5 foot round dining table build

[Mark Rainey]

As a wedding gift I am building my niece a 5 foot round dining table. I have never made a large round dining room table, and found some nice plans by Jon Peters on Youtube.

lily table 1.jpg

I am building mine in Pennsylvania cherry

lily table rough lumber.jpgrough lumber 2.jpg

Lumber stacked and acclimating

lily table 3.jpg

Base consists of 8/4 cherry in a bridle joint mortised and tenoned to legs

lily table 3.1.jpglily table 4.jpg

Mortised with my largest mortise chisel, a Narex 1/2 inch. I really need something longer and stronger to lever out the chips, but is the Ray Iles
really worth over $100?.

lily table mortising.jpg

[Mark Rainey]

Tenons were 2 inches long, but 6 inches wide. Glad I had the LN 16 inch tenon saw, which is usually at bit long , but perfect for this job. A lot of work for these tenons.

Table build 10.jpg

Legs trimmed and waiting for glue up

Table build 11.jpg


Table top is next. Got some 6 foot clamps in for the project. Pictures will follow.

[Mark Rainey]

The build continues with the cross braces under the table top joined by a half lap joint. Using hand tools I found these joints a lot of work. I made them much faster with hand tools this time by...cross cutting outside of joint with hand saw, then repeating the cuts across the joint, then using a carving gouge to hog out most of the waste. This step, using the carving gouge with a mallet, really helped. I then used a router plane to level things off.

lap joint 1.jpglap joint 2.jpglap joint 3.jpg

[Christopher Charles]

Nice looking design and your work is always inspiring. And I'm jealous of your access to cherry!

[Richard Coers]

What I don't like about 5' tables is the distance between people sitting across from each other. Pretty hard to pass a heavy platter of meat that far away. Especially for the more elder folks if only two sitting at the table. Not going to be a treat hand planing it either. You'll have to switch hands to final plane the glued up panel.

[Mark Rainey]

Nice looking design and your work is always inspiring. And I'm jealous of your access to cherry!

Thanks Chris! I do enjoy Pennsylvania cherry.

[Mark Rainey]

What I don't like about 5' tables is the distance between people sitting across from each other. Pretty hard to pass a heavy platter of meat that far away. Especially for the more elder folks if only two sitting at the table. Not going to be a treat hand planing it either. You'll have to switch hands to final plane the glued up panel.

Yes Richard, I would not have done a 5 foot round table, but that is what my niece wanted...luckily the new couple is about 30 years of age. Smoothing after glue up should be a work out.

[David Carroll]

Looking good so far! My uncle bought an antique table that was very similar. He complained about passing dishes across. So I made him a large lazy Susan. I think I got the bearing from Woodcraft, and made the top out of an old pine door to match in a bit better with the "pumpkin pine" table top. As I recall, it was 30 inches in diameter and stood about 5-inches tall.

DC

[Mark Rainey]

Looking good so far! My uncle bought an antique table that was very similar. He complained about passing dishes across. So I made him a large lazy Susan. I think I got the bearing from Woodcraft, and made the top out of an old pine door to match in a bit better with the "pumpkin pine" table top. As I recall, it was 30 inches in diameter and stood about 5-inches tall.

DC

David, I like the lazy susan idea. Perhaps as an anniversary gift for the couple!

[Mark Rainey]

Went to bed at 10PM, slept like a log to 2:30AM. Bathroom visit. Wide awake. Go down to shop at 3AM...time for a glue up. Bridle joint was a bit tight, needed some solid dead blow hammer strikes - YIKES - loud! I didn't want to wake household. It all came together. Top is next.

table base.jpg

[Jimmy Harris]

Nice work so far! You should be proud of yourself.

If the table is "too big" to pass around food or whatever, they can sit next to each other instead of across from one another and solve that problem. It'll also give them both a better view of the TV and promote bonding. We have a natural instinct to become more aggressive and defensive towards those who are directly in front of us and a natural instinct to be more accepting to those who are beside us. It's a good tidbit of psychology to know that comes in handy in everyday life, especially if you do a lot of business with strangers.

[Tony Wilkins]

Where’s the like button?

[Mel Fulks]

I like it , it’s modern …in a GOOD way . In the 1950’s your neighbors would have reported it as “a flying saucer”.
Today people will know it’s a table, we’ve come so far .

[Tony Wilkins]

I like it , it’s modern …in a GOOD way . In the 1950’s your neighbors would have reported it as “a flying saucer”.
Today people will know it’s a table, we’ve come so far .

Then they don’t have to be worried about the probing? That’s good.

[Mark Rainey]

Nice work so far! You should be proud of yourself.

If the table is "too big" to pass around food or whatever, they can sit next to each other instead of across from one another and solve that problem. It'll also give them both a better view of the TV and promote bonding. We have a natural instinct to become more aggressive and defensive towards those who are directly in front of us and a natural instinct to be more accepting to those who are beside us. It's a good tidbit of psychology to know that comes in handy in everyday life, especially if you do a lot of business with strangers.

Thanks Jimmy...I enjoy psychology

I like it , it’s modern …in a GOOD way . In the 1950’s your neighbors would have reported it as “a flying saucer”.
Today people will know it’s a table, we’ve come so far .

Mel, it does look like a flying saucer! My wife agrees!

Where’s the like button?

Thanks Tony