Table Help, Please

[Argus]

.


There are two of us, occasionally four, and I’m contemplating making a small breakfast table, say 3 feet square, extendable to double its size with two side leaves.

So, the design choice narrows to a gate leg each side (not favoured by Top Management) or the same type of hinged extensions resting on a pair of lopers – again a luke-warm response.

A third alternative is a draw leaf type which appeals to me as a challenge, but here is where I need a bit of guidance, having made lots of tables over the years, but never a draw leaf.

My question is, are there any plans available for the traditional type using wooden runners under the main top showing the geometry? Or, is there such a thing as proprietary metal runners that will do the same job?

Any suggestions are welcome…….



.

 

[yetloh]

There's one here that looks pretty neat http://tomsworkbench.com/2008/02/20/stuff-ive-built/

Jim

 

[OPJ]

Draw-leaf tables are a good choice as you don't have any of the leaves hanging down and interfering with your seating arrangements. They're fairly straight-forward to make and are certainly more simple than a flip-top or butterfly-leaf table, where two leaves slide apart to reveal the middle leaf, hinged together in two halves, which pivots and unfolds in to position.

I know I did a write-up on the one I made (solid oak) on my previous blog, here on UKW. But, that feature of this site is no longer accessible... There are some photos in my Flickr set, here, which may be of assistance.

Do a full-size rod (drawing) in order to get the angles and everything correct for the runners. You'll want to think very carefully about making the top from solid wood, though... As there's no clearance to fit cleats or similar on the underside, a solid timber top will be liable to cupping (...as my client discovered after delivery! ). It settled down in the end, though, after leaving the table in its 'extended' position for a few days.

If you like the rather character-less look of veneered MDF then, that would probably be a fine choice, with timber lippings all round. Otherwise, depending on the dimensions of your three leaves, you may be able to incorporate breadboard ends or end caps in to your design, with the grain running parallel to the length of the top.

 

[Mr T]

There is a bit on draw leaf tables in Ernest Joyce's The Technique of Furniture Making. I could scan it and send it to you if you want.

Chris

 

[Argus]

.


Many thanks to all for the replies - all help is greatly appreciated.

Jim: thanks for the link. I'd already spotted that one and I'm mulling over the way he's done it.

Olly: Some good stuff in your Flickr set, so thanks for that. I intend to make the top and leaves from a mortised / tennoned frame, with bread-board ends and loose T&G inserts in the centre. I already have a 7 foot table in Oak using the same technique with draw-bored joints and it works well here in a very climatically damp part of Wales. Sorry, but I never touch MDF ....
Obviously, the top has to be loose but it's the way I remember as a youngster our post-war utility table being constructed.

Chris: Thank you for the offer, I'll send a PM.

Best regards


Howard