A Tale of ... 3 Tables

[Malcolm McLeod]

I am currently working on 3 tables as replacements for a rustic trio of construction lumber, crumb-catching, UGLY tables in a short term rental (STR) and thought some might be interested in a couple of the requirements – and the chosen solutions.

First specification is they must be bullet proof. Being in a STR, they will see their ultra-fair share of abuse, so simple and strong rule the day. Second is ‘big’; they need to seat 10 each (or 12 in a pinch), so 106”L x 42”W, or better, 48” (TBD). Third, they need to be mobile without destroying the floors, so casters are needed – but hidden and retractable so the overall feel is a bit classier (I hope).

And fourth, they occasionally need to pass thru a 36”W doorway. The typical answer is to tip the table on its side and carry it thru the doorway. Experience says this will beat the s%!# out of the doorway, the floor, AND the table. So, how to quickly and easily ‘reduce’ the width – to allow passage, then return to normal? And all of this by a guest or the cleaning crew.

My son had an excellent idea of folding the top ‘up’ on the long axis – effectively making it look like a tent – and then helped work thru the required geometry. The gas spring lift mechanism could be tied to a cam so that when the top is unlatched and raised, the casters extend as well; drop the top and the casters retract. Two birds, one stone! This meant a rule joint in the top and it must both rotate and translate. A hinge attached to a short drawer guide would have allowed this, and then the cam and casters….COOL! …but intriguing as this was, it violated spec #1.

K.I.S.S. applied brought me back to a simple, one-piece, hinged top with a gas spring to balance the weight. Casters will not get tied to the top. No fancy curves, no multi-link suspension, nor automation and UPS systems. Dang it.

And for casters I found “retractablecasters.com”. An interesting concept I had not seen before. It looks to be a start-up and worthy of a try, so ordered a set to try on a drum sander. Working as advertised so far, so will move them to a table and 2 sets more on order. (Might be worth a look if you need a mobile bench/tool? …They discovered a (assembly) flaw in my order before I even installed them and shipped another set immediately.)

Just strong and mobile.

[Malcolm McLeod]

This was the side-by-side rough draft of the 2 finalist table designs:

Tables2024.JPG

The one on the right made the SWMBO cut, so on to materials.

I mentioned bullet-proofing, so OAK. My hardwood suppliers have assured me that they no longer grow white oak - anywhere - and they have priced their remaining stock accordingly. Red oak it is. At 26% of the cost.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Oak.jpg
^Like so many other projects, this was the start.

legparts.jpg
^ So far it has been transformed to this.

fixture.jpg
^Still amazed at the ease of fixturing and repeatability on a slider.

legdryfit.jpg
^Dry fit of a leg. You can see ~ where the caster will sit.
Face and web construction create a space for both the casters and the gas springs for the top,

[Malcolm McLeod]

As in another thread, the 'butterfly leaf' idea was on the 'table' so to speak, a while back. I considered both drop-leaf style and removable leaves, but discarded both ideas: The drop-leaf would require one or two rule joints to run full length (9ft) and I had limited confidence in their long term survivability; the removable leaves would typically only impact length, and so not get the narrow dimension down to the doorway's 36" requirement.

On top of these inconveniences, these tables really need to be styled and sized as large harvest/trestle tables to suit the space they occupy - - the only reason to reduce the size is to move thru the doorway. So, the designs in post #2 seemed to check the most boxes.

Glue ups of the legs are underway, but rest assured I DO NOT have enough clamps!

Edit:
New day and out of clamps and a pic...TableLegs.jpg
Saw is doing storage duty; ready for stain & hardware.