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  • Puzzle Piece Dance Floor
  • A unique dance floor is created.
    From "From Junky to Funky"
    episode DFJF-310


    In this segment, host Samantha Gleisten uses a wooden table top and paint to create a unique dance floor.

    advertisement


    PHOTO
    Materials:

    thrift store tables
    tongue and groove plywood
    1x3 oak
    rounded oak trim
    scrap wood
    masking tape
    stain
    primer
    paint
    gloss polyurethane
    1" screws
    circular saw
    table saw
    chop saw
    jigsaw
    band saw
    "T" square
    power drill
    paint brush/roller

    PHOTO

    Figure A
    PHOTO

    Figure B
    PHOTO

    Figure C
    1. Make a puzzle piece joint template from scrap wood, and then cut it out using a band saw.

    2. Put masking tape over the sections where you will be cutting to protect the wood surface. Measure and mark where each puzzle piece will go on the corresponding taped table tops (figure A).

    3. Detach the legs from the table tops.

    4. Make the long straight cuts using a circular saw being certain to stay toward the outside of the line markings.

    5. Cut out the puzzle joints with a jigsaw (figure B).

    6. Assemble the pieces on top of two sheets of 4' x 8' tongue and groove plywood, creating an 8' x 8' work surface.

    7. Measure the dimensions of the puzzle piece floor and cut 1 x 3 oak boards to border the outside edge of the puzzle piece floor. Use a chop saw to make the cuts, using 45-degree angles for the corners.

    8. Layout the border (figure C), and then mark the plywood sub-floor with the new outside dimensions.

    9. Cut the plywood sub-floor to the marked dimensions using a table saw.

    10. Pre-drill with a countersink up through the bottom of the sub-floor about 1-1/2 inches in from the edge every two feet.

    11. Put the puzzle pieces in place. For any thin table top piece, cut strips of scrap wood and glue them to the underside, raising them up to fit flush with the rest of the pieces.

    12. Measure and cut rounded oak trim to run around the outside edge of the plywood ends. Make the cuts with a chop saw and again use 45-degree angles for the corners.

    13. Stain all the unfinished wood pieces, and then touch up anything that needs work. Prime and paint any puzzle pieces that aren't stainable.

    14. Apply many coats of gloss polyurethane to all the pieces, creating a smooth-durable surface.

    15. Attach the rounded trim to the sides of the plywood sub-floor with a nail gun. Attach the 1 x 3 border with one inch screws through the pre-drilled holes.

    Project Cost:

    Table tops: $75
    Wood: $32
    Materials: $24

    Total: $131


    RESOURCES :

    The Brown Elephant
    Website: www.howardbrown.org/hb_brownelephant.asp

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