Folding Table Design

[Stanley Covington]

I need to make a couple of folding tables for the lady wife for her quilting. She makes large quilts, so they need to be dining-table size. She is tiny and feisty and hard on furniture, so they need to be light but durable. She has whispered threats along the line of "pins in my boots" if I don't do a good job. If you live in a house with a quilter, you know the threat of pins and needles is not to be ignored.

She currently uses plastic folding tables we bought at Costco in California, but they are near the end of their useful life. I want to make these tables out of softwood for the light weight. Thinking of Akita Sugi cedar. Cheap and easy to find.

I am familiar with the old-style military campaign tables, but find them clunky. I found a couple of other examples on the web. One is quite modern. Not certain how stable it would be, or how the connections would hold up over time. The other is more 18th century in appearance. I have no doubt it would be stable, but it would also be heavier and thicker.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/97918996/the-everyday-folding-table

https://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com/tag/18th-century-furniture/

Any comments?

Suggestions for better designs would be appreciated.

On pins and needles in Tokyo,

Stan

[Matt Evans]

http://buffalowoodcraft.com/solid-wood-furniture/wood-table

Best design I've seen for these. I was thinking of doing the same thing, but modifying it to suit a drafting table that I desperately need in my office.

[Stanley Covington]

http://buffalowoodcraft.com/solid-wood-furniture/wood-table

Best design I've seen for these. I was thinking of doing the same thing, but modifying it to suit a drafting table that I desperately need in my office.

Thanks, Matt. A little heavier than what I wanted, but I could probably slim it down.

Stan

[Malcolm McLeod]

I know the Japanese have a penchant for 'living small', so in spite of the needs of a large quilt, I would think you may need to weight the design of this table to fold and store easily.

What if you combine the folding legs of the linked designs, with a top that opens on runners to accept leaves. Each piece can be kept small and light, but assemble into a larger structure?

Or perhaps expandable, drop-leaf design? (Drop leaves on each end, but center section also expands to accept leaves.) With a couple of center leaves, this can get big in a hurry.

Some of the design may depend on how/where you plan to store the table while not in use - - Closet? Under a bed? Behind a sofa? Against a wall?

[Mel Fulks]

I like the campaign style. After a hard day of yelling orders from a safe spot ,they had to be easy to fold up. Folding the other one is too hard. Think you can easily find a better style example, some of the real ones were elegantly lean and had nice small luxury appointments.

[Brian Holcombe]

Haha that sounds like a threat to take seriously!

Have a look at Hans Wegner's design here ;

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/coffee-tables-cocktail-tables/at-35-folding-table-hans-j-wegner/id-f_4068803/

I think this could be modified to support a larger diameter table mounted to the top, rather than retained by it.

Mogens Lassen's table design, I also find very appealing;

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/coffee-tables-cocktail-tables/mogens-lassen-egyptian-table/id-f_6399193/

[Gene Davis]

I really like the kickstarter. Would try building it using cheap 2x4 lumber from the BORG, to get the hinging and spring keepers all right, then do it in teak or cherry, or way cool, rift sawn white oak.

[Stanley Covington]

Haha that sounds like a threat to take seriously!

Have a look at Hans Wegner's design here ;

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/coffee-tables-cocktail-tables/at-35-folding-table-hans-j-wegner/id-f_4068803/

I think this could be modified to support a larger diameter table mounted to the top, rather than retained by it.

Mogens Lassen's table design, I also find very appealing;

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/coffee-tables-cocktail-tables/mogens-lassen-egyptian-table/id-f_6399193/

Thanks, Brian.

[Stanley Covington]

I really like the kickstarter. Would try building it using cheap 2x4 lumber from the BORG, to get the hinging and spring keepers all right, then do it in teak or cherry, or way cool, rift sawn white oak.

Sound advice, Gene.

Thanks.

[Paul Bent]

I like the mechanics of Wegner's and would adapt the look to something I personally felt was more graceful. I also find the thought of 2 @ 1/2 table size appealing. Of course I would build three halves for starters. And on a side note, if the height was kept consistent then adaptations could be made in the frame design to tell more of a story.

[William Fretwell]

How about 4 'sawhorse' type legs that stack and two tops. The tops have large curved sides and corners. One top is smaller so it fits inside the other top back to back for storage. You only need guide blocks under the tops to fit the 'sawhorse' legs as they are free standing. The tops are lighter to move. There is a large clearance around the edges for feet. You avoid hinges & wobbly legs.

[Noah Magnuson]

On this line of thinking, but rather multiple (2 or 4) smaller tables, each being very stable and lighter weight, but able to be joined temporarily at the edges to create a very large surface. The joining would be done in such a way would inherently flush and snug the surfaces.

I know the Japanese have a penchant for 'living small', so in spite of the needs of a large quilt, I would think you may need to weight the design of this table to fold and store easily.

What if you combine the folding legs of the linked designs, with a top that opens on runners to accept leaves. Each piece can be kept small and light, but assemble into a larger structure?

Or perhaps expandable, drop-leaf design? (Drop leaves on each end, but center section also expands to accept leaves.) With a couple of center leaves, this can get big in a hurry.

Some of the design may depend on how/where you plan to store the table while not in use - - Closet? Under a bed? Behind a sofa? Against a wall?

[Stanley Covington]

How about 4 'sawhorse' type legs that stack and two tops. The tops have large curved sides and corners. One top is smaller so it fits inside the other top back to back for storage. You only need guide blocks under the tops to fit the 'sawhorse' legs as they are free standing. The tops are lighter to move. There is a large clearance around the edges for feet. You avoid hinges & wobbly legs.

Thanks for the suggestions, William. Space is too valuable for a sawhorse table. She is not so pickey about wobbling.

Stan

[Christopher Charles]

Hello Stan,

thinking out out of the box a bit, would the approach used in folding massage tables open any possibilities? We have one that's remarkably stable for it's weight and folded size. Downside is the supporting wires would make it difficult to sit, so may be aa non-starter.

Best of luck and am confident you will be successful.

[Karl Andersson]

Would it help her if you made the tops like shoji frames- meaning, does she have to do any stitching while the quilt is lying flat, so the open spaces would actually help her keep the pieces aligned? When not in use, the tops could be stored as...shoji. The open spaces would have to be a bit smaller that regular shoji, though, if she uses small fabric pieces.

Of course, that's a lot more work for you - but they would be very light and maybe additionally useful

good luck with the pins, check your tabi often
Karl

[Stanley Covington]

Would it help her if you made the tops like shoji frames- meaning, does she have to do any stitching while the quilt is lying flat, so the open spaces would actually help her keep the pieces aligned? When not in use, the tops could be stored as...shoji. The open spaces would have to be a bit smaller that regular shoji, though, if she uses small fabric pieces.

Of course, that's a lot more work for you - but they would be very light and maybe additionally useful

good luck with the pins, check your tabi often
Karl

Thanks for the suggestion, Karl. I will ask her of she thinks a latticework working surface would be an advantage or not. I suspect that, if I made the openings between kumiko large enough to get a hand and needle between, the fabric of her quilts, and the millions of pins she uses to hold pieces in place while stitching, would hang up instead of moving freely across the tabletop.

As you say, it certainly would be lighter!

Alas, their is no chance of avoiding pin-foot. She is too clever and too thorough in how she distributes them throughout the house. I even find them in bed! Ouch!

Stan

[Al Launier]

http://buffalowoodcraft.com/solid-wood-furniture/wood-table

Best design I've seen for these. I was thinking of doing the same thing, but modifying it to suit a drafting table that I desperately need in my office.

Totally agree with you Matt. I think that is a great design: love the ruggedness, functionality & appearance, plus the lack of stringer & hardware.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I usually take something such as a folding saw horse and then drop a piece of plywood on top, which started me thinking a bit. What are the primary storage and assembly constraints?

The referenced tables all had a solid top except for one suggestion of a table with "leaves". Is there a problem with storing the entire top full size? Is fast assembly important? The "kick starter" design looks to be very fast to assemble, but you need to be able to store the entire top.

You might be able to build two smaller tables that have the ability to connect with some level of stability, or perhaps the extra stability is not required and two smaller tables side by side is sufficient. If the top size can be large, is a torsion top appropriate since it is likely lighter?

[lowell holmes]

Google "folding table plans" and see what comes up.

[Pat Barry]

I need to make a couple of folding tables for the lady wife for her quilting. She makes large quilts, so they need to be dining-table size. She is tiny and feisty and hard on furniture, so they need to be light but durable. She has whispered threats along the line of "pins in my boots" if I don't do a good job. If you live in a house with a quilter, you know the threat of pins and needles is not to be ignored.

She currently uses plastic folding tables we bought at Costco in California, but they are near the end of their useful life. I want to make these tables out of softwood for the light weight. Thinking of Akita Sugi cedar. Cheap and easy to find.

I am familiar with the old-style military campaign tables, but find them clunky. I found a couple of other examples on the web. One is quite modern. Not certain how stable it would be, or how the connections would hold up over time. The other is more 18th century in appearance. I have no doubt it would be stable, but it would also be heavier and thicker.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/97918996/the-everyday-folding-table

https://jimthechairmaker.wordpress.com/tag/18th-century-furniture/

Any comments?

Suggestions for better designs would be appreciated.

On pins and needles in Tokyo,

Stan
I'd try to find a folding table or two that you could buy - ie: Costco, KMART, Target. They will be relatively cheap, you'll have them now, they will be lighter for her to handle, etc - bonus - you can be freed up to do what YOU want.