Refer to the drawings below
I'm wondering if the parts of the legs that protrude through the tabletop will eventually split the miter joints in the top. If yes, what can I do about it? Make the hole a little too big (ugh)? Eliminate that feature?
Greg Guarino wrote in news:mev7b8$hoo$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
I'm inclined to doubt it, depending on how you're holding the miters together. Wood movement across the grain tends to be on the order of 1/8" per foot of width, so assuming your decorative head is ~ 1" wide you'd get about 1/96" of change.
You could probably reduce that by using quartersawn stock for the legs, which might be a good idea anyway (to avoid any risk of them warping).
You could strengthen the miter joint to resist any slight expansion of the leg by putting splines or bisquicks or something like that in it. You could even consider a mitered half-lap joint if you're less concerned about what the side view looks like.
John
Thanks. That sounds workable, especially since getting a closer fit than
1/192" all around that leg would be well beyond my skills. Hell, I figure to be making those notches in the "frame" pieces with a hand saw. The message I'm getting is "don't make it a fit that you have to pound the tenons into". And yes, biscuits (small ones) was what I had in mind.
Go for it ... Greene & Greene did similar things in both face and end grain with no ill effects.
Like John says, quartersawn stock would give you less across face grain movement and would be a nice touch, although likely not necessary.
I REALLY like the concept ... looks like you are developing a finely tuned, inherent designer gene.
Keep up it, Bubba ... it's a brilliant touch!
Thanks for the compliment; I'm glad you like it. I have of course borrowed some of the features from things I see in magazines. Now we'll see if I can summon the gumption to try to build the tables (2). My Sketchup skills have advanced more quickly than my ability to actually build the details that I can draw. But I thought that on the last project too, and the one before. So maybe I'll be able to suss out how to build these as well.
Oh, and we can add one more technique to the list of "firsts": it looks like there will not be sufficient room for even #0 biscuits to join the mitered pieces that make up the top. So maybe splines?
I even considered having the splines protrude a little (use the scroll arrows), but that looks like something that would get chipped over time.
Just a hint here, or something else to consider. The through tenon on the leg through the top really brings no appreciable strength to the piece. Just attach the top like any other top and then as earlier mentioned glue a dummy/flux piece for the appearance of a through tenon.
I have done this several times to make foot board and head board posts appear to go through a flat block.
Here
And mounted, the posts were actually hollow and the stems on the bottoms of the caps fit down into the post.
What am I missing? If the leg is quarter sawn, that means two of the fours sides will be quarter sawn but the other two will be flat sawn, no?
Geeeez how about that! LOL
So he should make the legs out of end grain, right? :)
Wait, that's no good. One needs quarter sawn but really, REALLY thick so the flat sawn faces can be vertical :) :)
dadiOH
Kidding aside, typically one wants the grain across the top of the leg blank to run at 45-deg angle to the faces (presuming rectangular section of blank). Then the grain is uniform on each side and particularly gets rid of the "wild" grain differences when a leg is turned.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.