Table for ten *comfortably*...dimensions?

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

I have a table commission coming soon.  He wants it to seat ten people comfortably.  What dimension range should a table that size be?  We have most details laid out--design, shape, joinery--but I want to be sure his space will hold it AND I need to make sure I'm telling him the right thing. 

What would you say it is?

[Bob Vaughan]

I have a table commission coming soon.  He wants it to seat ten people comfortably.  What dimension range should a table that size be?  We have most details laid out--design, shape, joinery--but I want to be sure his space will hold it AND I need to make sure I'm telling him the right thing. 

What would you say it is?

My old  copy of architectural graphic standards gives examples.  Seating 10-12 people on a rectangular table would need a 4x10 or 4x11 top. 
Boat shaped, end 3'2", middle 4'-0" wide and 10 or 11' long.

or an adult male with elbows on the table 2'-5.5" (29.5")
or people should be 27" on center if that means anything.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Cool.  I was thinking around 10'-ish.

Thanks!

[mound]

My brother recently asked me if I could whip up a design for him in sketchup for a table that could comfortably seat 12.  And with his limited tools but decent enough skill, he wanted it easy to build. So I came up with this design, with an X shaped base so you could have 3 chairs on each side, and the entire thing could be built using ordinary construction "2-by" material, and a chop saw and table saw and pocket hole jig. (I told him about proper breadboard ends but he wasn't at a point to be able to execute that)

He was able to successfully build it over a long weekend, and says the family loves it!

The top is 86" square

   

   

[fredhargis]

Our table is 8' x 4' and we frequently seat 10 family members around it comfortably, 10' would be even better for roominess.

[joe1086]

We had a 8' x 4' glass table for years and often sat 10. Four to a side and one at each end. It was tight....another 12" or 18" would have been much better.

[hcbph]

Just a little food for thought: have you thought about an extension table?  I've made a couple of them over the years and with the right extensions and leaves you can run into a much larger table only for those times as needed.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Just a little food for thought: have you thought about an extension table?  I've made a couple of them over the years and with the right extensions and leaves you can run into a much larger table only for those times as needed.

I spent an hour on the phone with the customer over the weekend and brought this up. He prefers one solid build without extensions. He recognizes that it's gonna be big. That it's gonna be heavy. That shipping it (Maryland to Houston) will be expensive.

This build is exciting but it's a bit scary at the same time!

[joe1086]

I watched his video....my bandsaw would need a serious tune up to cut those scroll bases. Good luck!

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

I watched his video....my bandsaw would need a serious tune up to cut those scroll bases. Good luck!

What I'll likely do is something suggested in a recent thread I posted asking about which blade for my band saw for this job--drill indexing holes in the template and then drill holes for locating dowels in the blanks.  That way I can cut them individually on the saw, index them on a router sled, and then use the holes to align with dowels.

My saw is a Delta 14" with a 6" riser and a 1.5hp motor.  It's no slouch, but I don't think it's up to the task of cutting that whole blank at once.