Shaker Dinning Room Table Begins

[Jason Tuinstra]

When we were just looking at our new home, my wife noticed the kitchen table that the former owners had. It was perfect for the unusually large dinning area. It was a Pottery Barn table that measured 60"x60". It seats 8 people without a leaf! And becuase the table is square, it makes for a great place to entertain. You don't feel like your down the table from the other couples. You're all right there. So I snagged the overall dimensions, added some Shaker lines in CAD, and put it on the to-do list.

Well, here it is so far. I still have a number of things to do, but I thought I would post some construction pics. Last night, I got the curves cut and sanded. It's dry fit right now. I need to get some longer lenths of pipe to clamp the sides. Man their big!!! So things have slowed down for now.

Anyway, thanks for looking!

P.S. John M. - I kept my promise! I even left some of the evidence on the floor for you to see :D :p

[Maurice Ungaro]

Nice Jason! Looks like you're jumping right in on that new shop.

[Martin Shupe]

Looking good, Jason, I'll be watching for more pics!

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Looks good Jason. It's nice to see some sawdust on the floor. That's going to be a nice size. I can see why you were drawn to it.

[Michael Gabbay]

Very nice. I really like shaker style tables. They are fun to build and never go out of style.


Mike

[Alan Turner]

Jason,
Looks great. Which way are you going to run the grain on that table? Possibly to accomodate table slide extensions in the future?

[Norman Hitt]

Jason,
Looks great. Which way are you going to run the grain on that table? Possibly to accomodate table slide extensions in the future?

Alan, I think he's going to run the grain along the 60" dimension. :D :D

(Just couldn't resist) :)

Looking Great, Jason. Are you going to make matching Chairs also?

[Alan Turner]

If he is going to do it that way, then I hope he is thinking in terms of quarter sawn dowels.

[Tim Morton]

I'm going to bookmark this site so that in about 10 years when I learn to cut straight I can build my wife a farm table ...looks perfect. BTW...did I miss a Festool Gloat, or did you just get the carboard boxes from an upscale recycling place?

[Mike Cutler]

Nice work Jason. I like the taper of the legs, they really seem to be in the proper relatoinship to a table that size.
What is the joint at the top of the legs?
I can't wait to see the top when it's in place, I'm sure it's going to be nice. Will the top incorporate breadboard ends or solid ends with a table lift profile?

[Mike Leonard]

Jason, very nice. It looks like you are well on your way to a very nice table.
Instead of buying longer 3/4" pipe, that you may not use much in the future, you might want to consider getting some 3/4" couplers and joining two shorter lengths together. Just a thought.

[Jim Becker]

Oh, that's going to be a beauty, Jason!! And you're going to get a reputation as that "Shaker Preacher" who moved in to town... ;) Seriously, I'm really looking forward to the steps and results of this project. And guess what...chairs and a buffet are next!! hee hee

[Dave Avery]

Jason,

I saw a similar square table constructed on a different site where the craftsman added cross-supports because the 60"X60" table was less than fully stable. We have a smallish DR and I've thought about this type of table many times - seats 8 with a minimum of space. Is your dry-fit stable? Please let us (me) know how the final product turns out. All the best. Dave.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Mike L. - great idea! A lot cheaper as well.

Mike C. - it's a mortise and tenon joint. It's 1" long.

Alan - I'm actually building a leaf as well, so I am going to put an extention slide on right from the get-go. Why, what's your thought? I've never done this before, so if I'm missing something please let me know. I was planning on using Lee Valley's brass alinement pins as well as their table latch. I checked out Horton's, but LV seemed about the same so I'll get everything from them. Anyway, the thought was to glue up the table frame, get the top located and screwed, and then take the table top off and cut the base in half. This is what I saw Beksvoort do in an artilce that I have. Sound right to you?

[Jason Tuinstra]

Jim, you're exactly right! Jody has a hutch/buffet from Thos. Moser already picked out. I made one for a friend of mine a long time ago, and now LOML wants hers!

The chairs are already designed, for the most part. I have full scale working drawings, but I still have some issues to work out. Basically, I'm trying to copy the chairs on the front cover of FWW #160 (Annual Tool/Shop Issue). I'm also planning on using some of the techniques from Issue #166. I'm going to need a boatload of help from all the chair makers on SMC, so be prepared for lots of questions :p ! I'll make a rough version out of 2x6's first.

Dave - you're making me nervous :D . I can't tell about stability from the dry fit, but your heads-up will come in handy. How do you add that kind of support to an extension table though? Hopefully I won't have to worry about that. I'll keep you up to speed because I'm sure you'd love this style of table. This is a real solution to so many table/space problems.

[Alan Turner]

Jason,
I was just joshing you on the graiin direction on a square table (and on the dowels, of course). Hope you don't mind.

As to the extension slides, I have only used the wood ones, with equalizers, from Van Dykes and found them to be of good quality and reasonably priced.

I might rig up a center support for this rather long span. I have retro'd tables for slides, or longer slides, but never built one from scratch. I would go to the Joyce tombe for guidance. I assume he covers it. I'll try to remember to check when I get home. Frid may cover it as well, and his advice is usually sound.

I would suspect that there might be a lot of pressure on the 1" tenons when you bisect the apron, so I might think in terms of beefing that up as well. If there is heavy leaning on the table, esp. at the center when fully open, then rhat might translate to a lot of pressure on the short apron to leg joint. There is not a lot of meat there. Please keep in mind these are comments from someone who has not built one of these.

Great table.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, you're exactly right! Jody has a hutch/buffet from Thos. Moser already picked out. I made one for a friend of mine a long time ago, and now LOML wants hers!.

New Century? Matches your aprons!! 'Excellent example of Shaker/Craftsman cross and one of my favorites. Believe it or not, Stickley has a Harvey Ellis piece that is very similar and even available in cherry. Both are great models to work from. You'll have to do your own takeoffs on the New Century piece as it's not in Moser's Measured Shop Drawings for American Furniture book.

http://media.thomasmoser.com/dyn_images/361/70/699.JPG

[Jason Tuinstra]

Alan, thanks for the advice! I was going to go deeper on the tenons, but I didn't want to lose strength in thin, outside tenon wall. I'm planning on pegging the joints to add some strength. Also, I plan on adding thick corner blocks. BTW, I assumed the joke on the square table, but I was a slow on the qs dowel. Pretty sad, eh? In real life I do have a sense of hummor, honest :p :D

Jim, you guessed it! I love that piece. In person it's even more impressive. I visited Moser just after someone ordered the whole thing. I think the bill was over $14,000 with shipping. :eek: I made the smaller version pictured below for my friend. This was when I was a bit further behind on the learning curve. I like it, but it dosen't have dovetailed drawers and the panels are plywood. Not bad, but I like the look of solid wood better.

[Dave Avery]

Jason,

The table to which I refer was posted at The Oak about 2 year ago - I think by Brent Harral. Anyway, his was not an extension table, so bracing (and drawers underneath) were possbile.


Alternative idea - I'm actually considering making 2 and butting them together when I need to feed a crowd. I'd use one as the kitchen table, one as the dining room table. That solution allows bracing and drawers if you wish. Good luck finishing your project. Dave.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I'd plan any bracing between the aprons carefully. The span of the apron is long enough that you can easily introduce some 'sag' to the apron with the weight of the bracing pieces if you get too close to the middle. I've learned this the hard way.

KC

[Frank Hagan]

My wife recently purchased a Bassett (mass-production) "gathering table" that is 60" square with the leaf in (alas, my woodworking skills are not anywhere near "big table" proficiency yet). The work I see in this thread far surpasses the production work of this table, so I have something to aspire to. Anyway, I thought the hardware they use to keep the table rigid might be useful to you ...

The large metal slide and corner braces are pretty beefy. You can see where the leaf is by the sloppy finishing around the edges in the production table. Two of the large metal slides are used. The corner braces are rough 4/4 stock of what looks like basswood, and double bolted. The table is rock solid.

The only "problem" we have is that its a long way to reach across if less than 8 are seated at the table ... so we've added a lazy susan to the middle, and that makes reaching for condiments much easier. Other than that small quibble, the Gathering Table is nearly perfect for our use.

[Jason Tuinstra]

KC - Thanks for the heads up. I'll take your advice into serious consideration.

Frank - Thanks for the pics of the table. We have a young family of seven, so most nights we'll be one short of max capacity w/o the leaf. Plenty of hands on deck for passing the mustard and pickles :p . I'm glad to know that your's is rock solid. I'll be sure to look at those pics again and consider the placement of their braces and extension slides. Thanks!