Building a dance floor

Sep 15
2010

We’re building a dance floor for our Harvest Festival this 26 September.  I had a discussion with a musician during one of our Summertime Salons about a simple idea, and so far I like it better than anything I’ve read.  Refer to the diagram when reviewing these steps:

  1. Lay a full sized half-inch plywood sheet so the side you want to dance on is facing down.
  2. Use a table saw to rip a single 10-foot 2×4 along the length in to half-inch shims.  Each board should yield six half-inch by 10 foot shims, since you’ll lose a half-inch in saw kerf across all the rips.
  3. Use a chop saw to cross cut the stack of shims so that you get one stack of 7 foot and one stack of 3 foot shims.
  4. Arrange two 6-foot shims along the long edge of the plywood, centered on 3 inches in from the edge.
  5. Arrange three 3-foot shims perpendicular to the 6-foot shims.  Place two shims on either end, centered on 3 inches in from the short edge.  Place the third shim in the middle, centered on 48 inches (4 feet) from the short edge.
  6. Nail the shims to the plywood from underneath.  Use 1.25 inch finishing nails and space them every six inches along the shim.
  7. Flip the plywood over.
  8. Use a four-in-hand rasp to slightly bevel the four edges of the top part of the plywood.  The goals are to remove splinters and give a 1/16-inch bevel.
  9. Use a medium grit sandpaper to smooth the first inch of the dance surface from the edge of the plywood.  The goal is to give a smoother surface for the gaffer’s tape.  (When doing many panels, a power sander is better for speed and quality.)
  10. This one panel is now finished and ready to be danced on, or taped edge to edge (flat) with other panels to make a larger dance floor.
Dance floor diagram showing wood and positions.

Dance floor diagram, version 0.1

For a 12-foot by 12-foot dance space, I’ll need four full sheets and one half sheet.  For the half-sheet, I’ll either make a full-panel and let it stick out funny, or scale the measurements to a 4-by-4 square panel.  I’ll cut my shims to custom lengths, too — only four of them need to be 7-foot and 3-foot.  The remaining two I’ll get four 36-inch pieces for each panel, and use the remainder plus scrounge up another 36-inch 2×4 for a few more shims for the 4-by-4 panel (or make up a full panel and let it stick out.)

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