Materials and Initial Measuring

Obviously since we were going to build two tables simultaneously we needed a comfortable working space.  Our grandfather-in-law's garage was the perfect location.  He offered, and we had access to a heated garage, truck to haul our materials, saw horses, many of the tools we'd need, knowledge, and a mini bar just inside the door.  Who could resist that?

We first went to Lowe's and bought 6 planks of 4' x 8' pine.  We did buy two planks of the nicer pine that displayed the grain of the wood in a better fashion.  The top plank to the left was one of the pieces used for the race track. 

I would strongly suggest staying away from Home Depot.  That store is useless, and only takes up space on this planet. 

In any case....  For what we did, we needed 3 planks of wood for each table.  When browsing their lumber selection, don't worry so much about knots or the appearance of the wood.  For our tables, you only really need one nice looking piece of wood for the race track.  It doesn't need to be pristine or perfect all over. 

Besides, you'll probably end up taking what you can get.

We first tempted to first try the string method for measuring out our cuts.  We purchased picture hanging wire for this purpose, as it doesn't stretch like yarn does.

If your table is 4' by 8' you'll want to measure 24 inches from each side to come up with a center starting point.  From there you'll mark where you'll hammer in a starting nail and run your string (wire) from to trace out your arc pattern. 

That didn't really work out well for us.  We did every step outlined on all the other sites you'll find out there.  However, every time we drew a line to measure our arcs, we received a different measurement.

This made us nervous as this first cut of wood was going to be our template to trace out the other 5 pieces. 

So, we came up with a different idea.  We made our own type of "compass" seen below.

We took a straight piece of wood (that was scrap from another project) and marked out our measurements. 

We simply drilled a hole that would go over our nail that we hammered in from 24" from all 3 sides.

We then drilled another hole that would hold our pencil 24 inches from our nail.

We then traced our arc, which took away the pressure about holding a string and pencil.

I'd suggest this method if you're going to be using your first piece of wood as a template, especially if this is going to be the first table you've ever built.  You want it to look nice, plus it'll matter later when you match up your baseboard and other pieces together.

Make sure this part is right before you cut.

Measure twice, cut once.

Again making our make shift compass took away all the pressure of alinging out our string or yarn.

You get a perfect measurement that you're happy with.  Again, to make things easy, spend more time making sure this measurement is right, as you'll use it to simply trace out your other pieces of wood.

Don't spend on any wood pencils.  Any regular pencil or pen will do the trick.  You don't need any added costs for something so worthless.

A little bit of trial and error is fine.  Your first piece of wood isn't going to show anywhere, so if you draw on it or measure incorrectly, don't worry.

Just make sure you eventually do get it right, and cut from that line. 

It'll pay off in the end.