Extending Dining Room Table Help Needed

[John B]

I'm preparing to embark on my first dining room table project. What I want is a table top about 42 x 60 that can extend with 2 12" leaves out to 84". I want it to be a double pedestal trestle type with space to store the extra leaves between the table top and pedestals. I've found the extension slides at Lee Valley, so all I need now is as plan. There are numerous table plans on the internet, but I haven't found anything even close to what I'm looking for. There are also a number of books which claim they provide general knowledge of table building, but I can't identify any that have data for this type of table. I would appreciate any suggestions/places to look.

[Phisherman]

Take a look at a few books published by Taunton Press. I have this one:

can always re-size or redimension any plan to suit your own. You may need to beef up supporting rails with a lot of leaves. It is quite a challenge to get leaves and table ends to match up perfectly. I have seen "bullet" pegs in some tables using leaves. Keep in mind the wood movement, especially in larger projects.

[SonomaProducts.com]

[Gregory Paolini]

John,

Extension tables can be a little intimidating - The toughest part of your project is going to be the storage for the leaves. The good news is you already have your overall dimensions figured out, and you've already sourced your hardware. I would outfit yourself with a few books showing dining table design, and work backwards off of your overall dimensions. Also, try to break the project down into smaller components - In other words, focus on the top as one part of the design, then focus on the pedestals, then how you're going to incorporate the leaves into the design.

I know it's not much to work on, but the details are going to be so dependant on the style, construction methods, and hardware that you choose to use - Hope this helps