Please critique this sofa table

[Gene Davis]

Daughter wants a piece to fill a space, and it must be such that two cube ottomans she has will fit under. The geometry of this will fit the bill.

Am thinking of doing it in ash, dyed black, then sealed, then done with black gel stain, then clearcoated with wipe-on satin Arm R Seal. I had success with that program when doing a kitchen dining table recently.

[Jamie Buxton]

Nice shapes.

But the whole thing all-black? Yikes.

[Mark Stutz]

If the black fits with her decor, then go for it. Even with a black base I would do the top in some special piece of figured wood that could be highlighted, but obviously the space and existing decor will dictate whether this will work or not.

[Phil Thien]

I like it. My only comment/concern is, I think at least one stretcher at the bottom will make it substantially stronger. Otherwise those legs are like levers on the aprons.

[Prashun Patel]

I think it's fine. If this will be against a wall or sofa, then I would add a lower stretcher. It doesn't need to be centered; even a rear stretcher will add strength while allowing clearance for the ottomans.

[Dave Richards]

I agree with making the top out of a special piece of wood and leaving it natural.

I think I'd put an arched stretcher between the side stretchers. Make the curve match the one on the bottom of the aprons. Or you could do something like similar to what Tim Rousseau did on his.

[Yonak Hawkins]

I think it's fine. If this will be against a wall or sofa, then I would add a lower stretcher. It doesn't need to be centered; even a rear stretcher will add strength while allowing clearance for the ottomans.

+1 for the off-centered stretcher.

[Brian Holcombe]

You can accomplish it without a bottom stretcher but it will require quite a significant change in the design. If you look at historic examples of 'Altar' tables you can see how this was accomplished with success.

The design I'm most familiar with is the Ming era Altar table. The basic joint used to connect the skirt and legs is a bridle joint, however it's reinforced with long carved bracing at the bottom and tenoned into the top, offering 10"~ of support on a 35" tall table. In addition to strengthening the connection, the tenons at the top serve to keep the bridle joints from splaying open.

On simpler designs I see the 'Giant's arm' brace come into use.

[Michael Kaplan]

IMO, tapering the legs a little bit, and adding a little overhang of the top would create a little more interest. Just my opinion...

[Gene Davis]

So I added a pair of end-stretchers, not at the top of the legs, but dropped just below the long front and back ones. The drop allows full-sized loose tenons to be used in the joints. I plan to use 10mm x 50mm length dominos.

I painted the top xray gray so you can see what is going on.

My Sketchup modeling skills are not good enough to draw the Krenovian bevel, done with a spokeshave, on the outside curved arrises of the legs.

[Brian Holcombe]

I think you need it across the width of the table, not the depth.

[Gene Davis]

I may put one back there, Brian. The front needs to stay open because daughter wants to store the two cubic ottomans there. I may mock this up using 2x framing lumber just to see how stiff everything feels.

The config if not done with a floating top, but just a normal array of four legs and four stretchers, is just like any old table, and all those tables seem to work.

So I thought, what if I could introduce a little more shear in that arrangement of top and long stretchers? I saw a pic of such a table online, and will try this: three closely spaced stretchers in the 1" airspace of float, centered.

[Prashun Patel]

The floating stretchers IMHO make moot the need for the upper leg stretchers you've added. To my eye, the 3 center supports are at odds with the concept of the floating top; I'd just put a single one attached to the inner surface of the apron as you've done with the outer ones.

I recently made a heavy slab desk without a lower stretcher. It is rock solid. However, this is because my side legs are attached into the top with loose tenons. The thick top I used and the thick tenons provide some stability against racking. Even then, I wouldn't have done it but for the fact that my table is in an alcove protected by walls on 3 sides, so there won't be much opportunity to stress it in certain directions.

A floating table, however does not utilize the top to stabilize the legs. You're relying on two aprons. In addition to providing more strength, my eye just wants something lower. A rear stretcher (heck, put it 4/5 of the way towards the rear and give it a curve) will complete this.

Anyway, that's all a lot of nitpickery. Looks nice!

Wish I had your Sketchup skills.

[Don Kondra]

I like the second version best

Moving the side rails down to make the floating assembly more visible is a good thing !

IMO a bottom stretcher is not necessary...

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/...sson-in-curves

Cheers, Don

[Brian Holcombe]

I have some anecdotal insights;

I have and a table in my study that could probably hold up a corner of my house...it has on it...a Japanese tea set that's all of 2 lbs.

I built another table I assume to be quite delicate, it's top is cantilevered by the base. My wife brings home a marble 'fish tank' ( actually just a basin) easily 100lbs...empty.. And guess which of these two tables she wanted to put it on?

The Ming furniture makers designed 8-10" of support for this area....because they knew that sometimes LOML comes home with a marble fishtank