I am trying to find measured drawings for the Chippendale Drop-Leaf dinning table; the swing leg not the gate leg. I need to build two of them. I have been all over the internet and talked to several museums and schools. So far the best I have found is in American Furniture of the 18th Century by Jeffery Greene, but it only has an incomplete exploded drawing with no measurements.
I would greately appreciate any suggestions.
Thank You
Twin
Replies
twin,
I have this table in the shop now which is an English Chippendale drop leaf probably made around 1720. It is 28.5" high and the top is 48" long with the center being 18' wide and each leaf 23.5" wide.
The construction is fairly straight forward however if you would like some more detailed photos I could take some more photos for you.
I have to deliver it on Tuesday so let me know before then if you are interested.
J.P.
Thank you so much. The photos are a great help. What I have been able to put together so far is that there is a separation, a pine spacer between the inner rail and the outside hinged rail. I was also told the hinge is an inch and three quarters long. It is my understanding that the spacer allows for the hinge to open. Does this description fit the table in your shop? Again thank you for your helpTwin
twin,The rails are connected in the center by a thick,1.5", stretcher and then a narrow oak rail is nailed to the back of the knuckle joint and dovetailed to the apron. Of other tables I have seen in this style this type of construction is pretty standard. The top is wide enough so that the drop leaves clear the widest part of the knee when they are in the closed position.Does it make sense when you look at the photos? The construction is not too complex but it is not the only way to build one of these things.J.P.http://www.jpkfinefurniture.com
Here are a couple mor pictures to help illustrate.J.P.http://www.jpkfinefurniture.com
Again the photos help a great deal. The knuckle on the table you have is interesting, it is round so the spacer as you described is thin. I have now seen several different versions of the knuckle, includintg square ends, round and one at 45 degrees across the center of the knuckle. I have tested the round and the square. Under stress the round seems more likely to suffer pressure cracks than the square. I do have a question. What are the lengths of the fixed and swing sections of the hinged rail and what is the width of the apron?
I welcome your opinion. I have designed the apron as follows. The inner portion is 3/4 stock using poplar for the long rails and mahogany for the short end rails one side dovetailed together the other tenoned into the fixed leg post. The outer hinged rail will be 4/4 mahogany. The leg posts will be 2" square. This requires a 4/4 pine spacer between the inner rail and the hingeg rail allowing for the hinged leg to close to the dovetailed end of the inner rail and sufficient space for a square end of a 1 3/4" (really beefy)knuckle to swing open.
I have designed the apron to be 4 1/2" in hight. The length and width of the apron including the leg posts is 44 1/2" by 12 3/4", leaving 2 1/8" for leg space with the leaf folded down. The legs are from 12/4 stock and 29 1/4" long with carved ball and claw feet. The tables top will be 48" square, from 3/4 stock. The center section including the rule joint will be 17" by 48". Each leaf is 16" by 48". The reason for the squqre design is to allow for the tables to be used together to create a 8 foot dinning surface. I understand the square design is historically accurate as well as the round and oval. I am considering doing some inlay (not historically accurate) in order to break up the stright lines when the leaves are folded down. I welcome any thoughts or suggestions you might have.
Thank You
Twin
twin,The knuckle joint is standard for most English pieces. I don't think I have seen too many English knuckle joints that were not round. The square joint is commonly referred to as a finger joint. Even on small work tables, the swing arm supports for the leaves use knuckle joints even though the rails are a 1/2" thick.As to the durability of the joint, I think the material may have more to do with extending performance rather than the shape. If I were you I would use hard maple or possibly quartered oak for the knuckle joint. I prefer maple. I don't think the mahogany you get these days has the density needed to withstand many years of use.On the table in the pictures the rails are 5 1/4" wide and 1" thick. The swing leg is 17 3/4" long to the center of the knuckle joint and the fixed leg is 25 3/4" to the center.As for laying out the knuckle joint, I would probably use 5 knuckles aroud 7/8" each. Or make them 1" and increase the width of the apron to 5". I have seen both tables made with a filler strip and those with the tops of the legs notched to fit to the apron. Either way is fine.I do have another american drop leaf mahogany table in the shop with square leaves and ball and claw feet that was made in Virginia around 1740 or 50. The workmanship is not as fine as the English table. However I have also seen tables with one rectangular leaf and one rounded but they were later Federal pieces.As far as the inlay goes, I don't see why not. Plus if you have not done any of that type of work it will be a good learning experience. However I would probably keep the design simple keeping in mind the expansion and contraction of the panels.The dimensions sound good and it would not be too difficult for you to make your own shop drawings. It sounds as if you have done your homework. J.P.http://www.jpkfinefurniture.com
Joe Again thank you for your input. I am going to increase the apron to 5". Your suggestion for using a different wood for the swing arm was something I had not thought of. I have a lot of hard maple in my shop. The question I have is the longivity of a mortise and tenon joint combined of maple and mahogany joining the swing arm to the leg. I saw the Chippendale card table on your web site, did you use two different woods for the swing arm and leg? By the way it is a beautiful table.I understand your issue with the mahogany we normally find today. I am lucky to have available, although at a premium price mahogany recently salvaged from the bottom of a fresh water lake where it had been for the last eighty years.
twin,Yes, I used maple for the finger joint on the card table. Although the table is only 4 years old there have been no problems with the difference in materials, and I would not anticipate any. With mixing any wood for joinery I think the most important part is to have both pieces with similar moisture content rather than species.Almost all period pieces are built with secondary wood which allowed for a savings in cost and did not compromise the structure or soundness of the piece at all.If you feel that the material you have is dense enough then use it. I would do a quick comparison by checking the weight of two equally sized pieces to see if one is heavier than the other, given that they have the same moisture content. Mahogany is good also because it is a little more stable than maple, and in the off chance you have a piece with some squirley grain, it would have less of a tendency to warp or twist.Of course it is always best to choose pieces for your knuckle joint that have the straightes grain, quartersawn if possible.Even having said all that I would probably go with the maple just for the reason of saving a couple of board feet of such a rare material as the mahogany you describe. Probably a result of some of that yankee thrift I picked up living in Massachusetts.J.P.http://www.jpkfinefurniture.com
Good Morning JoeAgain thanks for getting back to me. It is always very reassuring for someone to say "hay I did that and it worked well". The information I have from the museum indicates the legs are pegged through the tenon, for added support, which I will be doing also. I will be using maple as you suggested. I pulled a piece out of the wood rack last night that I have had for about 6 years, it has straight grain, and is flat and straight. I have changed the drawings to increase the apron too 5". You are right about wood conservation for this project. Before I did my first cut I drew up a very detailed milling schedule and selected boards that produced the greatest output with minimum scrap. I just finished rough cutting all the pieces for the tops and leafs. Its a lot of wood. The aprons, except for the ends will be all secondary woods. following your suggestion for using maple will save a lot of mahogany for another project.Again ThanksTwin AKA Paul
twin,Glad I could help. Be sure and post a photo when you are finished. J.P.http://www.jpkfinefurniture.com
There is a Queen Ann drop leaf table with cabriole legs with pad feet in Norman Vandal's book on Queen Ann Furntiure. It has measured drawings and very explicit instructions with respect to fabrication and assembly including the finger hinges.
Stephen J. Gaal
Steve:Thank you for your input, I am going to try to get my hands on the book. It is not one I have.Twin
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