Woodworkers:
I have a dilemma! I am going to try to make a pedestal table for my kitchen, which is not large. (I’m tired of tables with four legs because when we have guests crowding around the table for coffee, I’m the one who has to straddle the leg at the corner!!!) The tabletop is 38×60 inches: narrow and long. I need to design the base support system. I am looking over a woodworkers’ catalog, which lists lots of parts for the base, but I am not sure whether I need one pedestal in the center or two pedestals with a crossbar. I want to make sure the table is study and stable as I have three young children. With such a narrow table, I am concerned about a two-pedestal support system, as everyone will be kicking the base (and as my son grows to six feet, he’ll be hitting it with his knees). I’d prefer one pedestal in the center, as I’d like to put two chairs on each side of the table …. Is there an experienced woodworker who can give me some advice? My email address is [email protected]. Many, many thanks!
Replies
I would suggest that you rethink your position. It's not that it can't be done easily, but rather would you be happy with it? I have a 50" dia. circular table, and with two teenage girls, and myself, I can't tell you how many times we all had to scramble to grab everything on the table from falling. The problem is that with only a center post, any downward pressure on the outer edge would send the table tipping. The legs were a 30" "X" pattern, and only lengthening the legs to 50" would have helped. Just something to think about.
Bob
Thanks so much, Bob. Perhaps I should do a trestle base?
Patricia, a trestle base will definitely be more stable, given the dimensions you'd like. Of course, it still places the supports at the ends of the table, but since they're not at or as near to the corners -- as in a traditional four-leg table -- you don't have quite the same degree of straddling required when the table is set for a lot of people.
Also, in my opinion a trestle table is slightly easier to make than a pedestal base, if you're a relatively new woodworker (which I infer from your original post).
Have fun!
DavidLook, I made a hat -- Where there never was a hat!
My kitchen table is a trestle version I made in pine. 30in wide and 60 long. The legs and stretcher are about 1-1/4 x 5, the feet and cross pieces under the top are 2 x 2. Cross pieces are screwed & glued to the top, all other joints are glued mortise & tenon. The top came loose from the legs once - my ex kept leaning on one corner to reach over the table (she weighed a little more than Uncle Dunc). Glued it back and its been in daily use the whole time. Seats four comfortably, six at a pinch.
HTH,
Graeme
I've leaned my 195 pound tuchis on pedestal tables that threatened to tip over and on others that didn't. It's actually a fairly simple lever problem. The edge of the foot closest to the lard is the fulcrum. If the foot is close enough to the edge of the table, the lever arm is so short it can't lift what's on the other side of the fulcrum. The heavier that table is, the farther away the fulcrum can be from the edge and still be close enough to prevent tipping. For any given pedestal design, a plywood top will be tippy, a solid wood top with an apron less so, a veneered MDF top better yet, a 2 cm. granite top pretty darn stable, and a 3 cm. granite top pretty much untippable on any visually plausible base.
I have in my breakfast room an antique 50"round solid oak table on a pedestal. The footprint is large enough it doesn't tilt. The table has a 12" leaf for it. My wife is one of those people that when they get up from a table they push on the table to rise. Some people just do this, I myself push back and just stand up. Your pedestal size is the factor whether it tilts easily I think.
Good Luck
les
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