Tables, legs and joinery

[poto]

Hi Folks,

Following on my earlier post of my Festool footstool (http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1794.0) I thought I'd show the evolution of the legs and joinery in a series of tables/footstools/dogbowl holders that I made over the past few months. I have some close-ups of the joinery (for Eiji  ) and some views showing how my vision changed over the course of the three pieces.

Here's a view of the three tables:

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In this last picture you can see my Golden Wally wondering why there's no food in his bowl holder.

The bowl holder was the first piece I made. It's laminated curly maple and cherry, with walnut legs. The legs have a fairly straight outside profile, with a slight curve on the inside. I purposely left a "hard edge" near the top inside of the leg to change how the light reflected off the leg.

I decided that I didn't like the proportions or curves of that first leg, and also the proportions of the table thickness to the leg were a bit awkward. The footstool was the next experiment, and I liked it much better. Here the legs are rounded over along their entire length, and they arc outwards from the table, extending beyond the ends of the table. I shaped them on the bandsaw, and then rounded them with my OF1010.

While the footstool worked quite well, I wanted a larger coffee table, too. I found an amazing piece of cherry: seven feet long, 22 inches wide, and one and three-quarter inches thick! I intended to make a coffee table on the design of the footstool, but I was concerned that the top would look too heavy in relation to the legs. So to lighten the top, I arched the underside of the plank (more on that below). I think it worked quite well.

In subsequent posts I'll show some close-ups of the joints, and different views of the separate pieces to give a sense of what they're about.

Poto

 

[poto]

Here's a close up of the dog bowl holder. The top is 3/4 inches thick, which I found to be a bit thin relative to the legs. I finished it with shellac to try to get a waterproof finish (it stays pretty wet, what with the dog drinking from it and all  ). I have to say that I didn't like working with the shellac, and never got as smooth a finish as I would have liked. If I were doing it again, I'd get some really nice hand-made pottery bowls to put in there, just to make it all hand made.

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The joints were made as described in the Footstool thread - I used a rabbeting bit to cut the rabbet in the top and bottom of the table, and a straight cut bit to rout the dado in the leg. I also used a roundover bit to make the curve on the inside edge of the leg.

I also used a rounded bit to rout out hand holds so that you can get your fingers under the bowls to lift them out. Next time I'll make a jig... I've discovered, however, that only a woodworker would notice their slight inconsistencies 

 

[poto]

The coffee table is the piece de resistance (sorry - I couldn't figure out how to do the accents on the "e"s for our French colleagues) of this series. As mentioned above, it's made from a solid slab of cherry. Luckily I have enough left over to make a side table and an end table. I'll post those once I've made them.

I found that the thickness of the footstool looked a bit heavy in relation to the legs, so I needed some way of lightening it visually. I considered sloping the edges of the topside of the top to give it a sort of waterfall look. But then things would tend to slide off it. So instead I arched the underside.

This was no small task...

I considered many ways of removing 3/4 of an inch of material from the middle of the underside - routers, sanders, grinders, etc. Since I'm lazy, I didn't want to take the time to build a router jig. So I bought the RO125, thinking that with some P36 Saphir I could hog away the excess wood.

After about 15 minutes, it became clear that this wasn't going to work.

My next thought was to use my ATF55 to cut kerfs across the grain, at depths dictated by the arc of the underside. So this is what I did: setting the plunge depth to the depth of the arc, I cut about 100 kerfs across the bottom, about 3/16 of an inch apart. I then used a hammer to chip the remaining wood out, and smoothed it with the RO125. After an hour - from start to finish - I had an incredibly smooth, graceful arc. The hardest part was cutting the kerfs (glad I didn't have the TS75!).

For this table, I rounded over the legs once they were attached to the table top. (They had already had the curve cut out of them on the bandsaw.) For the three outer roundovers, I used the OF1010 and a 3/4 inch roundover bit with a bottom bearing. This wouldn't work for the inside curve, as the router's too big to get into the curve where the leg meets the table top. For this edge I initially tried shaping it with my very expensive Auriou rasp. It really didn't work very well (glad I didn't buy more!). Instead I went to my el cheapo Microplane rasps, and in just a few minutes, the leg was done. Sanding took out all the rasp marks (their weren't many).

With the legs attached, I did a 3/4 inch roundover of all the top and bottom edges.

Besides the joinery, the legs are held on with a pair of 3 1/2 inch #8 screws. I used the cool Lee Valley tapered drill and countersink to make the holes, and their tapered plug cutter to cut maple plugs for the screw holes. It's a nice pairing - no scope for screwing up.

I left a little of the sapwood along the outer edges of the table. I kind of like the contrast, and the reminder that the wood came from a real tree (a BIG one!).  The table's surprisngly heavy - even with the top thinned. As you can see, it has a beautiful grain pattern, with a little figuring toward the sides. The end grain, folding up into the long grain of the top, is a very nice feature of the table.

Woodworkers who have seen it immediately run their hands over the joints at the surface, and then underneath. The gentle curves under the table are probably the nicest part of it, and of course nobody ever sees them!

I'm pretty happy now with the shape of the legs in relation to the table top, and I'm looking foward to making the companion tables!

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[Bill Wyko]

Very, very nice work. That's one lucky dog. ;D

 

[poto]

Thanks, Bill! That's high praise coming from you! I figure if I ever had to sell these for a living, I'd have to charge about $500 per bowl holder to make any money. Or I'd have to become a lot more efficient. Luckily - for now - I'm otherwise gainfully employed.

Here's another detail of the footstool joinery. You can see it's been bashed up a bit since I made it. My daughter uses it at her desk, and keeps tipping it over while she's sitting on her desk chair. But it was made to be used - and abused!

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I suppose it's extra fussy, but I aligned the grain of the plugs to be horizontal, and I cut the ends of the top at an angle to match the curve of the legs as they exit the top. The ATF55 was great for this - just set the angle, and in one easy cut you have a perfect match of the top and legs!

 

[Bill Wyko]

|I know how you feel. If I did my woodwork for a living I'd be the definition of "starving artist" :-  You said              \I suppose it's extra fussy, but I aligned the grain of the plugs to be horizontal, and I cut the ends of the top at an angle to match the curve of the legs as they exit the top. I'd say that's great attention to detail. Good job.

 

[poto]

You got that right. I'm too small for starving. You need some sort of weighty head start (like extra pounds, or better yet, lots of money in the bank and no particular need to earn more).

I'm always looking for some rich patron to adopt an oceanographer (me). Hasn't worked yet - I still have to write proposals with the best of them...  :'(

 

[tvgordon]

Wow Poto,

I'm impressed that there are no gaps where the leg meets the top - even along the curve!

Nice work.

Tom.

 

[poto]

Thanks, Tom. It's actually not that hard to get a clean joint. You just have to make sure that your pieces have perfect right angles and nice flat sides to begin with. After that, the router bits do the work. With the right-sized bits, everything should fit together easily.

A couple of tricks, though:
1) On the legs, do the round off of the inside corner before you cut the perpendicular dados. Otherwise the roundover bit will drop into the dados, making a bit of a divot.
2) Be really careful entering and exiting the rabbet on the top and bottom of the table top. If you round over the leading or trailing edge of the rabbet, it will leave a gap when the leg's attached.

The hardest part was cutting out the right-angled hole for the leg without a table saw. I did it on my band saw, but it left a fairly rough surface. Need to smooth that down to get a good clean joint with the leg.

 

[Warrior]

Thanks for the pics Poto ;D Really nice work. I like the curved coffee table top but actually prefer the balance/heft and thicker proportions of the foot stool.  The joinery at the leg to top connection is really TIGHT 

Did you post dimensions of the the coffee table?

Later
Eiji

PS You have come visit the new shop. I have a alot of new tools and one ;D ;D ;D that you might want to get your hands on and go for a test drive.

 

[poto]

Hi Eiji - Don't you ever sleep? Your post came in at three in the morning! Hope you're not using power tools early today...

No, I forgot to post the coffee table size - it's 49 inches long, 17 1/2 inches high, and 18 inches wide. Makes a very comfortable bench, too. I'm planning/hoping to make some dining room chairs with similar joinery at about the same seat height (we're all small in my family...)

I also forgot to mention that it's finished in tung oil. Multiple coats, with 0000 steel wool rubbung in between.

Interesting that you liked the heft of the slab top of the footstool. My thought was that with the expanse of table on the coffee table, it would have both looked - and been literally - too heavy. Particularly on those slender legs. I think a lot of the art is putting the curve in the legs in the right place. I opted for the maximum outward point to be close to the top of the leg. However, I can see arguments for putting it lower as the legs get longer.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing your shop - and taking your new tools for a test run! How's the shop working out? Now that I'm back from Hong Kong, I'm looking forward to making some pieces with the scraps you gave me. I think I'll start with a couple of wall shelves for our pottery.

BTW, thanks for the compliments! It's nice to build furniture that gets used all the time - as you well know!

 

[underused]

G'day Poto,

Some nice work there.  I like the joinery You have used, to join the legs..very well joined
I like the plugs too, I'm a big fan of Mr Maloof (and Mr Krenov), maybe You enjoy his work?

I've found, the fastest way to shape furniture parts (like legs) first off with the bandsaw, then finishing off with hand tools and hand sanding.  Shaping with sharp hand tools is enjoyable
Nice work Poto, I'd like to see some more!

P.S. nice photo's

 

[poto]

Hi Underused - Thanks for your compliments and thoughts. Yes, you are quite accurate - these tables are shameless rip-offs of Maloof's design. I saw how he did the joinery in a video (Taunton), and wanted to try it. I think it's quite an attractive joint. He probably modified it from something else (Japanese?). Not much original any more.

I did shape the legs as you suggest: I began with the bandsaw (4 cuts to get a square profile), and then shaped it with the router (rather than hand tools - for consistency), and final shaping and sanding by hand. Very satisfying work.

I'm looking forward to trying a chair, though I'm wondering how to line up the holes for the back splats...

 

[Jim Metzger]

Dear Poto,

Beautiful work but I must ask you to reconsider feeding your dog from a raised stand.

I have a Bernese Mountain Dog, similar size to your Golden and I found out recently that the raised feeder can contribute to bloat. This comes from a good friend who was the head dog trainer and animal behaviorist at the ASPCA for many years. She has four Bull Mastiffs and knows her stuff when it comes to these things.

Just a heads up and keep up the good work.

Jim

 

[poto]

Hey Jim - Thanks for the head's up (literally!). I've noticed that Wally tends to gurgle when he drinks from the bowl holder (our previous Golden did not). Sometimes it sounds like he's possessed! I'll look into the bloat issue; I had been thinking of cutting the legs shorter - their present height was just a convenience. Perhaps shortening them so that the bowl is just off the floor might work.

Our other problem is that when he drinks, he slobbers water all over the place. This wasn't a problem until we got our new Brazilian cherry floors...

I love Bernese Mountain dogs. I was surprised to see two of them (independently) in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago. We've always talked about getting one, though I have concerns about big-dog problems - hips, elbows, cancer, and their generally shorter life span. We were disappointed to lose our previous Golden at 10, and Wally has dysplasia of both his hips and elbows. So I guess we haven't dodged much...

Again, thanks for your thoughts and advice.

 

[Jim Metzger]

Hey poto,

Got to help each other, woodworking and dogs.

I don't mean to hijack this thread but another dog tip, look into veterinary acupuncture. I had a bulldog with no hips or knees, we were told we would have to put her down at 1 1/2 years, surgery wouldn't work.  With acupuncture she lived till ten and was rocketing around till just before cancer got her. I guess this could be referenced as part of your "legs" and "Joints" subject.

Bernese are great and yes life span can be a problem. I am on my third however, they are wonderful. Travis lived till just before his ninth b-day, cancer. Mac died at five, blood immunity problem, heartbreaking. Bailey will be celebrating his fourth birthday this July 4th. We plan a big celebration.

Good luck with Wally.

Jim

 

[poto]

Well Happy Birthday to Bailey  ;D I hope he lives a long and happy life with you.

Also, thanks for posting, and welcome to the FOG. I'm honored that you've wasted your first posts on my work. Must be the dog. People stop their cars to admire him. Or maybe that's their excuse - they're actually checking me out  8)

Underused - I'd love to show my other work, but there really isn't any. I've made some attractive support stands for our pottery collection, but I've not had the tools for long enough to have amassed a collection. I was hoping to be doing woodworking all sabbatical (it ends in January). So far it hasn't worked out at all...  :'( So pretty much what you see is what there is. Thanks again for your comments.

 

[greg mann]

Dear Poto,

Beautiful work but I must ask you to reconsider feeding your dog from a raised stand.

I have a Bernese Mountain Dog, similar size to your Golden and I found out recently that the raised feeder can contribute to bloat. This comes from a good friend who was the head dog trainer and animal behaviorist at the ASPCA for many years. She has four Bull Mastiffs and knows her stuff when it comes to these things.

Just a heads up and keep up the good work.

Jim

Funny you should bring this up just now. My sweetie has rescued greyhounds and was encouraged from the outset to use raised bowls. Two days ago she read, in a greyhound related magazine, that this caused bloat. This left her unsure how to proceed. Your input and reference will help her make the change more readily. Thanks for going 'off-topic'.

 

[webdesigner]

Hi Poto,

Nice joints!
Do you have any more photos of the leg joint in progress to show us?
How did you dado the 3/4" radius part of the leg? Was it dado first and then rounded?

Thanks again!

 

[poto]

Hi Poto,

Nice joints!
Do you have any more photos of the leg joint in progress to show us?
How did you dado the 3/4" radius part of the leg? Was it dado first and then rounded?

Thanks again!

Hey webdesigner - Thanks! You should check out my knees! (Joints - get it ...? Okay, pretty lame... )

No, unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the joints in progress. However, sometime soon (next couple of weeks?) I'm hoping to make the companion tables out of the same slab of cherry, and I'll try to do a better job of documenting it.

However, the short answer to your question is: roundover first, then dado. This is because if you dado first, the roundover bearing will fall into the dado, causing a divot there. It won't be visible, but it may affect structural integrity. If the table top is thin, then the divot might be visible...

Poto