I use DD's technique; a lot of cut and paste. I've saved some of my tables so I have a template to work with. :)
That's what I do also, but somehow I still make a mess. I cut out a > paste a /, who knows what I do. LOL. I just have to do them more often. Sometimes I want to frame a graphic inside a table, then the outside table frames come into the part of the table. I have to work on it. :)