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Tabletop

Acrylic resin is utilized to fabricate the tabletop for the Kitchen Cafe Table.

From "Freeform Furniture"
episode DFFF-109

In this fourth segment host Amy Devers fabricates the tabletop with an acrylic resin, which completes the Kitchen Cafe Table.

Host Amy Devers finishes the Kitchen Cafe Table by attaching the acrylic top.

Here's a side view of the acrylic tabletop, and ...

here's another bird's-eye view of Amy's work.

Materials:

Jig drawing
Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF--available at home improvement stores)
Spray adhesive
Respirator
Safety glasses
Dowels
Yellow glue
Screws
Ash
Cork sheeting
Packing tape
Push stick
Backer board
Urea formaldehyde glue
Spoon
Roller
Clamps
Glue scraper
Spokeshave
180-grit sandpaper
220-grit sandpaper
Wipe-on polyurethane
Cloth
Masking tape
Shims
Paintbrush
Cauls
Acrylic resin (tabletop)
Face shield
Carbide tipped blade
Bull nose bit
Hardboard fence
Abrasive for finishing acrylic surfaces
Spray bottle
Polyurethane
Silicone dots

Tools:

Band saw
Drill press
Disc sander
Flush trimmer
Hammer
Screw gun
Jointer
Planer
Table saw
Hand held router

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

Tabletop

For the tabletop a translucent acrylic, which is a type of plastic, resin is used. Embedded within the acrylic is a linen textile. It comes in a number of different styles and patterns. You can purchase it with textiles, metal, natural foliage and even wood veneer inside (figure A). It can be used for everything from kitchen counters to shower doors. You can use standard woodworking equipment to machine it. You can use a jigsaw, router, sander and table saw. It comes in standard 4' x 8' sheets and costs anywhere from $300 to $1,600 each.
Rough cut the acrylic resin down to a more manageable size. Set the fence to the proper dimension on the table saw. Wear a shield to protect your eyes and long sleeves to avoid being burned by the acrylic particles (figure B). Cut it to the finished dimensions of 32x32 square. It is covered with a protective film and you need to leave that on until you finish machining the entire tabletop.
Push the acrylic resin through the blade cutting the piece to width. It is important to use a carbide tipped blade designed for cutting acrylic to prevent the material from melting. The teeth of the blade will cut freely without having the blade bind.
Cut the tabletop to length pushing the acrylic through the blade.
To finish the edges, use a hand held router and a bull nose bit to round it over.
Note: The bull nose bit sits inside a bushing and you need that bushing to run against the fence so when you clamp it down to the table, use a clamp in a hard board fence for the bushing to ride along.
Clamp the homemade hardboard fence to the acrylic resin and check to make sure everything lines up. Run the router against the material to soften the edge (figure C) and create a nice profile. The router has a bushing on top that follows the template and cuts off the unwanted material.
To smooth the edges of the table use an abrasive specifically designed for finishing acrylic based solid surfaces (figure D). The soapy water creates a paste which helps polish the sides and makes the sandpaper work better.
To avoid moisture seeping inside the layers and de-laminating the acrylic resin, seal the edges of the table with a polyurethane clear coat.
Remove the protective covering from the finished acrylic tabletop.
The polyurethane on the edge of the tabletop is dry. Place silicone dots to prevent it from slipping around on the base. Place the tabletop on the base.