Table Construction

The basics of building the tables.

Board Cut

The principle J-Trak module size is 140cm x 105cm. The accuracy of these measurements and the squareness of the cut is critical, as any errors will mean that the track design will not match the edges of the board and connections to other modules may not work.

I chose to use 9mm MDF hoping that it would provide a good compromise between weight and rigidity, and had the boards cut on a large table saw. The cuts for a standard 244cm x 122cm board are shown below, the green area is our module size.

Board Cutting

This appears to leave a fair bit of wastage but all is not lost, these pieces will be used later. MDF boards are available in 305cm lengths from some suppliers which would mean that 2 modules could be cut from 1 sheet, however this is only available in 18mm thickness and costs twice the price so there is no real advantage.

Batten Frame

I am no joiner so this is a very simple stage. The ideal size for battens is around 70mm deep, any less and there will not be enough frame area for some of the later stages, too much more and there will be issues when stacking the boards for storage and transportation.

I used 70mm x 18mm planed softwood, it was cut to the correct length for the board, then I drilled through the MDF from the top and fastened the frame to the board with 50mm (2") screws. The corners were also screwed together to keep them square.

Table Top

Legs

The target height for the modules is 720mm, and there are many good choices commercially available as dining table legs.

Dining Table Legs

Because the board is much thinner than my previous track the screws for the leg plates have very little to bite into, plus the 9mm sheet is liable to bow if the load is too focused. So I decided to use strips of MDF to solve these issues, using the offcuts mentioned earlier.

Leg attachments