Hello all,
Last year I built a small, trestle-style Shaker desk from the book “Making Authentic Shaker Furniture” by John Shea.
I thought I did a pretty good job with the joinery of the stretcher to the legs of the desk. But even with a nice tight fit, I am seeing racking side to side. The design has only an upper stretcher just below the top of the desk, with no lower stretcher (trestle) to make a solid structure. I believe the issue is with my decision to connect the top stretcher to the legs with just a screw (down vertically through the stretcher and leg).
Before I take the next step and glue the stretcher to the legs, I thought I’d ask the FWW community if they have other recommendations on mitigating the racking.
Thanks as always for your advice,
Erick
Replies
A picture would be valuable!
Hi Folks,
Thanks for the feedback thus far. Here is a picture of the table.
E-
A single screw is not enough. Glue would have helped. It really needed a mortise and tenon. You could still put a Domino in there, if you had access to one.
Seconded.
Some form of solid joinery is needed and a slip tenon is probably the easiest solution.
Also seconding the advice to provide pictures!
Hello all - see the picture attached.
The joint suggested in the drawings is a 90 degree half-lap joint, where the legs (in a front to back orientation) intersect a crosspiece (left to right orientation) supporting the table top, at the top of the legs.
I didn't want to get into any issues by showing an actual picture of the drawing in the book.
Hopefully this makes sense.
E-
Something tells me the book specified the connection there... what did it say?
He didn't specify which of the pieces he built. Most of the furniture in Kassay's book are pictures and descriptions only. But he does have a fair number of nicely done exploded drawings, and they show very intricate joinery. Bullet proof joinery.
Oops. For some reason I looked in Kassay, not Shea. Kassay's is still the much better book
See above picture in my response to John/Rob.
I just ordered a copy.
It's a great book/resource
Kikodoss,
I believe your second picture shows the problem, which appears to me to be in the design. The length of the legs imparts a tremendous amount of leverage to the half-lap joints which are at the far ends of the levers. With the single stretcher being as narrow (relative to the length of the legs) as it is, you're asking a lot from even a perfectly snug half-lap joint (not an easy task in itself), and even if glued.
I would think a solution might be to considerably widen the stretcher and the resulting half lap joints.
I agree with Tbone Tim, a second stretcher anywhere below the drawer would go a long way in mitigating the racking problem.
To me it looks like a poor design.
No amount of joinery and/or glue is going to be able to withstand the forces of racking on such a small connection point.
If you stick with a single stretcher it should be at the very least twice as tall as what you have.
Personally I would agree with those who suggest a secondary stretcher. I would place it as low as you can while retaining the look you want.
Agree - this design is fundamentally unstable.
It will be prone to racking and leg distraction, and the feet are a risk point for failure due to short grain.
That having been said, the legs look to be a good inch thick, and there are many fine side tables with legs that size.
Corner blocks supporting the top joint will help some. If it still wobbles, try clamping a 1"x1"strip down the centre of the leg on the inside. I should not be surprised if there is a bit of bend on the legs contributing to the racking too.
I agree with the consensus: even with perfect joinery, such a design will wiggle from side to side.
The problem is that the design does none of the things required of a good frame: either connections are braced to be 90 degrees even under stress or there are diagonal braces providing rigidity as per a truss. Neither is present here.
The best you can do probably is put in 1x1 glue blocks in the corners, where they will be invisible. That might get you some of the rigidity you need.
I'm fairly sure that similar 'desks' were made in other Shaker communities and they featured a lower stretcher so don't feel like you're not building a pretty strict reproduction if you add a lower stretcher.
No way the version without a lower stretcher didn't rack, shake, and shimmy on the Shakers. Physics applied to them just like it does to us.
Good morning all,
Thank you for all the great feedback.
Agreed the design is "lacking", but I just loved the simplicity of it. I think adding a lower stretcher is the right idea and may have been used on larger desks for sure. On this smaller desk, I think the reason it was left off is that it limits its usefulness as a desk (can't get legs under). I'll explore some of the other suggestions here (Gluing at a minimum, and adding some corner blocks). Before I do that I will look to see if a wider top stretcher is also a feasible approach, again I want to prevent it from getting in the way of the intended purpose of the desk.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and recommendations.
Cheers,
Erick
That upper stretcher needs to be wider at the ends for rigidity, but of course can of course can be curved / narrower in the center to still be useful as a desk in terms of vertical space for leg room. That will provide the same rigidity as a wide board all the way across.
This is essentially the same table, in which they make note of strengthening the stretcher (poor original design). https://www.woodmagazine.com/project-plans/furniture/tables/shaker-side-table-downloadable-plan
I would also point out that, while I'm no expert on Shaker furniture, A curved foot trestle leg is not in the Shaker style.
While many Shaker pieces have thin, often tapered legs, they are usually found on all four corners and firmly attached to a tall apron. This is what gives it the necessary stability, along with occasional lower stretchers on the sides and back.
Hi Ed,
I am certainly not an expert either, so all I can say is that:
A. The design came from a well regarded resource as a Shaker built piece.
B. I have seen several larger trestle table designs with a similar leg. The dimensions are scaled up, but the leg shape is very similar to that of this small table/desk. The book I reference above shows several table with similar design. I don't want get into copyright trouble, by showing images here.
I looked at the book again last night and the function of this piece was for close in handwork, not necessarily a desk, so again, it was meant for the users legs to fit under comfortably.
Cheers,
Erick
It is a wonderful, light, and open design. This is not the only case where design won out over function. The scale and length of the leg portions will have some wiggle regardless of the joinery at the top.
I would be inclined to just enjoy the piece for what it is. If you are really bothered by the racking you could try to design in additional stiffness for the vertical members as shown. Pardon the quick scribble. Not my finest aesthetic creation ;-))
Thanks GeeDubBee. If I build this again (and I think I will), I think I will look at a wider stop stretcher, or stiffened leg design as you suggest.
Its not a crime to use metal reinforcement, is it?
Heresy !!
LOL !! No, not a crime. Something to consider.
Haaaaaaa, GOOD one!
It's only a crime if you tell someone or someone finds out. If no one knows, it's not a crime.
I agree with EdWeber and others too. The design needs fundamental upgrades to make it work well. Adding a second stretcher is an obvious solution. Besides, you shouldn’t just rely on that joinery for the desk. Add more options like glue to make the joints more stable and durable in the long run.
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