Butterfly leaf table hardware?

[Kieran McCauley]

Hi all, does anyone have a good quality butterfly leaf table hardware they would recommend. I have a 7' x 40" solid oak table to build, 9' with leaf in. I think it's going to be too heavy for the one I found.

[Dan Rude]

I would make the leaf as 2 pieces, you could have them slide into each half. This way you could have an 8' table as well.

[Myles Moran]

I did a 4'x4' to 7'x4' table from hickory. The leaves fold with soss hinges, the pivot is lee valley, and the slides are wood from Osborn. I don't move the table much, but the few times I have it seems to be sturdy enough hardware for the job.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Here's what I am using on the one I am building. https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop...ount-mechanism

[Kieran McCauley]

Thanks lads, what thickness material are you building the table from. My client is looking for 1½" solid top.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I designed and built a butterfly leaf dining table last year for a client and used folding hardware from Poettker and was very impressed with it. Their website is Euro based and not very helpful, but calling the US headquarters in Thomasville, NC would be worth your time to assess options and costs. They are very helpful, even to a small custom solo shop like me and helped me get exactly what I needed and had multiple conversations with me after I bought hardware, helping me sort out some details.

I am too pressed for time currently to do a comprehensive write up on it and dig through and find many photos, but I have shared a few times about it on Instagram. You may be able to see this even if you aren't on Instagram to get an idea.

This top was 1.5" thick solid Ash and I used Tectus 340 concealed hinges for the folding leaf as they were a lot more robust, better engineered and 3D adjustable after mortising / install. Highly recommend them for concealed hinges.

https://instagram.com/p/Chulcf-Llm2/

[Mark Gibney]

Kieran, here are two photos of a folding butterfly leaf table I made some years back. The top is much thinner than yours, so that might change things.

The pivot mechanism is just two wooden blocks with a brass hinge pin.
The leaves are connected with SOSS hinges.

I make a mockup with plywood and 2x4s to find the sizing and location of everything.

Screenshot 2024-01-07 at 10.23.29 AM.jpgScreenshot 2024-01-07 at 10.23.58 AM.jpg

Mark

[Ken Fitzgerald]

My table is going to have 1 1/4" black walnut top. Contracted, the table top will be 60" while extended it will be 84". The width will be 40".

[Kieran McCauley]

Thanks Philip, That may be just what I need.
It's a beautiful table. I love Ash, it's one of my favorites.

[Kieran McCauley]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

[Myles Moran]

Thanks lads, what thickness material are you building the table from. My client is looking for 1½" solid top.

My top is 1" hickory. After it was done I wish I had thinner out the area within the apron for weight reasons, because I do not have fun moving it. With a full 1.5" top, I'd consider doing 3/4 or 1" in the field and only 1.5" at the edges.