04-21-2015, 03:41 PM
And now, for the thrilling conclusion to this epic tale of woodworking debauchery...
Before I get to the assembly portion of this build I want to mention something about the top. After the final glue up, everything looked very good. It was flat, nothing unusual, seemed fine. I set the top on my bench for a few days and before I could get to it we had a change in weather. I noticed that the top had bowed 3/4". I took it outside and put it convex side up and it returned to almost flat. From that point on, I always kept sticks under the top to allow air circulation and never noticed the problem again. When I put on the bread board ends, it remained pretty flat.
A draw leaf table is a very simple structure consisting of the base, a top, sliders, and the leaf extensions. I will deviate from the build sequence a bit because I think it will help explain how this table goes together.
In both Tage's and Tommy's tables, only one center brace was used. Since mine was somewhat longer, I decided to have two braces. With only one center brace, the sliders are rather long and would probably hang down too far under the table. Here is a picture of the base glued up with two stretchers in place.
I did a dry fit of the table, everything held together very nicely with my HF pipe clamps, before I cut or milled any portions of the rails. I had just helped some friends build the Julia Childs kitchen table that was featured in FWW'ing and did the sliding dovetails for their stretcher. This seemed to be unnecessary for this build so I went with a short M & T assembly with a pocket screw. The stretchers are there to guide the sliders and to keep the base together. There will also be a spacer screwed to the top of the rails that will provide additional rigidity so I just went with the M & T with glue and screws.
Let's look at the base. The rails were assembled without issue, haunched tenons. Notice that I put double pins in for additional strength. I thought about draw boring them but everything went together pretty well so I didn't do it.
The next photo shows the center fill piece. This is the same thickness as the extensions and provides the stop when the extensions are retracted under the top. Now Tage used a solid piece of plywood with edge bands. I thought the whole table is heavy enough so I went with a simple frame held together with pocket screws. Only the edges will be visible when the table is in use so I did not mess with any elaborate finishing. My philosophy is that the underside and back side are not visible in normal use so why bother finishing them.
Also visible in the corner braces are two holes that locate the pegs fixed on the underside of the top. To move the extensions, you lift up slightly on the top, then move the extensions into position, either in or out, then let the top settle back into the holes. Again I just used pocket screws to fix the corner braces to the frame. In use, the top would probably be moved 3-4 times a year at most and there is no real stress on the joint so I think this assembly is fine.
This is a picture of the underside of the table with the two locating pins.
The stretchers are tapered such that when the extensions are retracted, they sit flat on the frame. The taper side is up when screwed to the extension.
When the extensions are pulled out, they are at the same height as the top. This is seen in the next two pictures.
Slider in, clamp just to hold piece in place. Flush at apron and stretcher.
The next picture shows the position of the stretcher in the extended position. I put the center section next to it to show is should be flush to the top.
The book matched leg is also visible. (Gee, I do nice work!)
So that is how the mechanism works. You have to adjust the slots in the stretcher and apron to correspond to the thickness of the slider. I made up trial pieces of pine to get the right dimensions before I worked on the table pieces.
The next two pictures just show the extensions retracted and extended.
On the underside of the extensions and on the ends of the table I routed grip regions to make it easier to extend and retract the table. This was from my experience working with the table - and I happened to see a draw leaf table at a local restaurant. The waitress said it always pinched her fingers when they had to use the extensions so I thought this was a minor improvement.
The final assembly picture shows a cleat screwed to the end of the stretcher to hold the extension tight against the top when in the out position. Tage and Tommy used solid pieces connecting both extensions but this seemed simpler to me.
The next three pictures just show the table with the extensions extended, retracted, and an overall view of the table.
You have do a little bit of hand planing to get a tight fit between the extensions and to, nothing extensive. Don't know if I really like the wild grain but it is flat sawn red oak and that is what you get. It is not dead flat, maybe gaps of 1/16" to 1/8" between the top and extensions. The extensions fit very tight to the top when out and are very solid when locked down. My daughter and husband love it, my wife and I will drive it down to NJ very soon. Takes up way to much room in the shop.
It was an interesting build, I was cautious before I got the sliders and slots adjusted correctly, mainly because I did not want to ruin the apron and stretchers with a bad cut. The top is awkward and heavy, too wide to grab it and lift it up easily. I must have moved it 30-40 times during the build, did not want to bang it around. I did hit one of the extensions with the table peg and caused a depression but I got out my wife's steam iron and worked out the ding, not visible in the final product at all. I was very fortunate that none of my HF tools failed me, at least according to some of the folks here. Bought the best I could afford.
And now, on to another item..
Enjoy...
Before I get to the assembly portion of this build I want to mention something about the top. After the final glue up, everything looked very good. It was flat, nothing unusual, seemed fine. I set the top on my bench for a few days and before I could get to it we had a change in weather. I noticed that the top had bowed 3/4". I took it outside and put it convex side up and it returned to almost flat. From that point on, I always kept sticks under the top to allow air circulation and never noticed the problem again. When I put on the bread board ends, it remained pretty flat.
A draw leaf table is a very simple structure consisting of the base, a top, sliders, and the leaf extensions. I will deviate from the build sequence a bit because I think it will help explain how this table goes together.
In both Tage's and Tommy's tables, only one center brace was used. Since mine was somewhat longer, I decided to have two braces. With only one center brace, the sliders are rather long and would probably hang down too far under the table. Here is a picture of the base glued up with two stretchers in place.
I did a dry fit of the table, everything held together very nicely with my HF pipe clamps, before I cut or milled any portions of the rails. I had just helped some friends build the Julia Childs kitchen table that was featured in FWW'ing and did the sliding dovetails for their stretcher. This seemed to be unnecessary for this build so I went with a short M & T assembly with a pocket screw. The stretchers are there to guide the sliders and to keep the base together. There will also be a spacer screwed to the top of the rails that will provide additional rigidity so I just went with the M & T with glue and screws.
Let's look at the base. The rails were assembled without issue, haunched tenons. Notice that I put double pins in for additional strength. I thought about draw boring them but everything went together pretty well so I didn't do it.
The next photo shows the center fill piece. This is the same thickness as the extensions and provides the stop when the extensions are retracted under the top. Now Tage used a solid piece of plywood with edge bands. I thought the whole table is heavy enough so I went with a simple frame held together with pocket screws. Only the edges will be visible when the table is in use so I did not mess with any elaborate finishing. My philosophy is that the underside and back side are not visible in normal use so why bother finishing them.
Also visible in the corner braces are two holes that locate the pegs fixed on the underside of the top. To move the extensions, you lift up slightly on the top, then move the extensions into position, either in or out, then let the top settle back into the holes. Again I just used pocket screws to fix the corner braces to the frame. In use, the top would probably be moved 3-4 times a year at most and there is no real stress on the joint so I think this assembly is fine.
This is a picture of the underside of the table with the two locating pins.
The stretchers are tapered such that when the extensions are retracted, they sit flat on the frame. The taper side is up when screwed to the extension.
When the extensions are pulled out, they are at the same height as the top. This is seen in the next two pictures.
Slider in, clamp just to hold piece in place. Flush at apron and stretcher.
The next picture shows the position of the stretcher in the extended position. I put the center section next to it to show is should be flush to the top.
The book matched leg is also visible. (Gee, I do nice work!)
So that is how the mechanism works. You have to adjust the slots in the stretcher and apron to correspond to the thickness of the slider. I made up trial pieces of pine to get the right dimensions before I worked on the table pieces.
The next two pictures just show the extensions retracted and extended.
On the underside of the extensions and on the ends of the table I routed grip regions to make it easier to extend and retract the table. This was from my experience working with the table - and I happened to see a draw leaf table at a local restaurant. The waitress said it always pinched her fingers when they had to use the extensions so I thought this was a minor improvement.
The final assembly picture shows a cleat screwed to the end of the stretcher to hold the extension tight against the top when in the out position. Tage and Tommy used solid pieces connecting both extensions but this seemed simpler to me.
The next three pictures just show the table with the extensions extended, retracted, and an overall view of the table.
You have do a little bit of hand planing to get a tight fit between the extensions and to, nothing extensive. Don't know if I really like the wild grain but it is flat sawn red oak and that is what you get. It is not dead flat, maybe gaps of 1/16" to 1/8" between the top and extensions. The extensions fit very tight to the top when out and are very solid when locked down. My daughter and husband love it, my wife and I will drive it down to NJ very soon. Takes up way to much room in the shop.
It was an interesting build, I was cautious before I got the sliders and slots adjusted correctly, mainly because I did not want to ruin the apron and stretchers with a bad cut. The top is awkward and heavy, too wide to grab it and lift it up easily. I must have moved it 30-40 times during the build, did not want to bang it around. I did hit one of the extensions with the table peg and caused a depression but I got out my wife's steam iron and worked out the ding, not visible in the final product at all. I was very fortunate that none of my HF tools failed me, at least according to some of the folks here. Bought the best I could afford.
And now, on to another item.. Enjoy...
