Domino Stability — HELP!

[jkanter]

HELP!!!

I have a wood table that I built for my office but we built it IN the office. The team is now moving and we’re having an issue because it does not fit in the service elevator.  It is 10.5’ x 3.5’ of solid 2”(1.75 planes) thick Oak.  It had 2 steel legs, 1 on each side.

If I use my trusty track saw to cut it down the middle, I can use a domino to put 2 rows of maybe 8 or so dominos in order to put it back together.

My question is this...will the glued in dominos be strong enough to keep the structural integrity of the table or will I need to add some sort of support in the middle.  Time is of the essence here as the movers are coming in next 2 hours!  Let me know your thoughts. Thanks everyone!

 

[smyrnaboy93]

Why not do that and them put steel underneath when you get it wherever you’re going? 

 

[Svar]

First, aren't there stairs in the building? It must be no more than 250 lb or so.

Are you thinking of cutting across the grain in the middle, or lengthwise? If across, you'll need extra support, such as additional beams running the length of the table. Glued in dominos will not do.

You could cut it lengthwise and then re-laminate. Individual long boards was how you got the materials inside in the first place.

 

[jkanter]

Why not do that and them put steel underneath when you get it wherever you’re going?

I was going to install an outlet box in middle of table but doesn’t seem like that can happen now

Seems like steel in middle is best option if we cut down. Thanks!

 

[grobkuschelig]

If you absolutely need to cut, I recommend cutting the long side, not the short.

...just because you mentioned „cutting down the middle“ which sound like you want to make two small pieces, not two narrow & long pieces.

But like the guys above I recommend using the stairs and keeping the top intact. Would be a pitty if cut...

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.
it does not fit in the service elevator.  It is 10.5’ x 3.5’ of solid 2”(1.75 planes) thick Oak.  It had 2 steel legs, 1 on each side.

If I use my trusty track saw to cut it down the middle,

From this description, it is clear (to me, that is) that the table is too tall for the elevator and you were plannnig to cut it inn half across.

As others have noted, do it lengthwise as you can hide the lamination, and the structurally integrity is retained, but will they still be too long (unless the elevator ceiling titles can be removed to make more head room)?

 

[Koamolly]

If the table is too long for elevator how did me get the boards up there when he built table?

 

[ChuckM]

If the plank is narrow (say 1.75'), you may be able to tilt it into the elevator without going over the ceiling (hippopotamus). But with a wider board (3.5'), you may not able to angle it into the elevator.

 

[peter halle]

Looking forward to hear how this all worked out.

Peter

 

[fshanno]

If it's not too late....

I don't see strength even being a concern.  Look, if you just layed the individual boards on those steel legs and screwed them together barn door style with boards underneath it would be strong enough.  I mean, what's it going to have to support?  Laptops and coffee mugs right?

Cut it at along existing seams into as many pieces as are practical for moving.  And when you get it to it's new home glue it back together with a lot of clamps on top and bottom.  When it's back together you could dance on it or park a car on it.  And  You don't need any additional support.

Dominos would be handy for alignment.  You don't need them for strength.

Of course there will be a lot of planing and or sanding to do.  You'll be luck if it goes back together perfectly flat even with dominos.  But all that will be a labor of love won't it?

And I don't see why you can't go ahead and put in some receptacles if you want.

Sometimes those movers can be crafty. Maybe they will find a way - or already have.  Sometimes you can pop up the tiles in the elevator ceiling. 

 

[jacko9]

The table top looks like a 9 board glue up and if you can't find a way to get it out intact, I would cut it down the middle or in long sections that can be re-glued.  You can easily use dominos to align the lengths together (and edge glue) the sections after moving them.

 

[Cheese]

Hmm...just an observation, you can get several narrow 10.5 foot long planks in the building, but you can’t get a single wide 10.5 foot long plank out of the building. If that’s the case, I’d just make the wide plank narrow again.  [big grin]

 

[Gregor]

My past solution for a similar problem involved calling some climber friends, a big enough window, some blankets, a windless day and a tasty barbecue afterwards. Though the feasibility of such an approach massively depends on type of building and which floor you're on.

Another time the stairwell had a big enough (~5cm) opening in the middle that we could rotate the table top into (after we made sure the reverse could be done on the ground floor) and hand down the top down single-item bucket chain style.