Kitchen Island w/ Shelf - Need Opinions

[Matt Hutchinson]

So, I am building a paint grade kitchen island. It has 4 turned legs (still square at the top and bottom), a 5" apron, and a shelf 9" up from the floor. I have my ideas as to how I want to attach/join the shelf, but I thought I might get some good input from y'all.

The legs are 4.5" square, and the shelf needs to "wrap" them on two sides a full 4" (1/2" setback from the outside of the legs). How would you attach the shelf?


Thanks!

Hutch

[Aaron Berk]

Cut a notch into the turned portion of the leg. (not a dado all the way through) but a notch just to hold the corner of the shelf. A mortiser would work for this.

The shelf would then be "captured" between the 4 legs and would have to be installed as you assemble the legs.




oops, just read the rest of your post. Wrap the legs huh?


Then notch the corners of the shelf, and mortise/stopped dado 2 sides of each leg.

[Matt Hutchinson]

To clarify, the shelf is going to be attached to the lower square section, not the turned section.

[Jamie Buxton]

I've just laid that out on the drawing board. Start with a full rectangular shelf. Cut a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" square out of each corner. Cut two dados in each leg to hold each corner. The dados are only 1" deep.

Oh, you mean attach to the square part. Heck, notch the corners of the shelf and pocket screw from underneath.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I have been contemplating that quite seriously. The furniture maker in me wants to go with some kind of joinery, but the "I just want to get this done" part of me says pre-finish it all and use pocket screws with corner blocks.

Hutch

[Jamie Buxton]

So how big is this table? If it is wide enough, it'll look a little wimpy with just a 3/4"-thick shelf hanging down there. You might consider putting aprons under the shelf -- stretchers that are mortised into the legs, and the shelf just fastens to them, not the legs. Partly this gets you more substantial appearance, and it also gives you an easy way to fasten the shelf.

[Aaron Berk]

Pocket screw. +1

[Matt Hutchinson]

The shelf underneath is 1" thick, and I think at that size it will be okay without an apron. It's already such a chunky looking island that I don't think I want to add any more visual weight to it if I don't have to. Here's a pic of the dry fit to give you a better idea of how it looks.

Hutch