Sofa Table - part III

[Derek Cohen]

This is where we finished last time - the fitting of legs to the apron ...



I had a day in the workshop, and the following is a summary of the work completed today.

The aim was to make and fit the end rails for the table. I decided to use sliding dovetails rather than mortice-and-tenons: There was little room to add a tenon as much of the space in the legs was taken up with large tenons from the aprons (although working with the 1/3 Rule). A sliding dovetail would provide a compact joint. 

A few hours were first spent aligning the aprons and legs. The legs had been cut from the centre of a board, to obtain the best grain arrangement. As a result, there were no registration sides. A degree here-or-there difference in the legs threw off their alignment. Tweaking them into parallel took some time.

The ends of the table are different. On one side is a solid stretcher. At the other end are top- and lower rails for a drawer. These are below along with the drawer face, which will resemble a stretcher once completed (it is to be a hidden drawer, disguised as a stretcher) ...



The rails went in this end ...



All is loosely fitted for these photos. Drawbore pegs lock the legs to the apron. The lower rail is actually locked by the apron ...



There is nothing special about the sliding dovetail on the lower rails. They are short and, therefore, were left parallel ..



The top rail is simply dovetailed in ...



The top rail is 10mm high and the lower rail is 20mm high. This leaves 39mm for a drawer. No, it is not going to be high! Still, it is part of the fun, and no doubt will be a interesting talking point and find a use.

At the other end of the table is a solid stretcher. If you look at the left side leg, you will notice that the top of the mortice has broken out. This was caused by attempts to unstick a peg - which I thought was tapped in lightly, but broke off when I tried to twist it out (darn!). After this, I kept it all loose. 



This stretcher has a tapered sliding dovetail at each side ...







All of the sockets were marked, sawn and chiselled.

The dovetails were planed with a modified Stanley #79 side rabbet plane. The modification involved an angled fence ...







Finally, this is where I am up to with the sofa table. The front legs need to be rounded, and all the legs are yet to be tapered on the insides. There is clean up to do, a drawer to build, and the tabletop to resaw and shape.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[hbmcc]

I like seeing the experimentation with the apron and rail joinery. However, that sliding dovetail layout on the solid side stretcher/apron looks weak. Hard maple is one of our best furniture woods, non-interlocking grain, so it does split. And, there isn't much shoulder for the mortise. You can excavate a lot of wood from the central core. Some builders even interlock tenons. 

You can store your design sketch book in the drawer....

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Bruce

I'm curious to understand why you believe a sliding dovetail is weak? I have used them frequently in space-challenged situations, such as my recent lingerie chest, which must have used about two dozen of the buggers ?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[hbmcc]

Hi Bruce

I'm curious to understand why you believe a sliding dovetail is weak? I have used them frequently in space-challenged situations, such as my recent lingerie chest, which must have used about two dozen of the buggers ?

Regards from Perth

Derek

I have no concerns about the sliding joint, just the proximity, or thickness, of the mortise wall to the face of the leg. To clarify, I am looking at the legs section opposing the drawer opening side. That reveal wall is what ... 3/16" at most from face of the leg. That's weak for a maple board on a table that size. I am even assuming you won't have drunk bulls and heifers stumbling into it.


Have you checked the strength yet? As a safety measure for the project, I would do a test on scrap since the existing joint can be modified by moving the mortise/socket and switching the apron faces so the tenon/tail is on the interior.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Bruce

A couple of points.

Firstly, the only sliding dovetail that runs along an edge of the legs is 70mm long (about 2-3/4"). That's fairly substantial. Once the parts are glued, the joints will be very strong.

Secondly, there will be at a cross brace through the centre to prevent any movement in the drawer blades.

Thirdly, there is additional strengthening of the carcase/legs when the table top is connected. 

All-in-all, I think the construction should be pretty strong.

Regards from Perth

Derek

p.s. I really enjoy your questions. I do wish others on the forum would show the same interest. I observed to a friend that members of handtool forums (not just this one) appear to lag way behind their power tool cousins when it comes to discussing furniture design. It makes you wonder whether handtool forum members are more interested in the tools than in their use.

[hbmcc]

SNIP

p.s. I really enjoy your questions. I do wish others on the forum would show the same interest. I observed to a friend that members of handtool forums (not just this one) appear to lag way behind their power tool cousins when it comes to discussing furniture design. It makes you wonder whether handtool forum members are more interested in the tools than in their use.

Hand tool people are all petrified buffalo chips obsessed with abrasives, rust--oddly--and shavings. It's more entertaining for them to daydream, acquire tools, and read Chris Schwarz for new inspirational dreams. 

[See, it's easy. You can be crass too....
  That will be $350 fee for doing your job.]

Building a dovetailed fake jewelry box for my cheap chisels is not woodworking to my practical senses. I have some major projects I procrastinate on simply because of their size, cost, and the condition of my knees even with Boeing Surplus knee pads. And, few hand tools will be used. Besides, I'll be damned if I go out and buy a Disston rip saw when I have a bandsaw ready for 12" resawing. 

[Oh, it just occurred to me: Big-tool boys have theirs for big projects. Hand tool mavens can hide theirs in a box or cupboard.... 
 ... Ooooh, ... I'm bad....]

[Admiral]

I have no concerns about the sliding joint, just the proximity, or thickness, of the mortise wall to the face of the leg. To clarify, I am looking at the legs section opposing the drawer opening side. That reveal wall is what ... 3/16" at most from face of the leg. That's weak for a maple board on a table that size. I am even assuming you won't have drunk bulls and heifers stumbling into it.


Have you checked the strength yet? As a safety measure for the project, I would do a test on scrap since the existing joint can be modified by moving the mortise/socket and switching the apron faces so the tenon/tail is on the interior.

Derek:  I'd have to agree with Bruce here, moving the sliding joint back toward the inside of the stretcher, rather than the front, would have resulted in a better joint, the face reveal could have been the same, and you fully avoid the question of blowout of the thin leg face, glue and additional interior support notwithstanding. Just curious why you chose to locate the mortise that way when from viewing the pictures, at least to me, there was no space/size constraint and the better joint placement choice was obvious?

[TomFromStLouis]

Well, put me firmly in the middle: I agree with Derek that once assembled this design should hold up just fine, but I doubt I would have come around to the same choices. I have regularly mitered tenons and shifted them off center to work around situations like this. Maple can be unforgiving.

I do like the overall look and feel of the piece. It has danish modern flair that is easy to like.

[Admiral]

It's the maple that concerns me as well.