This is the end result of the process and now I will show you how I got there. Before I get into the assembly process, I want to point out the value of fully finishing all of the components is that you can lay them flat and finish one side at a time which avoids problems like runs and getting finish in tight places like near joints. However I have to confess that when I sprayed the last coat on the outside of the ends, I sprayed too much on the flat surface and it ran down the sides of the legs and spindles. This was the result.
Fortunately, this was a water based finish less than 24 hours old and I was able to shave off the tops of the drips (right photo) and then sand them down with 300 grit wet sand paper. I then brushed on a thin coat of the water based polyurethane and they blended in. Thank goodness they were all on the back side.
One of the challenges of a project this long is how do you clamp the end pieces on until the glue dries. I do have a few long clamps but clamping a project this big is difficult, especially if you are working by yourself. What I decided to do was to put pocket screw holes on the inside or underside of the pieces that needed to be glued. To prepare for dry fitting the assembly, I glued the dominos in the long pieces and sanded/filed them so they would easily fit in the mortises.
Now that I had the pieces ready to glue, I placed one end on the floor supported by a padded platform and then glued the back, front and lower shelf in place and put in the pocket screw to draw the joints tight and hold them in place while the glue set.
This exposed the other end of the back, front and shelf ready to place and glue the other end on. Because I had previously carefully dry fit all of these joints, I had no problem gluing and screwing the other end on.
In next laid the base on the underside of the top and attached the top with screws on one side and to allow wood movement used z clips on the other three sides. The reason I did that right away was that I new that the 1" thick top was completely flat and by attaching the base immediately after gluing it up, the base would be square and flat. I will confess to another error I made in attaching the top, two of the screws were a tiny bit too long and poked through the surface. I took them out and replaced them with shorter ones. The very small holes will be filled with matching filler and I will spray on a final coat of the water poly and they won't be visible. With the table base fully assembled, I am confident that I can make the drawers fit perfectly.
Next task is making and fitting three drawers.
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