Kitchen table design help

[Dan T Jones]

I am going to build a traditional kitchen table for my daughter in law. Problem is she is 1000 miles away so I want to make it with removable legs so they can get it in the car. These brackets look good: http://www.rockler.com/surface-mount...r-table-aprons

I'm not sure the best way to build the table to incorporate the leg brackets.

I need some plans or other guidance.

Thank you.
Dan

[lowell holmes]

I might try small dowels in the apron ends to locate the aprons and then install the metal inside corner brackets.

Or, maybe mortise and tenon the ends of the aprons to the legs.

A belt and suspenders approach . . . . .

[Dan T Jones]

What would you think about an unglued stopped mortise in the ends of the legs so you would anchor the leg to the apron but it would be removable.

My other problem is it would seem I will have to screw the aprons to the top. The aprons going cross grain would inhibit wood movement.

Dan

[Sam Murdoch]

There are brackets that have been used for this purpose for generations. Here is one example - http://www.rockler.com/surface-mount...vgkaAlvm8P8HAQ There are other versions that are set up with the leg being set into the corner of the apron assembly rather than setting the leg outside the corners as seen here.

Yes, not all that "woodworky" but a legitimate and structurally capable solution for a case such as yours.

As for attaching the apron assembly to the table top, it is typical to attach these with clips or right angle blocks let into a dado in the apron sides that are screwed securely to the table top but are designed to allow the top to move independently. See this link - http://www.craftsmanspace.com/knowle...-tabletop.html

[Adam Herman]

You can use the same design with a piece of 1x and lag screws or to be removable, you can use the brass inserts in the leg and machine bolts. the legs will come off with the 2 bolts for travel and go back on very easily. Its also a very sturdy design.

[Tom Bender]

Actually a table travels pretty well upside down on a car roof. The work to load it is nothing compared to the exra work you are looking at to build a knock down table.

[Mike Schuch]

I have owned a table or two with that type of leg bracket. I tend to think of them as kind of cheap... but that is because the tables that came with them were cheap. The tables with those brackets were plenty sturdy though and if they ever got a bit wiggly a half turn with a ratchet would tighten them back up. For what you are doing they seem like a suitable solution.

I don't know how you would be able to get a couple blind tenons or even dowels on two perpendicular faces of a square leg to form a corner joint without having to remove the skirts from the table top just to assembly the legs?

[Jim Dwight]

Does it have to have 4 legs on the corners? If not, a central column can be made detachable. We have one that unbolts at the top and the four legs on the column also remove with bolts. It is very solid and the fasteners do not normally show.