Slab coffee table leg question

[Mollie Peery]

Hi everyone,

I'm working on my first slab project that will be a coffee table. One side will have a slab leg that is already mortised in (dry fit). There will be a "bar" on the floor parallel to the tabletop. A turned leg is to be angled from the other end of the table and attached to the bar similar to http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=79359 The distance between my slab and turned leg is longer however.

I want the front turned leg to be as tight and sturdy as possible. I read somewhere that you can insert a turned leg with some type of mesh, insert glued leg and when the glue dries, cut the mesh flush. Has anyone heard of this? I am curious how others secure similar legs.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm not sure I follow your description about the mesh. However, if you are looking for a way to make sure the turned leg is tight into the respective mortises in the top and the stretcher, then you can wedge the ends of the leg. This means reaming out the ends of the mortised holes a little to accomodate the spread.

[Mollie Peery]

Thanks for your response. Ordinarily I would plan to do this; however, the turned leg is not going through the top slab or the bottom bar so the wedge you suggest won't work for me. My neighbor is turning the leg and I don't think we will get a perfect match, i.e. a 1" turning going into a 1" Forstner bit drilled hole. Other suggestions?

[Gary Max]

Think of a hammer head--------- use a wedge the same way.

[Prashun Patel]

You can turn or buy a flange that caps the leg and is screwed into it from the top. Tha things of the flange then get screwed to the underside of the table.

[Pat Barry]

You could still do a wedge in the end of the leg inside a blind (non thru hole). Lets say the leg is a pretty good fit, but too sloppy to glue in directly. Make a cut into the top of the leg, just less than the depth of the hole. Tricky part will be sizing the wedge to give you the fit you need. You will start the wedge in the cut, then push the leg into the hole. The wedge will bottom out in the hole and then as the leg presses in the wedge will expand the leg to fit the hole. I would sneak up on it with the wedge though, because once its in it won't be coming out again. Do your final fit with glue in the wedge and around the entire tenon.

[Conrad Fiore]

+1 for Pat. It's called a Fox Wedged Tenon if you would like to look it up.