Replies

1. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 30, 2005 11:22pm | #1

   I saw this morning and was looking for what I wanted..

   I have made several slab top tables with pretty expensive wood up there..

   I call them housed sliding dovetails.. I saw it on Taunton Press CD..
   By Tony Konovaloff.. He used it for attaching large cabinets together.

   Just sliding dovetails that have a larger groove so you can put it down, shove it over into the dovetail groove and ya done!

   I just used a threaded peg (so you can remove) in the center of the pedestal into the top to allow for expansion.. Of course NO GLUE in the dovetails!..

   EDIT:: With the size of you table the dovetails should be nice straight grained hardwood but do not need to be to long.. Just big enough to be keep the wind from blowing it off or when moving it...

   Edited 9/30/2005 4:45 pm by WillGeorge

   
   

   ---

   Edited 9/30/2005 4:46 pm by WillGeorge

1. 
   5418 | Oct 01, 2005 10:58am | #3

   Hi WillGeorge. After seeing your reply, I realized I had an article by Konovaloff on housed sliding dovetail for connecting cabinets as well. I'm still confused after looking at it though. Are you suggesting making the whole top part of the trestles into a long dovetail to be "housed" into a groove cut into the top? I don't think that would work since the top is only about 2" wider than the trestle. It sounded like you were suggesting something different though, although I still don't really get it after re-reading your reply. You also mentioned some kind of a "threaded peg". Could you elaborate a bit more? Thank you so much!

1. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 02, 2005 05:28pm | #7

   Are you suggesting making the whole top part of the trestles into a long dovetail to be "housed" into a groove cut into the top..
   .........................
   Or the other way around..No.. The dovetail key part just needs to be long enough to hold it on. Two keys spaced along the trestle or the top.. Key and slot can be on either ..About eight inches long. The larger slot has to be at least that long and longer by a bit so you can get the dovetail part in there. So the total slot length needs to be 12 + inches for a 6 inch long dovetail.. The narrower slot is cut six inches as a dovetail and a little wider at 6 plus inches so the dovetail key can drop into. (just clears the edges of the dovetail.. Sounds harder that it is.. At least the way I explain it!I think you said a 72 inch by something top.. Weigh in a bit so gravity holds most of it there.. The dovetail just keeps it in place and needs to be strong enough to be able to lift the table when moving it....I would use a good strong hardwood for the dovetail it does not have to be long.. Just two or three across the width. Two just less work making."threaded peg" I made two wooden bolts on a metal lathe..You can use a steel Lag Bolt placed in the center to allow the top to move as it wants.. But then you need to drill into that trestle and make a plug that can be removed. Or you could make a wooden tongue attached to the top that fits into a mortise on the side of each trestle.EDIT:: My base was a bit different and I did not want a steel bolt to show... I just had the time to make two bolts out of wood. I have many metal working tools and just used what I had..

   Edited 10/2/2005 10:53 am ET by WillGeorge

2. 
   BG | Oct 01, 2005 02:56am | #2

   5418,
   It appears rather tall for a coffee table...what will the dimensions be of the top? ...and will you be running any stretchers(dovetailed into the top) between the two supports?..I've used slotted screws in the past.

1. 
   5418 | Oct 01, 2005 11:07am | #4

   It became a lot shorter after I took it off the workbench :) Just kidding. Probably an optical illusion. The height of the trestles is about the same as a very low couch (about 17"). I got these nice 11 1/4" wide pieces of cherry about 42" long that will be glued up for the top. So that would make it about 22 1/2" wide, if I don't waste too much material jointing the edges. The 2 trestle supports are only about about 22" apart. Do you think another top stretcher is needed (if I'm understanding you correctly)?

1. 
   BG | Oct 01, 2005 01:40pm | #5

   5418,
   First of all it's very nice and I suspect so well proportioned it just seems so much more size wise.
   My first thought was maybe he posted the wrong picture. After that, however, I started to think, if the table is coffee table size(17-19" high, etc.)then the assumptions I'm making about the size of the pieces is also wrong....eg. the stretcher is not 6/4 by 6", etc....and yet a coffee table is subject to a lot of stress and being pulled around by the top. I also wondered if the top would have breadboards or supports(battens?) or nothing...but if it did have supports on the underside maybe they could be used for attaching to the base too. Lastly, I saw, flipping through a book,a trestle like yours where two stretchers were dovetailed into the top supports providing a lot of anti-racking strength, stability support to the top and an easy way to attach the top with slotted screws. You might want thru-tenons for the knock down aspects. Anyhow, as you can see I'm having a lot of fun with your nice work...thanks

   Edited 10/1/2005 7:16 am ET by BG

3. 
   DCarr10760 | Oct 02, 2005 03:28pm | #6

   I once saw a design (I forget where) that attached the top to the trestle with a 1/2 dovetail cleat on the leg/stretcher assembly (you could screw it on) that fitted a dovetail slot that married and tightened as the trestle was wedged onto the stretcher.

   Seemed ingenious.  If it's not clear from my poor description, message me and I can draw it up.

   David C.

4. 
   lamadriver | Oct 07, 2005 09:30am | #8

   One of the ways I line up stock to be joined is to use dowel guides. You drill a small hole with a flat bottem bit for the size you are using (3/8, 1/2 etc), drop in the dowel guide and then place the corresponding stock on the stock with the dowel guide where you want it and gently tap from other side which marks exactly where it lines up with first location. You'll get the idea how they work when you see the small point on the dowel guide.