Table legs question

[Ken Hill]

Finally the slabs I milled are ready to be worked with, and I am trying to decide teh best route to take to turn legs however I am running into a design dilema. Originally I thought about using natural limbs with a tenon turned to fit a drilled socket in the slab (3 leg) but for some reason i'm just not sure that approach will work unless I keep them very short for a coffee table style hiegth. I can fab up some simple metal legs and powder coat them, but really want wood I think. I could also turn some legs but even after searching images I can not get around the idea of a natural edge table with finely turned legs, albiet they would be short.

Help please haha! New territory for me working with wooden legs!

[John Keeton]

Ken, without seeing the whole concept it is difficult to comment. Personally, in order to showcase a NE table top, there would need to be quite a bit of wood (not bark) showing - at least in the apron area. It is possible limbs might work, but I would lean toward straight stock. Any significant variation in crooks/bends would draw the eye from the top. You might use a drawknife to clean up portions of the limbs, and that would give you some break from all the bark.

What about a turned upper portion of the leg (1/3), with a square area to mate to the apron, and tenon in a natural bark piece from there down with the very tip (3-4") being tapered/shaved with the drawknife exposing wood?

[Ken Hill]

I'm no good at this John! I have a few Oak slabs, 3 to 4" thick with NE (no bark) on both sides. I reckon they are 60" x 18 to 22" wide. I really want to keep it low as a coffee or sofa table so the legs themselves will not be a visually attraction so I am figuring 16 to 18 inches high to the bottom of the table. I have no problem making them from metal (grew up in my dads welding shop and can make just about anything). I had thought about hammering out some stock to give it a aged feel but I do not think the thickness of the legs(metal stock woul be thin unless I forged a twisting design to add mass) will add anything and be a distraction. As you stated, the bark can just take away from the look and I do not think I want the blocky look of larger legs etc, even though they wont be highly visable until seated. This has to be kept super simple if wood is used, I totally suck at flatwork! I still have to plane these down by hand (got to buy a handplane and learn to use it) and sand the slabs but I better get the legs figured out before I dive in. Ive seen some tables buit here on the creek and I do not think I can come close to that quality with the skills I lack but i dont want it to look like it came from a failing high school shop class either as ive seen qouted so often. No elegance around here except what God creates so fancy wont really work haha!

[Roger Chandler]

perhaps use slabs of wood like you see in a lot of NE tables..........not turned legs at all........wood slabs make for a great and stable platform. I would splay them out a little with a dado, or mortise, cut on an angle to give me the splay I desired .........might have to make a test cut or two, on some scrap to get the angle where you want it.

Turned legs can be made to be very simple and not ornate............simple ones with maybe a bead at the upper 1/3 rd if of the leg would work............a bit of taper from top to bottom would be something that works.......IMO.

[Prashun Patel]

Let's see the slab. IMHO, the edge and end treatment of the top will suggest what kind of base looks best.

You can do simple legs mortised into the top. You don't seem to want blocky legs, but on a short table, without any stretcher or apron, they can be totally appropriate. Also if the slab doesn't have a lot of wild figure, a 4-leg base can be thru-tenoned into the top to give some additional visual interest on the top.

If you have ample cut offs from the slab, you can consider making the legs out of slabs themselves.

You say you don't have the flatwork skills for it, but 2 splayed slabs mortised into the top looks extremely sharp on a low table...

[David Reed]

Ken
A while back I made a table which sounds similar to your plan and used curved cedar limbs for legs. Think it turned out OK, although not the best design. I did not post here as even though the limbs are round, I did not turn them.
Here is the link to that posting in another section of the creek.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?165294-BLM-maple-burl-table&highlight=

Not sure if you want something this 'rustic'. It is very stable, now that all limbs are actually on the floor again. Essentially, I cut a 1/2" plywood piece to match the shape of the skirt, cut a rabbit in the skirt to recess the ply into the top and screwed the ply to the skirt. I then cut individual limbs and used long screws from the ply down into the ends of each limb. This was a bit unsteady but when I added the 'braces' it firmed things up quite nicely. After the leg/skirt/ply top was assembled, the top was placed and secured, keyed into the ply and screwed from the bottom. Still not as stable as one would want for a dining table, but perfect for my needs. If the limbs were shorter, of course this would enhance stability. No joinery in the leg attachments and felt a bit cheesy doing it this way but it worked out fine and actually since things moved, dis-assembly and re-assembly was a breeze to re-level the top on the moving legs.

[Prashun Patel]

David-
I love that table. I'm not sure it'd 'go' in my house, but it's certainly a beautiful piece of art. I like it a lot.

[Peter Elliott]

Ken. I don't think you want a turned leg. do a search on log home furniture. If your looking for a natural look, a hewn leg will look better. Like David's table too.

Maybe something like this? ignore the top.

http://www.golocal247.com/uploads/half%20log%20coffee%20table.jpg

[Nathan Hawkes]

Ken, there is an article on leveling slab tables in fine woodworking this month. There are some pictures that give great ideas on using small slabs as legs, along with a straight stretcher piece to stabilize them. I can't post pictures of it, as their website requires a password.

[Ken Hill]

Hey thanks for the tips! I dont own a router....miga nd tig welders no problem haha. Slab legs would be ok I reckon, I do have the tool to turn the above type of joint however, just need a bigger drill to run it! That cedar legged table is sooo nice!!!!

[Rick Markham]

My gut thoughts with a natural edge table would be to do a George Nakashima inspired piece http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com/
(http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com/)