shaker table advise please

[John Piwaron]

I'm building a simple shaker style table.

The top will be 3 feet wide by 5 feet long. The grain of the top will run the long way. 4 inch wide aprons and legs tapering on two sides from 2 1/4 square at the top and 1 1/4 square at the bottom. I'll be making it so the legs can be detached for moving. The aprons are joined at the corners with a block. The top will be attached to the aprons with wooden L clips.

What I'm asking about here is whether or not to place a rib across the width of the top at the center for support and to clip the top to.

What do you guys think of that? Or is the apron enough to hold 'er down?

BTW, the top is mequite, the apron and legs hard maple.

[Ed Marks]

I'm building a simple shaker style table.

The top will be 3 feet wide by 5 feet long. The grain of the top will run the long way. 4 inch wide aprons and legs tapering on two sides from 2 1/4 square at the top and 1 1/4 square at the bottom. I'll be making it so the legs can be detached for moving. The aprons are joined at the corners with a block. The top will be attached to the aprons with wooden L clips.

What I'm asking about here is whether or not to place a rib across the width of the top at the center for support and to clip the top to.

What do you guys think of that? Or is the apron enough to hold 'er down?

BTW, the top is mequite, the apron and legs hard maple.


I've made a couple of desks that have tops of about 48" x 27". There is a drawer in the center. I attach some 1 1/2" boards to the drawer box sides with elongated (routed) slots that I use to attach the top. This is along with the wooden L clips. For what you are doing, you could work 2 ribs into the slots that the L clips use from front to back, put one or two slots in them and screw them into the top. Just make sure that everything can move a bit to compensate for the expansion/contraction cycle.

This would certainly add some strength to the top and help in pulling it down onto the aprons if it needs a little help. It certainly won't hurt anything other then chew up a little extra time.

Ed

[Todd Burch]

Hi John.

One option would be to make the apron as illustrated by adding one (probably enough) or two (as shown) inner rails dovetailed or dadoed into the long aprons. You can then use your wooden "L" clips on that rail instead of fashioning another type of cleat. You could use inexpensive wood for the inner rail(s).

One comment I would offer would be to make your legs larger at the top - at least 1" bigger in the square. For that size table, the legs will look pretty skimpy @ 2¼". (My opinion).

I made this style of table a couple months ago and for 42" x 22", I used 3" legs tapered to 1¼" and the proportions turned out pretty good.

Todd.

[John Piwaron]

Hi John.

One option would be to make the apron as illustrated by adding one (probably enough) or two (as shown) inner rails dovetailed or dadoed into the long aprons. You can then use your wooden "L" clips on that rail instead of fashioning another type of cleat. You could use inexpensive wood for the inner rail(s).

One comment I would offer would be to make your legs larger at the top - at least 1" bigger in the square. For that size table, the legs will look pretty skimpy @ 2¼". (My opinion).

I made this style of table a couple months ago and for 42" x 22", I used 3" legs tapered to 1¼" and the proportions turned out pretty good.

Todd.


I like those crossmembers you illustrate. I had thought to use only 1.

Regarding the legs, I said 2.25" because I looked at a web site offering permade legs for sale. They offered two sizes depending on thickness of the top. The 2.25" square version was the big one they offered. I take your advice and look at that option too.

I'm drawing this in Solidworks to get a look at it on screen, and I'll place it in a Solidworks model I already have of my kitchen to get a even better look at how it'll appear in the room before I even touch the lumber I'll build it from.

[Martin Shupe]

I don't know about the top size of the legs, but I read somewhere, in one of my Shaker books, that the bottom of a tapered leg should be half the size of the top, in order to look proportionally correct.

Recently I have been working on some Shaker bedside tables. I made the top of the legs 1 and a half inches square, and tapered them down to 3/4 square at the floor. They turned out looking "right" to me, and I will post photos when I am done.