I was thinking about making a small piecrust tea table. What I mean by “small” is that the ones that I have seen so far have tops from 31″-36″ dia., and of course the pedestals and ball and claw feet are proportioned to suit. I was thinking about making one on a smaller scale, say 18″-20″ dia top , but am unsure how to go about downsizing the legs to keep them proportionate to the top, woudnt want to make the pedestal to heavy either. I dont know of any plans , and havent seen any this size yet. I am sure its been done before, hasn’t it? Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanx in advance
Eric
Replies
Eric,
There is an article in Fine Wood Working on Making Period Furniture by John Rodd, about making a pie crust table with a 15 1/2" diameter. The tops edge looks a little wide to me; the pedestal seems well proportioned, but has an odd "pineapple" motif, in place of the compressed ball, the legs are nice, but end in pad feet. Despite these issues, I think it would make a good starting point.
Rob Millard
http://www.americanfederalperiod.com
I agree Rob. I don't like the pineapple either.
Thanx Rob , Iam going to look up the book.
Phillip, thank you. I have a book on a " regular " piecrust table, going to try playing with those plans on a copy machine.
I'll let you know how it works out.
Eric
Why don't you use those plans as a base, then scale it down for a rough sketch, full size. See how it looks to your eye-if it feels right make some ply or cardboard shapes of the legs and pedestal to be sure.
If you are not sure of the turning, or have nothing to copy or refer to then I suggest you do a practice turning using some cheap wood.
Then you can say it is "an original".
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