can a small round table expand to large round dining table exist?

[sab]

I saw a couple of years ago a beautiful rosewood ROUND dining table in hong kong that had hidden leaves (3) in the middle base of the table that allowed it to expand to this 10-12 person round dining table.

I can't remember the measurements, I'm guessing the table must have been at least 38 inches or so and expanded into a round 60" or more.

I loved the concept but wasn't about to spend that much on a table especially rosewood due to climate here in the states.

I've been unable to find anyone here who has such a concept and when I ask different furniture stores they say it is impossible that small round tables are only built to expand into oval. Has anyone ever seen one and if so where can I look?

[mark]

How would that even be physically possible? I suppose you could have curved sections that clamped on the outside somehow, like company boards on a tavern table... but I can't see hidden leaves unless there was a lot of them, and each was a small section of the curve, and they somehow overlapped themselves underneath the apron. I would be very interested to see a design if anyone comes up with it.

[GeeDubb]

Here's one

It doesn't show the expansion but you might be able to find a store in your area that has one.

Gary

[Silvan]

Me too. I can sort of imagine how it might be possible, but there would be a lot of technical challenges to solve. It sounds like a fascinating design.

[gandalf]

------------ Well, not quite. It expands to a "rounded triangular shape". Easy to see how that could be done. You may have identified what the OP had seen on his travels. But I haven't any idea how one could fashion a true round expandable table.

[Lazarus Long]

I think we're all fixated on a totally circular table. I think Gandalf is right - it's really a triangular table - approximately.

[Keith]

like this maybe? Keith

[Silvan]

Crikey! $2,000 for PARTICLE BOARD?!?!?!?!

I think I've about got it worked out, and I'm going to do a scale mockup. Should I patent it? :)

[mac davis]

Only if you can get Tom to do your mockup..

[mac davis]

I think that's as close as you're gonna get without lots of frosty adult beverages or recreational drugs... (just a guess, I'd never indulge in those things.. *cough*)

[Silvan]

No, it can be done, I think. I haven't tried it yet. I spent all night cleaning the house. Up 'til 4:00 AM cleaning house. I'm so whipped. I hope she appreciates this when she gets home from the hospital tomorrow.

I think I've figured out ways to use compressed air and dremel bits to make the job easier too. Think this will work for justification to get a big compressor? :)

I tell you, if I had to do this regularly, every single little piece of random froofy crap on every single piece of furniture would go in the trash, and we would have nothing but clear horizontal and vertical surfaces devoid of all obstacles. What good is this shit anyway? She has a press box full of 157.3 trillion little tiny dust collectors. Why? WHYYYYYY???!!!

The worst part is I can't even hope this gets me laid. I really don't expect to get laid for a least another week or two. I'm just doing it to be nice and make her happy and stuff. I'm so, so whipped.

I'm not very good at being Mom either. I missed the Christmas parade, let both of them get to school without their homework, didn't send them with the home-baked cookies my wife had promised their teachers for their respective Christmas parties, and I had no idea I was supposed to go over to my daughter's school and help the teacher today. She sure stays busy for someone who sits around doing nothing all day.

[Andy Dingley]

This was a fairly common design in Georgian times. The top spilts into triangles and slides radially outwards. Separate leaves are then inserted into the gaps. There were usually three new leaves, sometimes six or nine. Some of the larger tables could be expanded in steps, with either three or six leaves added at a time.

The expanded shape isn't perfectly circular, but it's good enough for playing King Arthur.

The drawback is that it works best on large tables. The central pillar is the only support for the cantilevered leaves, so it needs to be reasonably wide. In a small table this can leave you with little legroom underneath. Better designs have a pillar with a wider top and narrower support. Crude designs use a simple cylinder or prism.

[mac davis]

I'm not willing to do more than laundry (dryer heats the garage) and load the dishwasher until we get a DC in the house.. *g*

She will appreciate it, Silvan, but probably won't show it right away.. She's been through a lot and making the transition from hospital to home (and kids) is sort of a shock to the system all by itself..

Just try to be a buffer between her and the kids for a few days, and she'll be back to normal in no time..

[Shawn]

Definately more complex than it needs to be. I believe in the K.I.S.S. principle. The method that comes to mind involves leaving the smaller diameter table just how it is, then your leaves form the outside ring of the table when it's the larger diameter. I think the leaves would need pins to lock them in place to the inner table, then some kind of bars would pull out from the inner table to give the outer leaves additional support.

Copyright and patent pending. :)

Shawn

Keith wrote:

[Silvan]

Which STILL won't get me laid. :)

A DC for the house. I like that idea. Hafta super glue the little dust collectors (oh, I mean figurines) to the box so they don't get sucked up, but then you could have 4" ports at strategic locations. Maybe with synchronized air jets to blast the dust off just prior to collection. If I cover all this stuff with lace doilies, she'll let me build it. Know where I can get lace doilies big enough to cover DC plumbing? :)

[Silvan]

The race is on. Who will get rooked by a crooked patent attorney first?

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 20:12:44 -0500, Silvan calmly ranted:

I'm glad to have been born ambidextrous. (If you catch my meaning. If you get my drift. Just roll up your sleeve and bend over. Do you want regular or ethyl?)

Try your local Linens and Foofy Things store. They're sure to have industrial-sized doilies.

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[Silvan]

No, actually, I'm not sure I catch your meaning, but I think I'm afraid now.

[foggytown]

Actually, I've seen the small-round-to-big-round kind of table on a TV antique show. I can definitely remember that the mechanism was something like the overlapping plates of the old style camera shutters. I do recall it started round and ended up round but do NOT ask me to explain the mechanics. If I were as clever as the Victorian engineers I'd have died 125 years ago. FoggyTown "Cut to shape . . . pound to fit."

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 11:44:22 -0500, Silvan calmly ranted:

Oops, that came across different that I meant it to. AFAIK, I'm still hetero.

-- Sex is Evil, Evil is Sin, Sin is Forgiven. Gee, ain't religion GREAT?

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