Kitchen table design help? Also chairs?

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

I'm designing my first piece, a kitchen table. More importantly, I'm actually *actively* building the dang thing! (It's only been two years since I started it.)

Anyway, it's a copy of one we found in a furniture store; very similar to these:






My question is on designing the case and mounting it to the legs.

The table top looks like the second picture--it has four wings that fold up under the table and will make the surface a 60" diameter circle when folded out. There are aprons under the top; the case isn't what holds the legs together. The table surface is 36" off the floor. I don't have the dimensions of the case just yet, but that's unimportant at this point.

I'm thinking that the three sides that aren't the door face should be mortise and tenoned to their respective legs, and then the frame that will support the door can be built to fit the opening between its set of legs. The top and bottom of the case would then be cut to fit--a rectangle with notched corners to fit the legs.

I'm drawing this up in Google Sketchup, but haven't gotten to this part yet.

And then my next question is about the chairs. *That's* going to be a punishing task--the missus wants eight chairs for this thing, built to fit. As the table surface is higher than your normal piece, I know it's going to be a challenge to build them, but I figure that after I build the first one I can then build seven others that match each other but don't match the first one.



No, I've never built a chair before.

So, my question on chairs: Do you have any recommendations for primers, online study sites, or videos I should study up on before I start designing them?

Thanks, folks.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Here's what I've just come up with. Case is 12" tall, 5 1/4" from the floor. Tenons are 2" tall, 1" long, 3/8" thick. Tenons on aprons match. Aprons and case sides are set back 1/2" from the outer edge of the legs; they're 3/4" thick.











There's a 1/4" clearance gap between the folded leaves and the apron. I still need to figure out a method for securing the leaves under the table. Leaves are 9" wide at the center.

I intend on using a hinge similar in design to this one:

http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/flip-flo...7yOsRoCCQnw_wcB


Critiques? Ideas?

[Paul K. Murphy]

36" high?
What? Why?
Your case construction method seems sound.
Sketchup. Harrumph!
I lay things out on traditional rods. I think everybody should; I'm traditionalist that way. I know you were asking for reading recommendations, just not for that particularly. Read about how to lay out a rod.
Chairs.
Welcome to the world of the cabinetmaker specialist; the framemaker. Chairs and tables are considered "frames" in the business. That's what I did from 1981 until 1987. I made Queen Anne chairs, and to look at your photos, you'll be doing an Arts and Crafts type. Although your instincts will tell you I'm wrong, listen...we LOVE batch manufacturing. The more the merrier. Unit costs go WAY down. I'm not just talking about dollars. Ease and simplicity go up, consistency goes up. You get familiar with each task unlike any other kind of cabinet work. Remember lefts and rights! Just when you think you're Mr. Bob Chairmaker, you'll discover you have right aprons for sixteen chairs and left aprons for none. Chair making consists of a stack of parts, an operation, and a stack on the other side that have been done. You're like an Elementary School teacher. After the first few operations, you know each of your little boys and girls. Who's naughty (knotty), who has a waney edge (that part is selected for the rabbet, slip seat doncha' know). You will know which parts to pair when you're at assembly. You'll know them all then.
I haven't written my chair making book yet, so you can't read that, sorry.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Ha!

Thanks!

Why 36" high? Because the table the missus saw in the store was designed like that and she wants it. You know how it goes...

[Paul K. Murphy]

...the thirty six inch tall victim is placed standing in the case on the lower frame of the table. The head protrudes above the table surface so we can dine on the beast's brain...
Excerpt from the book, "To Serve Man."

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Paul K. Murphy said:

---

...the thirty six inch tall victim is placed standing in the case on the lower frame of the table. The head protrudes above the table surface so we can dine on the beast's brain...
Excerpt from the book, "To Serve Man."

---

The center hole will house a lazy Susan cut from a piece of granite.

[DaveR1]

I think I'd have the victim stand in a pan to catch the drippings.

Think about the legs as breadboard ends for the sides and back of the case. Mortise accordingly. Keep in mind that the sides are going to expand and contract up and down but the legs won't.

[jteneyck]

My only comment is to stick with SketchUp. The old ways are good, but you can't visualize what a piece looks like with them like you can in SketchUp. Nor do they print you a CutList, lay out your parts on stock, allow you to make changes with the stroke of a mouse, etc.

John

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Oh, there's no way I'd attempt this without SketchUp or some other drawing program--I lack the ability to see in my mind the product. This allows me to see it!

I use story sticks when building, but I need help designing.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Can you guys advise me on apron height? Currently they're 3" tall. In the pictures, they seem to be proportioned properly. Do you agree?