Some friends asked for a dining table big enough to seat 16. They wanted it oval, so nobody gets isolated out on a corner. And they wanted to be able to put chairs anyplace -- that is, no legs anyplace along the table edge.
Here's what I built. Without leaves, it is 7'x4', and it seats eight. With leaves, it is 14' long, and it seats 16. It is walnut. The top is sawn veneer over a plywood core. The base is solid lumber.
I expected to buy table slides, but didn't find any I liked. These table slides are built up from extremely heavy-duty drawer slides. They're rated at 200 pounds. They have ball bearings, unlike any commercial table slide I found. I didn't want people to be able to see the metal slides, so there is a telescoping walnut visual shield to prevent that. If you look carefully you can see it in the last photo.
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