Table Top Design

[Lee DeRaud]

Aiee... Sorry, my fingers typed faster than my brain. Tim wrote what I meant.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...I thought my senility had taken a giant leap forward.

[Rob Russell]

Bill,

Another question about your table. How did you attach the lower shelf to the legs?

Rob

[Bill Arnold]

Bill,

Nice job on your table.

What method did you use for attaching the tabletop? Buttons in slots, screws through the top drawer guides?

Rob

Rob,

Thanks. My MIL really liked them. LOML said the coffee table and end tables I made for her mom doubled the value of the furniture in her house!

The tops are attached with screws through the corner braces. Since I had a long-grain to long-grain situation with the frame of the top and the aprons, I could have glued and clamped them but I wanted to have the option to replace the tops, if necessary.

Regards,

[Bill Arnold]

Bill,

Another question about your table. How did you attach the lower shelf to the legs?

Rob

Ah, here's where I'll get some grief for sure!

The shelves are attached to the legs with dowels. Yeah, I know -- what about expansion/contraction? Since the shelves are not too wide and the legs will have a little 'give' to them, I thought I could get away with dowels. So far, so good.

The shelves were actually a late addition to the project, so that's why I opted for that approach. The tapered legs introduced a factor in the shelf milling -- I had to taper the notches to match, of course. In a saner moment, I would have designed in stretchers to support the shelves.

Ah, well.... MIL loves 'em...

[Tom Sontag]

If it were me...(and it's not)...Because the tabletop is square, I would cut triangles and have no endgrain showing at all.

John,

I don't think this would last. You will essentially have huge miters and after some expanding and contracting, they will open up (probably at the outer corner). I think this is why people make frame and panels where they want no end grain. Big wide mitered joints of solid wood are asking for trouble IMO.

Tom