Dining room table design.

[Paul Chinetti]

This is my first post, I have enjoyed reading for awhile and looking at everyones great ideas.

So, now that, that is out of the way. I am looking to build two dining room tables. The biggest consideration I am trying to take into account is strength. These are going to be in a fraternity house and I would like them to last for awhile. We are rough on furniture as you can imagine. I have been looking at a bunch of different designs and I really like this one.

So they question(s) that I pose are:

Is this a good design for this do you think?
What is the best wood?
What final coating should I put on it (after the stain)?

Anything else you can think of, I have built a bed and a picnic table, but nothing inside that needs to have quite a bit more refinement to it.

http://paulchinetti.com/images/Plan.jpg

[John Schreiber]

I haven't built a dining room table myself, but I'll throw in my 2 cents. The design does look sturdy. The only part which might be difficult is the glue up of the columns. I would suggest a few nails to keep things from sliding around as you clamp them up. Also be sure to orient the grain on the legs to get as much strength as possible.

The top will only work if it is made from plywood or some other material which does not expand and contract significantly. If you used solid wood, it would crack at the ends where the top joins with the apron. Long grain meets end grain with no flexibility there. That's not a problem though if you work with it. I would suggest using a layer or perhaps two of 3/4" ply for the top. It can be quite attractive and lengths over 8' are available by special order if you need that for your table. Then the outside of the plywood with solid wood as an apron.

Choice of wood depends on what hardwoods are available at a good price locally. Multiple coats of polyurethane are probably the finish to use in an environment like that.

Good luck.

[Jamie Buxton]

Paul --
Welcome to the Creek.

The big advantage of a pedestal table is that people can sit anyplace around the perimeter. For that reason, I recommend them for families and other normal applications. However, the drawback to the pedestal table is that weight applied on the edge of the table tries to break the joint between the pedestal and the arms spreading out at the floor. Those arms are nice big levers, and they magnify the stress on the joint. For a fraternity house, you might consider a design which has legs at the table's corners. Under extreme conditions, it is less likely to break.

[Paul Chinetti]

Thanks for the ideas gents, its early in the summer and our classes don't start until the end of August so I have time. I will keep looking for designs that catch my eye. Also getting back into SU has helped a lot and perhaps I will let my own design knowledge take over.:D

[Paul Chinetti]

Here is the design I am pondering over. This will be my first serious piece.

I don't have any idea how to attach the legs and what I should do? I've also never really thought about it, but how do you attach the top to the legs and supports? I feel like these are super simple questions but I want to make this last and look really nice.

[Bert Johansen]

An earlier post cautioned about wood movement, and here is the problem. Solid wood expands and contracts primarily across the grain as seasonal temperature and humidity change. If you don't compensate for this movement, you will have major failure in the top.

My suggestion is to make a torsion top using plywood for the top with a solid wood edging all around. Plywood doesn't expand and contract. Most lumber suppliers have plywood with hardwood veneers--maple, oak, cherry. They look like solid wood if you create a solid wood frame all around. Do a search on torsion boxes. They are sturdy and light, and if you leave the bottom open you can attach the legs to the torsion frame using lag screws for strength.

[Paul Chinetti]

I have been looking at torsion boxes and they seem very cool and like something that would stand up to the abuse of being around a bunch of 20 year olds all the time.

I've found some articles, but if anyone could recommend any books or articles to read on the building and theory of them that would be awesome. I want to read a lot more about them and build some models before I build the full size thing considering I have never built one before.

EDIT:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=45036&highlight=torsion+instructions

Excellent set of directions, I don't know why I couldn't find it before.