I am in the process of building a 60″ curly cherry dining table with four 12″ leaves. I purchased some legs and extension pieces from Matthew Burak. After installing the extensions and placing two leaves in it, I checked across the table for flat. The table had a 1/16 sag in it. This is due to the extensions not being tall enough to support the table from underneath. Has anyone else had this problem and if so is there a fix. This is the first table I have built so I am hoping I missed something. Thanks for listening.
Bruce Ebling
Replies
1/16" in 60" is close enough for government work.
Can you affix shims of veneer or laminate from underneath?
No help here, I'm afraid, but I have to disagree with Hammer. First of all, if I'm reading your post right, you have a 1/16" sag before you even get all the leaves in. And this is before the table has any "years" on it. I have never built a dining table, but I've sold a dozen or so, some of which were 60 or 70 years old, and I don't think they sagged like that.
It seems a little odd that the extensions don't support the surface evenly. OK, where's the experts??? Bye.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
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Bruce,
I'm not clear on what you mean by extension pieces. Are these extension slides, that allow you to pull the two halves of your table apart so you can insert the leaves?
Ray
He is talking about the apron extensions, I believe.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Bruce,
If extension slides, then only 1/16" sag is pretty good. The slides have to have some slop to be able to move past one another. The nearer to full extension they are pulled, the more sag they will have, as the keys that are doing the sliding approach one another. The longer the slides are, in relation to the length they are extended, the better they will perform. In other words, better to use the longest set that will fit under the top, rather than the shortest ones that will barely open up to accomodate your leaves.
It is a good idea to have a center leg, mounted to a crosspiece that is attached to the CENTER member of each slide assy. I screw the crosspiece to the under side of the slides, making sure that it does not interfere with the movement as the table is extended. (Use 1/16" thick shims at each end of the crosspiece, or put a flat washer or two between the crosspiece and the slide at each screw.) I generally work a tusk tenon on the top of the 5th leg, and wedge it to the crosspiece, so as to be removeable if desired. A center leg, in addition to removing sag, takes a lot of stress off the slides when folks lean on the middle of the top.
Use the fattest longest screws you can to attach the slides to the table top. They get a lot of torqueing when that table is picked up and yanked apart, especially in the summer when things are swollen and sticky.
Regards,
Ray
Ray: Thanks for the great advice, sometimes I think I suffer from a perfection disability! Since this is my first table I did not know what to expect, I still think the sag is too much, but I will live with it. I liked your advice on the 5th. leg (btw what is a "tusk tenon"?). The table is 60" long and I bought 52" extensions, I actually had to trim the ends of the extensions about 1/4" to get them to fit between the aprons. I used the screws provided with the extensions and believe they are adequate. With the table extending another 4' there will be a lot of stress on those extensions, so maybe I need to look into the 5th. leg. On another note, do you have any further advice to a beginner as far as finish? I want a natural oiled look that will resist water stains....any suggestions??
You have no idea how much help this forum has been, thanks to all that have talked me through this project.
Bruce Ebling
Bruce,
A tusk tenon is a through tenon that extends past its mortise far enough to accept a wedge crosswise. I generally round over the end of the tenon so it may be removed/replaced easily from its mortise. I orient the long axis of the mortise with the grain of the crosspiece, usually make it about 1"X whatever the width of the leg is. I like to tack a strip of leather to the wedge and the top of the leg to keep them together when the leg is off the table.
For oil finishes I've had good luck with both Minwax Antique oil, and tung oil. I recently built a set of Queen Anne chairs for a client who specified Deftoil. It worked well for me too. I personally don't care for Watco; in my opinion, it's about like putting a coat of kerosene on, same for Wood Finish by Minwax. I like to get a build of finish after several coats.
Good luck on your table,
Ray
I have built a couple of tables over the years. Just curious on what kind of extensions you have used, Steel or wood? the spacing of them? And what are they rated for, weight wise?
Shaker
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