Table

A sturdy replacement gift

A few years back, I was visiting a non-profit organization in Ohio when I noticed their dining area table was not very sturdy. I asked if a new table would be something they would be interested in, and they agreed that it was in need of replacement. That seemed like something I could help with.

This was my first attempt at a table, so I didn't know what I was in for. The plan I worked up looked simple enough. It's worth mentioning that this is a counter-height table, which is 36".

I made this entirely from rough-cut Black Cherry wood harvested from my brother's property. I thickness planed and jointed each board. I've since acquired a jointer, which would have been a huge time-saver for this project.

I had to glue up the top, of course, which is 48" square, and turned out to be bigger than what reasonably fits in my shop. I added two Black Walnut stripes in the top, partly because I thought it would look nice, and partly because it was convenient to add them in to get the size I needed with the boards I had. "It's not a bug, it's a feature."

I also glued up the legs, because I didn't have any stock thick enough to get 3-1/2" legs out of it. Once glued up, I put the tapers on the legs using a jig with the thickness planer, which worked without any problems, to my surprise.

The tops of the legs and skirt boards are all properly joined with mortise and tenon, and then additional hardware is used for additional strength and future tightening if needed. The top is attached to the frame using metal tabs that "hold onto" a groove in the skirt boards. The top has to "float" on the frame, as opposed to being glued. Since the wood will contract and expand perpendicularly to the grain with environmental fluctuations, it would destroy the frame, the top, or both, if they were glued together.

For my first table (and maybe my last!), I'm happy with how it turned out. It's quite sturdy, which was the primary goal, and I think it will serve the organization in Ohio for many years to come.