wall mounted folding kitchen table

[Matt Day]

I'm thinking about installing a wall mounted folding table in our kitchen and am looking for design ideas and harware suggestions. I've done some brief searching and found that Ikea makes a cheapo one:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/pr...ProductDisplay
I'd of course like to make it much nicer and a custom size for our place. I'll probably use Maple to match our cabinets.

What type of hinges would be best? Would a swing out support like the Ikea one be a good plan?

Thanks in advance for the input.

[Jamie Buxton]

The first step is to prospect for studs in the wall. I'd mount the supports to studs, not sheetrock. That might affect how big the table can be. The Ikea approach, with one support, will work but feel flimsy; you can push down fairly easily on the front corners.

[Matt Day]

I will of course attach direction to studs, probably with a cleat.

I would make the table solid maple around 3/4" thick, and I would hope with a solid mount to the wall and a good fold out support it would be sturdy.

[John Schreiber]

I've never built anything like that, but my instinct would be to use a couple door hinges and plan to have the support at the non-wall end come down from the corners. The legs could fold up into the top when not being used, but would come down to support the table when it is opened.

Mounting to the wall means there will be no wood movement allowed on that side. For that reason, I'd think it might work well to make the top out of a good quality veneered plywood rather than a solid wood. Adding aprons on the sides would hide the edges of the plywood and the folding leg hardware and would add strength.

Just my $.02.

[Sandra Force]

I would suggest that when you do the wall mount you skirt it with a 3'4" skirt and then for support use a gateleg style off from the wall. When the table is down and will sit out about 4-5" and when it is in use will be very stable. The skirt will hide the gateleg when the table is not in use.

[Tom Leftley]

I would suggest you use three quarter or one inch MDF and cover it with arborite.
I took some pictures of the one in our kitchen but I haven't a clue how to post them here.
Perhaps I could e-mail them to you?