli Pear Posted posted on Wed, Apr 17, 2019 7:58 PM Thanks for the kind words, Donovan! Much appreciated! On 2019-04-17 16:01, eroc wrote: I see you said the T&G was a little loose. Question: did you look into blind nailing the T&G? The reason I'm asking is that I was thinking of doing that on my plank bar top, but wasn't sure if it was a viable technique. Good question, eroc. I didn't seriously consider blind nailing because 1) the planks were less than 1/2" thick (and even less where the tapered tongue and grove met, and 2) I expected my brackets to hold everything securely once I got them screwed in. The brackets turned out to hold the planks to the table frame more tightly than I expected, so yay, win! But I realized I left out one additional step. Because of the looseness of the planks, I started worrying the table might sag in the center, particularly where I cut the umbrella hole. So I got a cheap cedar fence plank, cut it to size, slapped on several coats of Flood UV, then screwed it onto the two end pieces. This holds them into position so the tongue-and-grooves don't separate, and also lends stability across the grain. Here's a photo:

Thanks for the kind words, Donovan! Much appreciated!

On 2019-04-17 16:01, eroc wrote:
I see you said the T&G was a little loose. Question: did you look into blind nailing the T&G? The reason I'm asking is that I was thinking of doing that on my plank bar top, but wasn't sure if it was a viable technique.

Good question, eroc. I didn't seriously consider blind nailing because 1) the planks were less than 1/2" thick (and even less where the tapered tongue and grove met, and 2) I expected my brackets to hold everything securely once I got them screwed in. The brackets turned out to hold the planks to the table frame more tightly than I expected, so yay, win! But I realized I left out one additional step. Because of the looseness of the planks, I started worrying the table might sag in the center, particularly where I cut the umbrella hole. So I got a cheap cedar fence plank, cut it to size, slapped on several coats of Flood UV, then screwed it onto the two end pieces. This holds them into position so the tongue-and-grooves don't separate, and also lends stability across the grain. Here's a photo:

Post #794538 by Prikli Pear on Wed, Apr 17, 2019 7:58 PM