Amish “Gluing and Sanding” in Building Table Tops

“Amish Furniture” has the reputation of a “brand name” based on years of heirloom quality construction. The careful selection of solid hardwood lumber is the first step in building dining room tables.

Amish furniture craftsmen first select their lumber by color and grain pattern. They then use a wood jointer to smooth and straighten one edge of the board completely straight. The craftsman checks carefully to get a perfectly straight edge on each board. The boards are then “ripped” to different widths to yield as much lumber as possible from each piece of wood. The wider boards give a nicer grain pattern; and, although they are more expensive, they are worth the money.

After the boards are laid out in the correct order for gluing, the craftsman checks the end grain for the proper grain pattern. It is preferable to keep every other board’s yearly growth rings “opposite” from each other. This process helps control the wood from “cupping”.

After the glue is dry, the clamps are removed and excess glue is scraped off. The wood is placed into the wood planer and smoothed down to the approximate final thickness. Usually we begin with 5/4” lumber and plane it down to a solid 1” thickness.

The craftsman is now ready to run the board through a special machine that has a large sanding belt inside. This belt gives a uniform sanding to the board. Amish craftsmen then finish the process by using various grits of sandpaper by hand to complete the process.

Our dining table and chairs are built by Amish craftsmen and will last you a lifetime. See the entire collection on our website: www.amishwbf.com.

Jay and Carol