Table Top Slide – One Leaf Under Another
tommyreno
| Posted in General Discussion on
Hi,
I am building a small, base cabinet in my kitchen. The counter top will be wood, probably maple. I would like to be able to extend the area of the counter top on occasion. I have seen tables where you can pull out a leaf which is stored underneath the table top. When pulled out far enough, the top leaf drops to the same plane as the leaf underneath, roughly doubling the size of the original tabletop. You can then push this bottom leaf back in underneath the top leaf and return the table top to its original size.
What is this kind of table slide called? Where can I buy one?
Thanks in advance,
Tom
Replies
The movement you describe is a draw-leaf mechanism. Here is a slow opening link to a description of constructing such a table. http://tomsworkbench.com/2008/02/20/stuff-ive-built/
The description is not the clearest or most comprehensive I've seen, and probably one of the best descriptions and drawings are those by Ernest Joyce in that classic tome of furniture making, The Technique of Furniture Making; it is also known as The Dictionary of Furniture Making, particularly in North America. Slainte.
Richard Jones Furniture
Thank you for your advice. I'll check out those resources you mention. Much appreciated.
A year or so ago, I too dreamed of making a piece that had draw-leaf construction. I was thinking that with enough patience, I'd be able to find the manufacturer of the movements.
Not so. I suspect that such hardware is no longer being made.
Good luck. And if you achieve success, let us know.
"I suspect that such hardware is no longer being made."
I don't think there has ever been metal hardware made for draw-leaf table tops that you could buy off the shelf. The only possible reason I can think that someone would go to the trouble of manufacturing such hardware would be if a furniture manufacturer made large batches of draw-leaf tables all the same.
In every case of such table I have made the bearers, dowel stops, rails and attachment of the bearers to the underside of the leaves was a custom job. Full size drawings and rods are used to shape the wooden bearers. Preferred woods for bearers are tough woods such as beech or maple. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
"I don't think there has ever been metal hardware made for draw-leaf table tops ...."Perhaps your correct -- at least concerning the last 60 or 70 years.But when I was first married the first time, we got a kitchen table from somebody in her family. It had been sitting in a garage for a decade or so, and needed lots of work.I stripped the finish, bleached the stains out of it, and worked a bit on the (steel) hardware.And it was a draw leaf. The leaves would pull out against a small amount of spring tension. Then, when fully extended, the spring tension would 'snap' the leaf up into place, and hold it level with the top.The table was rather small -- just a kitchenette size. And the leaves were not much either, maybe ten or eleven inches each.Worked nicely for another ten years, till we got rid of it in a tag sale. Might still be in good shape, though I'd doubt it -- springs and all.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
Perhaps that was one of those tables that was knocked out in the thousands I mentioned; and perhaps the maker found it worthwhile sourcing someone to make appropriate hardware.
I notice DougGF suggests you have a look at the same book I identified in an earlier post in this thread, so getting the same information from two of us suggests Joyce probably describes the construction of a daw-leaf table accurately. Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture
Tom,
The "Encyclopedia of Furniture Making", pages 390-391, provides an excellent diagram and narrative describing the construction of a draw-leaf table. You can Google this using "draw leaf table rails.
Hopes this helps -
Doug
Tom,
Me again. After my last response the subject of a draw-leaf table got me looking a little harder since I am in the thinking-planning phase for a formal dining room table. I ran across this 40 step-by-step 8-page pdf on building a draw-leaf table that is about as close as you can get to "how to". An excellent reference. http://www.woodworkersedge.com/extras/DrawLeafGameTable.pdf
Doug
Thanks for the link and thanks to everyone who's provided suggestions. I've reserved a copy at the library of the Encylopedia book by Joyce you all have mentioned, and I'm also going to check out the #9 issue of FineWoodworking which apparrently also has an article.
Much appreciated!!
Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking. Book 3:Furnituremaking, Page 56.Same table as in Issue 9 with added details.
Our dining room table is a wonderful vintage oak British army refectory table that has this very slick and elegant mechanism. There is no hardware, it is all in the design, with the very clever works hidden under the tabletop. Ours easily expands from seating four to seating eight.
The best explanation of this that I was able to find is at Larry Ciesla's website: http://www.larryciesla.com/draw_leaf_table.html
I know that this thread is between 0 and 13 years old but having made a draw leaf dining table for my daughter I do have some thoughts.
Tage's table was out of ply and a bit smaller than mine. Stable material, no expansion issues. Tommy Mac did one with long boards and a breadboard end - as I remember.
Mine was about 40" something by 60" something with about 15" draw leafs. I do not recall the exact dimensions. The legs were cut from 8/4 oak to form book matched pieces that I turned and cut mortices. I used two stretchers compared to one in Tag's and Tommy's tables.
The leafs do not come out exactly flush, maybe 1/4" off from the table top. I think the base was not exactly square, and I mean exact. The extension support slots must also be cut exact.
Not bad for my first effort. I would like to try another to see if I could improve on my work.
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I have a beautiful contemporary wood table (that I purchased) which has two tops with glass inserts that stack on top of each other. The tops can then be pulled apart and re-aligned creating a double wide flush top surface. It's currently stored in my basement and it would be difficult to extract it but I may give it a try. To the best of my knowledge it doesn't rely on hardware just "dowels" that ride in side mounted dados. I'll try to find a photo of it but it will be a long shot.
It's a well designed and well built table.
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