I’ve been asked to repair a 50ish-year-old parson’s table. The leg joinery was done with dowels, and every joint has failed. (This particular table was shoved around a lot because it was slightly too big for the space it was in.) There are no stretchers or bracing on the legs. The stock – both legs and apron pieces – is 1-7/8″ square and in good shape. I’ve also been asked to shorten the table by 4-6″ (so that it fits in its space), so on the long aprons I do have the option of more rework.
I am currently considering putting in floating tenons of around 3/4″ square on the short dimension and either that, or traditional tenons cut on the (shortened) aprons of the long dimension. Worst case I could consider adding some type of corner braces, but that really doesn’t fit with the design aesthetic of the table so I’d rather avoid it.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Replies
To strengthen this, add a joint with as much glue surface area as possible- dowels are minimal, biscuits better, and tenons even better. You could add also hidden bracing or screws from underneath.
The basic problem is poor design-lack of stretchers to join the legs, so do the best you can.
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