Teak dining table help please

[gasman]

A 'mate' has given me some teak that he and his family have had in storage for over 50 years. It is bone dry (9-11% on my moisture meter when I measured it - and a huge variety of different shapes and sizes. First thing I did was measure each piece and put it all in a spreadsheet and there is 18 cu feet in total. He wants me to make him a coffee table, dining table and a few bedside tables. He will pay me either in cash or in teak if there is any left over. OK so I have so far made a coffee table to his design which is fine and I am quite happy with the deal.
The problem I would like help with is that, for the dining table, I am very limited in the thickness of the long teak planks. I have some 22-23mm boards but they are just about 5'6" feet in length - about 1650mm. There is not enough for a 900 wide table which is the minimum. On the other hand there is enough 19mm teak planks all over 6 feet in length (1800mm plus), with breadboard ends to make a 950 x 2000 table which is what they want. These boards have already been thicknessed so this will be the final size. I have enough to make a very sturdy base with aprons etc to support it all and beautiful 90mm square teak legs. So I wonder what you all think - is it feasible to make a table this size with such a thin tabletop - if not I am not sure what I can do as there is not enough of other sizes. Would be grateful for some help and advice
Thanks
Mark

 

[Bradshaw Joinery]

cant see a problem with the thin top, could use thicker section for breadboard ends and edges to appear thicker than it is? then brace well underneath.

 

[gasman]

OK thanks for the advice
So if I had a 2 inch overhang of table top over the base at the sides I should make this thicker?? I think I still might be short of enough long planks. If I tried very carefully to grain match - what do you think about having one board joined lengthways in the centre of the table? Does anyone else have an opinion on the suitability of 19mm teak for a table top - do you think it would look too thin and weedy?
Thanks
Mark

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Double it up around the edges - 38mm's a nice depth for the edge. Who's going to know that it's 19mm?

 

[bugbear]

Double it up around the edges - 38mm's a nice depth for the edge. Who's going to know that it's 19mm?

Yeah - classic design, and it also stops the table being absurdly heavy.

BugBear

 

[gasman]

Many thanks for the advice - that is what I am going to do. One minor problem, which the customer is happy with, is that the wood I had selected for the base - including 80mm square legs (which will be tapered to 60 all round) and the aprons / rails - turn out after planing not to be teak (I did think they were a bit heavy) but apparently blackwood - which, apart from lignum is the hardest thing I have ever tried to machine / cut. I have been sharpening planes etc every 10 minutes or so
Will get photos this weekend
Thanks again for the advice
Mark

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Here is an example of an oak top which was 3/4" like your teak. I breadboarded the ends and then trimmed the ends with 38mm pieces around all the showing sides with mitred corners.

It looks slab like...just what you need.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

here's possibly a better view of the top thickness

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

these show how weedy the top looks without the beefing up trim ie just 3/4". Also the humungous clamping requirement to get the dam stuff to stay put over this near 3m length!!

 

[MARK.B.]

+1 for all of the above,if you cant get a good grain match for joining two pieces lengthwise in the middle you could place the narrower pieces either side of the table which should look ok.