arched apron question

[Mike Pittenger]

I’m building a shaker style coffee table for my daughter. Rather than keeping things rectangular, I’m putting a curve on the breadboards, and wanted to match that on the aprons.


Is there a rule of thumb for this? Am I supposed to match the radius used on the top for those on the aprons, or match the height of the arch on ends and front? I started playing with it in SketchUp, and the shorter aprons looked odd using 1.5” offset for the top of the arch (which is what I thought I would use on the front/rear aprons).


Thanks

[Lee Mitchell]

Mike, I don't have the answer for you. Bumping your post back to the top, just in case someone else does.

Lee in NC

[Todd Burch]

Post the SketchUp file, or at least a picture. This should probably be in the Design forum.

[Prashun Patel]

You'll find nary a rule of thumb on this. It's all about what looks and feels right to you.

I really like using fairing sticks instead of strict circle radii. They seem to feel more organic and natural, and are more inviting to touch.

[David DeCristoforo]

The closest analogy I can think of is arched top cabinet doors of varying widths. In that case, you would want the arches to intersect the side stiles at the same distance down from the top of the door and the width of the top rail at the center of the arch to be consistent. This means a different radius for each different width door. I'm not really sure how this would relate to your situation. You might want to go with "what looks best" here. How to figure put what looks best? Cardboard? Really cheap sheets of something? And tape. You'll need lots of tape.

[Frank Drew]

Mike,

I think elevation drawings are a great way to find a look and proportions you like. If the table ends are fairly narrow, you might need to make the minimum rail width a bit wider than it is on the longer front and back rails to avoid a radically different arch, but in any case I agree with David on making the maximum rail width the same on all the rails (i.e. they should all meet the legs at the same level.)