justinh Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 My wife has requested that I make her a simple coffee table. She likes the harvest style furniture with square legs and squared corners. This made it a great candidate for me to lay out and design myself. I am planning on using mortise and tenon joinery for the legs/stretchers and either biscuits or dowels to help with putting the top together. I didn't put all of the dimensions in the drawings, but the legs will be 2" square and everything else will be 3/4" thick. I might also need to put a support or two across the middle of the table below the top for support. The finish will likely be a shellac first coat and multiple coats of Arm-R-Seal. Is there anything that I may have overlooked in the process, or do you have any suggestions as a way that I might improve the design. This will be my third wood working project and am still new to the process. Thanks. -Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 That's a nice, simple design - I like it! How is the table top attached to the base? How are you allowing for wood movement in the table top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 I'd use a 1" top. 3/4 is a little dainty for a table with mass. Don 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike M Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 A couple of suggestions. I would move the stretchers closer to the outside faces of the legs and also offset the tenons toward the outside of the stretchers. This will allow you to use longer tenons without the mortises intersecting inside the legs. As an example, I would put the mortises 3/8" from the faces of the legs and the tenons 1/8" from the faces of the stretchers. This would leave a 1/4" reveal and accomodate 1.25" tenons. As far as the top is concerned, if you are using solid 3/4" lumber, there is no reason to add support. The stretchers should be more than adequate unless you are planning to display a couple of large stone sculptures on the table. Also, dowels or biscuits will help align the boards of the top but won't add strength. The glue joint will be stronger than the wood. I would fasten the top to the stretchers using some kind of button or clip so it can move as the seasons change. Depending on the wood, a 30" top will grow and shrink a significant amount. Mike PS - I'd also prefer a thicker top on a table that size. Go for the 1" as suggested above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid Roger Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 That is one BIG coffee table! It would hardly fit in my living room and allow space to walk! My work bench is only 50 x 27. Be prepared for people to use it as a dance floor when you have your wild parties. Seriously, I like the simple design and if you are fixed on the dimensions, I agree a thicker top would make it look a bit nicer. You might consider adding a trim strip around the bottom edge of the top to make it appear thicker with out making it much heavier. Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 I think your legs are a little on the the thin side also. Harvest tables are usually pretty bulky all the way around. 3" would be a little more proportionate to the mass of the top. Don 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinh Posted December 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Thanks for the input, I'm not sure what I based my overall size measurements on. I may think about shrinking it down a little bit. Nobody I know has a table like this so I didn't have anything to compare the top thickness too, but making it a full 1" thick makes sense and should make it that much more rigid. I hadn't really thought about how I was going to attach the top yet, I'm certainly open to suggestions. Thanks for all of the input, it will really help me to get headed in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splinna Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 That is one BIG coffee table! It would hardly fit in my living room and allow space to walk! My work bench is only 50 x 27. Be prepared for people to use it as a dance floor when you have your wild parties. Seriously, I like the simple design and if you are fixed on the dimensions, I agree a thicker top would make it look a bit nicer. You might consider adding a trim strip around the bottom edge of the top to make it appear thicker with out making it much heavier. Rog I'm curious how you would approach attaching a trim strip to build up the thickness if the top is solid wood construction - assuming the boards in the top panel are running in the long dimension, what would you build up on the two short ends with? And how would you attach it such that you didn't end up with all sorts of problems in the corners when the wood moves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid Roger Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Breadboard ends. Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splinna Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Ha ha. I never heard breadboard ends described as a trim strip on a bottom edge to make a thin panel look thicker, but OK. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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