Hi,
I am building a dining table 69″ long and 35,5 inches wide. Wife want the aprons to be as narrow as possible. I am hesitent to go below 4-3,5″ in width. There will be a curve on the long apron, how narrow do you think I can go at the legs and in the middle of the curve?
I think I will be using 1″ or 1,25″ materiel.
Thank you
Replies
The table in the photo is 30" high with the lower flat of the apron at 5" and rises to be 2.25" at the center. It would look fine at 6"... The curve rises plenty high enough from a 19" seat surface to clear legs easily, but it is not as long as yours. At 69" I would imagine it would flex if we were dancing on it.
To get to your visual ideal you can always add thickness by doubling the material on the inside of the apron. You could use a 4x4 for the apron and cut whatever curve you like. You could add steel under there if you wanted to.
This is a case of design it first and then figure out how to build it. Mock it up in something like foamcore or thin hardboard first so you can step back and look at it. If it is too thin visually it will feel wrong even if it is strong enough to park a truck on. How much the top overhangs the aprons will matter a ton...
My opinion is that you have to be able to see the aprons for it to feel right. You can make them heavier if you move them in and they will look thinner from the outside. The mockup helps with the balancing act.
Thank you for your reply.
I have made a sketch and I was thinking to do a mockup later. It is a more subtle curve I have planned than on the table in your photo.
On the sketch it is now around 3,5" by the legs and 2,5" in the middle. Might be to thin visually with the overhang as you point out. But aesthetics aside, for the sake of how strong does stuff actually have to be, would you consider that strong enough?
I have re-written this a great many times but was never happy with any response because it is such a difficult decision. FWWIW:
The apron is not essential so in theory could be of any width.
The apron performs a few functions -
1. Aesthetic
2. Keeps the legs the right distance apart
3. Stops legs from pulling away from the top
4. Keeps the table top flat.
There are a great many ways to achieve these results, some of which (Slab and hairpin legs I'm looking at you...) don't have any aprons at all.
Trestle tables also don't have aprons, and have huge strength but use a stretcher to keep the legs together. Even this is optional if you make the top of the trestles wide enough.
Tensegrity tables don't have legs at all...
As for aprons, a wider apron can help to hold legs in place and keep more unruly tops flat, but the force required for the top is not large. Most of that will be fairly small amounts of twist and cup that can be spread out along the apron and if you think about it, you are going to be holding the top down with fairly small items - buttons or figure-8s are not particularly strong. Your apron needs only resist the force these can survive, which is not much.
Whilst you can make an apron stronger by making it thicker, it's not as simple as it seems - your strength will depend more on the width top to bottom than the thickness, and of course nice, straight grain (or if a curved apron, grain that matches the curve) is far, far stronger than angled grain. If you think about it, you could stand easily on 2 1x2 standing on edge, but the same pieces laid on their faces would not support half as much weight.
Design it to look good and please your wife. Take into account wood movement. Try to make the top as stable as you can. Make sure your legs cannot easily be pulled off. Don't overthink it.
As said above I would mock up apron. I would as well always start with a 2d drawing first...to begin the "consideration" process. Maybe do a quick sketch with dims and post an image. You will most likely get some very clear and valuable feedback
Thank you for your reply.
I have posted a sketch in the post above. Measurements in cm (sorry)
First, nice elegant design..."slender/delicate" quality. I'm sure your wife will be happy. Some thoughts. Following is set of elevs. - derived from your sketch (as close as possible) inserted - into AutoCAD. You could increase the height of the apron to the latter most and *still maintain its aesthetic qualities*. That because a viewer would always be looking down, or obliquely on the apron...the apparent height of the apron diminishes. That said I would personally use the latter most dwg with 10cm/7cm dims. for reasons of structural support/strength. Thickness at least 2.2 - 3 cm? Some *might* put a center cross support under the table between side aprons. Good luck.
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Rob SS has left out a very important apron function, that is, providing racking resistance for the legs. (The racking resistance is provided by other elements in a trestle table.) Any lateral force on the table will try to collapse the legs under the table. The aprons resist this force. Their ability to do this is determined by their height. (The amount of force they have to resist is also determined by the length of the legs; a coffee table has shorter legs and hence can get by with narrower aprons.) For a dining table of this design, I would never go with less than 4" wide aprons at the leg joints. The aprons can taper with a curve; I would probably have them be at least 2.5" at the middle. The other challenge you need to design for is the possibility of the leg splitting from the lateral force. To do this, use a mortise and tenon joint to connect the legs and aprons, and keep the tenon down near the bottom of the apron. I would have it be 2.25" to 2.5" wide, and 1/2" thick. The tenon should be at least 1/8" above the bottom of the apron, to provide a shoulder there that will increase the joint strength. Use a short haunch (stub tenon) from the top of the tenon to the top of the apron to provide twisting resistance. It need only be 1/8"-1/4" deep. Don't glue it; only the tenon.
**AP you are right - I had that in one of the previous versions. I'm an idiot. Agree with the sizing and reasoning completely.