Thiot’s Terrific Thanksgiving Table Top!
November 23rd, 2008
1/2 of table top
A few streets east of us is the home of Dick and Robynn Thiot. Dick is better known in our ward as Bishop Thiot, and Robynn is better known in our ward as, well, Sister Thiot. And in case you’ve forgotten, the Thiot’s have 5 children: Ricky, Tasha, Charlie, Pierce, and Skylar. And with the exception of Skylar, all the Thiot’s children are married. And while were on the subject Skylar is more commonly known as Elder Thiot of the Russia Rostov Na Donu Mission. Elder Thiot is presently home on medical leave while U.S. doctors try to figure out what the Russian bugs are doing to his innards.
Putting table top together
Anyway a few days ago I received an email from Dick Thiot requesting help on a woodworking project. It appears that one of Sister Thiot’s requirements for family dinners is that the entire family be able to sit at the same table, and that their 6′ dining room table just wasn’t big enough for the 16 people the were expecting for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sister Thiot had asked Dick to make her an 8′ round table top that could be placed on the top of their existing table.
Dick was a bit dubious that this would work, and thus the email to me asking for help. I visited the Thiot’s and we discussed Sister Thiot’s dream… We decided that it was feasible, and that Dick would bring the necessary components to my woodshop on Saturday morning. The components consisted of two 8′ sheets of shop-grade birch, and one 3/4″ x 5″ x 8′ piece of pine.
Fully assembled
Dick arrived on Saturday morning, and we used a jigsaw to cut the two pieces of plywood into two 4′ diamater half-circles. Then we cut the pine into smaller 2″ x 24″ pieces which we then planed down to 1/2″. These pieces were used to create two interlocking supports at the edges of the tables where the two half-circles meet. These interlocking pieces perform two functions: 1) they hold the two halves in perfect alignment, and 2) they keep the edges of the table at the joint in perfect alignment. The remainder were used to create stops to keep the table top from sliding off the table. These interlocks and blocks were glued and screwed to the bottom of the table top.
After Sister Thiot's Magic!
Dick and Skylar took the result back to the Thiot’s home and we set it up on top of their dining room table. Sister Thiot was not at home, but arrived home shortly afterwards. Her first comment was “Oh! It’s just as I dreamed it would be!” That was worth all the work.
I took a few pictures of the table being assembled, and then came back on Sunday to see how Sister Thiot had dressed up the table for their family dinner today. Amazing!
For full sized pictures, visit our family picture site, or click here.
