I was looking for suggestions on what kind of wood would make a light weight kitchen table. It has to be strong enough to hold up as a bed also. The first one I made is way to heavy to keep. Thanks

Most RV manufacturers use 3/4" MDF with formica type material glued to the top.I would glue strips of hardwood (oak, cherry or maple) together and then shape it to fit your needs.Once I used a hollow door to make a table. Hollow doors have a honeycomb inside made out of hard cardboard. They are lightweight but strong. You can cut it to fit and then add a wood strip to finish off the cut end. Only drawback is the thickness of the door.

Strength and light weight are not so much in the choice of the wood as in the method of construction, so as to use as little material as possible. Hollow core is one method, another is to build a frame with reinforcing across the middle, with a lightweight top panel (often plastics, or laminated from wood and plastic). Recall the construction of the paneled doors used in the early part of the 20th century, or a card table. These methods are still used to make lightweight tables for home use.

Solid wood--western red cedar or sprucePlywood--1/2" birch with wood edging or plastic laminate

the bear II wrote:Most RV manufacturers use 3/4" MDF with formica type material glued to the top.I would glue strips of hardwood (oak, cherry or maple) together and then shape it to fit your needs.Once I used a hollow door to make a table. Hollow doors have a honeycomb inside made out of hard cardboard. They are lightweight but strong. You can cut it to fit and then add a wood strip to finish off the cut end. Only drawback is the thickness of the door.Tables, shelves, doors. etc. are often made like a hollow core door. Technically this construction is called a torsion box. You can rip strips of plywood to the desired thickness of your table top (less the top and bottom "skin" and then notch the strips every 4-5" to create a cross lapped grid. glue "skins" to the top and bottom; cover with formica if you like and you will have a very strong table top that is very resistant to flexing or warping. We have an old dog that has trouble with steps. I used this technique to make a ramp from 1 x 2 firring strips covered with 1/4" luan. Not only can the dog walk on it but an adult can walk on it too.

It's usually more about the hardware and connections, than the tabletop material.Tell us more about how you want it to work.

kitchen table | Good Sam Community

shasta24
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
I have the same size table as the one above, with the glued together pine boards. That looks like a good table. I thought about laying a 12 by 12 piece of tile in the middle, to act as a built in hot plate. I would trace it and router it out, and glue it in. Sound silly?
westend
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
shasta24 wrote:
I have the same size table as the one above, with the glued together pine boards. That looks like a good table. I thought about laying a 12 by 12 piece of tile in the middle, to act as a built in hot plate. I would trace it and router it out, and glue it in. Sound silly?
If it's something you'd like to have, it doesn't sound silly at all! It would certainly break up the visual expanse of the table top.

I thought about a lazy susan in the middle, something to hold the usual condiments but the table is on the small side for something like that and I'd have to make it removable to use the table as the bed platform.

I guess we're only limited by our imagination :)

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