How to secure shelf?

[Mark Ebert]

Hi all,
I'm in the process of making an Oak hall table for my daughter that will have a shelf about 6" from the bottom. With the exception of this lower shelf, I have it all dry fitted and ready to glue up. Now the problem is that I can't think of a decent way to secure the lower shelf to the legs. The best way I can think of right now is to notch the inner corner of each leg and recess corners of the shelf into it, perhaps providing a dowel as well. However, its all made from solid 3/4" material and I'm worried about movement. Any ideas??? Below is a sketch of the table...

Thanks,
Mark

[Hank Walczak]

When I made a coffee table, I had a similar issue. I ended up notching the lower shelf ( notching the legs would weaken them too much) and using floating tenons to secure it. use the tenons on the side with the least movement. Just my .02 Good luck.

Hank

[Jamie Buxton]

One approach would be to run stretchers between the legs in the short direction -- that is, across the grain of the shelf. The grain direction is horizontal (like the sides above them) so there's no movement that way. The shelf sits on the stretchers. You can fasten it in the middle of the stretchers, and let it move just like it wants. Or if you want, you can put the stretchers at the ends of the shelf, just like the breadboard end on a table top. Like a breadboard end, the stretcher-to-shelf joint must allow the shelf to move.

And, yes, you'll need to notch the shelf to get around the legs. Or if you don't want to notch it, just make it as deep as the distance between the legs (that is, as deep as the stretchers are long).