Replies

1. 
   JohnWW | Jun 03, 2010 02:33pm | #1

   No battens

   Battens would be pointless, they would have to be massive and very solidly attached, hard to do and still allow for wood movement, if they were going to make even a slight difference to the stability of the top.

   If you needed a fork lift just to move the smaller slabs how would you move the finished table if it were just one piece?  Knock down would be a good idea.

1. 
   gbarron1 | Jun 03, 2010 02:50pm | #2

   No battens

   Thanks John,

   Thanks for the advice re. the battens.  I was thinking of running them across the stretchers to essentially wide the table base and get some support under the overhang?  Without them, should I have any concern about the size of the overhang? It'll be roughly 9" on the sides and 12" at the ends.

1. 
   RalphBarker | Jun 03, 2010 11:39pm | #3

   For a top that massive, I don't think you need any overhang support beyond that provided by the stretchers and the end slabs. Think about the force necessary to lift the top by leaning on it, or the force necessary to convince a slab that thick to flex along the length.

   I would definitely make the whole table as knock-down as possible, due to the weight. You'll also have all that weight supported only by the footprint of the two slab ends, so you'd want to make sure your floor is strong enough to hold that concentration of weight.

2. 
   sapwood | Jun 04, 2010 12:05pm | #4

   Difficulties lie ahead

    You have a difficult situation here. The leg to top/stretcher connection must be very rigid in order for the assembly to not collapse. This is probably difficult to achieve using permanent joinery but you want to use knock down. The usual kd fixtures found in catalogs will be very light duty for this application and shouldn't be considered. The method described in the article you reference has much merit but this will require careful joinery to assure a tight fit when assembled. Any sloppiness will result in a dangerous situation given that the slab is so heavy. As in doing finishes for the first time... it will be prudent to make mockups of the joinery to test it prior to messing about with these hard fought for slabs.

   There are ways to do this using custom made steel connections but this material is often anathema to many woodworkers so please indicate of you are open to suggestions of this sort. 

   I would agree with the others that battens are not necessary.

1. 
   gbarron1 | Jun 04, 2010 04:25pm | #5

   Steel Connections

   Thanks Sapwood,

   Yes, I will definitely do mockups first.

   I'd prefer not to use steel, but I also want a solid table.  Any recommendations for any products that won't kill the aesthetics? What about making corbels from the same stock as the table?

   Thanks

1. 
   sapwood | Jun 04, 2010 10:09pm | #6

   Corbels!

   ... and you don't want to kill the aesthetics?

3. 
   ring | Jun 05, 2010 09:55am | #7

   a few thoughts

   1.  Like others have said, the battens are entirely uneccessary.  The only issue you need to deal with is the possible racking in the lengthwise direction.  You need to do everything possible to minimize this.

   2.  The height of the top stretchers, or more correctly the height of their tenon shoulders, is crucial in giving you stability.  If you can make them more than 3" tall (maybe just at the joints) every little bit will help.

   2.  Your bottom stretcher (not shown in the photo) is essential to the stability of this piece, and you must have some means such a wedged tenons to tighten it up while retaining the possibility of disassembly.

   3.  In addition to the planned joinery of the top stretchers I would use a long and very strong lag bolt thru each stretcher into the legs.  

1. 
   gbarron1 | Jul 20, 2010 09:46pm | #8

   Slightly uneven legs

   OK, the table is coming along but now I have a problem.  I am using the design below but with two top stretchers. And rather than a bottom stretcher as I mentioned before, I will be using a 6" centered stretcher - more of a trestle design.  The directions with the pic below require the tenons to be cut first then the mortises are traced onto the underside of the tabletop and then routed.  I opted for the "always cut mortises first" rule and now find that the legs are a pretty snug fit but aren't 100% parallel.  So now I need to attach the two top and one center trestle to the legs. I plan to cut the notches in the stretchers (board B below) with a dado blade and I can't figure out the best way to account for the slightly uneven legs. My inclination is to just cut the tenons off entirel,y build the base and attach the top stretchers to the tabletop with cleats, buttons, etc.   Is my mistake salvageable otherwise?   Could I fill in the mortise with a loose tenon, glue it, let it set and then recut?   Any other thoughts?

   Thanks,

   
1. 
   ring | Jul 21, 2010 08:12am | #9

   Yes to all of the above

   OK, you now know the correct order of operations for the next time around.  You could plug the mortises and recut them in their  correct positions.  I'd prefer doing it that way because you'll get a more stable construction in the end.  But it's possible also to do away with them entirely and just use cleats.   If the leg and stretcher assembly is quite stable on its own, then you could forego the mortises in the underside of the top.

4. 
   gbarron1 | Nov 16, 2010 11:01pm | #10

   Cutting Bridal Joint for Conoid Chair Legs

   Well after eons of work one Saturday at a time and a few mistakes, the table came out great.  I'm holding off on final sanding and varnishing til all the seating is done.   Now my challenge for the chairs.  I'm making two conoid chairs.  The legs are angled at 15 degrees and attach to the fee via a bridle joint. My table saw has no miter slot and the slot in my router table is too narrow for the guide in my tenon jig.   I tried cutting the slot with my dado blade sliding the stock though by hand without a jig but i'm not happy with the results.  I'm thinking I can either use a plunge router and make a mortise jig, then cut it with the legs clamped in my jawhorse or is there some sort of aftermarket miter slot I can attach to my table saw. I'm thinking of simply routing a slot into a piece of plywood and clamping it to my table saw, then trying the dado cut again with a tenon jig.  Option 3 would be laying the leg flat on the router table and cutting with a huge slot cutter per the attached link, but I can't find a cutter nearly bug enough.  Any thoughts?

   Thanks

    

   
1. 
   gbarron1 | Nov 16, 2010 11:09pm | #11

   Hit Post too quickly

    http://tassajaraguys.smugmug.com/ProjectProcess/Conoid-Chair-Production/11368459_u5qKz#798580223_E5tqc

   This is a link for the slot cutter method and a step by step guide for conoid chair production. 

   
1. 
   Eef | Nov 30, 2010 05:00pm | #12

   g, knots has been kind of

   g,

   knots has been kind of sad and slow of late...

   interesting table design.  tell me that no one's going to trip over the floor level stretcher, and i'll be delighted with it.

   to answer your technique question:  a plywood sled that has a "rail"attatched to the left edge, at 90 deg to the top of the saw.  in other words the rail acts as a guide.  you'll need a fence at the front of the sled as well.

   thanks for posting,

   eef