Thread: A pic of the offending table. Can anything be done with it?

The table top is 90 by 180 and the height including top is actually only 74cm (just remeasured). The height of the chair 'seat' is 47cm and the apron on the table is 9cm so 74-9 is 65m left between the bottom of the apron and the floor. VERY squishy with only about 15cm or so between the apron and the chair. Excuse me if i'm out by a cm here and there. It's late

I'll second (or third) Derek's solution, & agree it's a no-brainer. The full-leather chair legs () and the fact they must be metal, from the apparent dimensions & curve, rules them right out of the equation.

Your problem seems to be you've got a table from my era, when the standard height was around 30 inches (~750mm), and chairs were around 15 inches (375mm) at the seat fronts. (Is this the new 'standard' to match the size of our new generations??) Whatever, those chairs of yours have definitely got giraffe genes, so it's clear why the matching table is 900mm. I wouldn't try cutting out the apron - it could look ok, but you are never going to get the extra 100mm or more needed to match those chairs!

So add some blocks - not as simple as it might be, because of the pseudo-cabriole design, but if you put a bit on (with a good, thick, dowel), fair the curves to match, and cut a small groove as Derek suggests, it will hide the join & reflect the decorative goove at the apron. The hardest part of the operation for any competent woodie would be finding some wood to match............

My 2c

IanW
I agree but I'd first cut the legs back to the start of the bottom taper before extending them.


ian

Originally Posted by ian

........ I'd first cut the legs back to the start of the bottom taper before extending them.

Ian - not quite sure what you mean by the 'start of the bottom taper'. It's not a very clear picture of the bottom of the leg, but it looks like a profile has been cut from two sides, like you do for the start of a cabriole leg, but left square. My eye sees the bottom as not tapered, but swinging out, which is a problem, because you are going to want to continue that curve on the added-on bit, & it may look a little odd if not done with care. My interpretation of the picture could be very wrong, of course. In any case I think we all agree that the leg is the bit to attack, and exactly how to do that would depend on a good look at the leg.

My 'complete' solution would be to make new long legs in a style that matches the chair legs. Depending on how the table's constructed,that may even be easier than trying to add blocks & make them look like they belong. Of course that would require some thought, finding the material, getting the necessary 'round tuit', and a few sharp hints from the minister for war & finance to get on with it.....

Ian – looking at the picture, my interpretation is that the last 100–150 mm on the inside corner of the mock cabriole legs has been cut at a straight angle. To extend the legs and get achieve a pleasing shape, you would need to start above this straight taper.

Of course, depending upon the table's construction, it may be easier (read much faster) to construct new aprons and four complete legs.


ian

Originally Posted by ian

Ian – looking at the picture, my interpretation is that the last 100–150 mm on the inside corner of the mock cabriole legs has been cut at a straight angle. To extend the legs and get achieve a pleasing shape, you would need to start above this straight taper.

Yes - I agree, but it almost certainly is cut so the outside corner (the one looking directly at us) has a 'dish' in it, too, roughly matching the straight or curved cuts at the back. On most legs, the front curve will sweep out to the corner of the original square post. This is what I'm rabbiting on about - any extension to that will have to extend beyond the original vertical line of the leg, if it follows the original curve. Not only would it stick out & be a potential toe-stubber, it would look pretty strange to me. That's why any of us would need to actually get up close & personal to see what might be best.

Castors are looking better & better.....
Cheers,

Originally Posted by derekcohen

This one is dead easy. Just extend the legs of the table (at the lower end of the legs).

(1) Match the existing wood of the legs.

(2) ditto, but add band between the join as a feature to disguise the join.

(3) Add contrasting wood as a feature - in this situation I would use something like ebony or a wood that matches the leather of the chairs.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Perthman

I think this is the best suggestion.

I have four tables - 710, 730, 740 and 750 millemetres high - but none have aprons.
My dining chairs (2 sets) have seat heights of 420 and 470 mm. These are consistent with your measurements, except I do not have aprons.

My desk has 215mm leg clearance and this is very spacious. Probably 50mm less would still be acceptable. You probably have to increase the clearance by only a fairly small amount.

Before you follow Derek's advice, may I suggest that you trial some temporary table leg extensions, as follows.

Make four wooden blocks the same size as the bottom of the table legs and about 10mm thick. Make another set 20mm thick. On first set, drive two thin nails through each block so that they protrude about 10mm and temporarily nail them to the bottom of each leg. Use the table; if still too low replace with the 20mm extensions. Use the table; if still too low attach both extensions (ie 30mm) and try again. If still too low make some more extensions and keep trialling. When you think you have the optimal height, a compromise between leg clearance and table height, live with it for a while to ensure it really is the right solution.

Then follow Derek's advice.

Cheers

Graeme

Originally Posted by ian

Of course, depending upon the table's construction, it may be easier (read much faster) to construct new aprons and four complete legs.

ian

Then of course you'd need to match the colour and grain of the top.

Or you could just replace that as well.....

Castors are looking better all the time.

Originally Posted by switt775

Then of course you'd need to match the colour and grain of the top.

probably not.

the timber from this end of the wires looks a lot like Jarrah.

sabots in a contrasting colour at the bottom of each leg are an option but given the leg shape the shoes once fitted might look more like knee length boots.

because the top overhangs the legs and apron, there's a natural visual break between the top and the supporting structure which means that a achieving a perfect colour match is not critical to the overall look.
Besides, new legs could be tapered somewhat similar to the chairs.



ian

You know there is another solution - drill holes in the floor for the chairs legs to fit into. Then lower the chair to a comfortable height. Then there are two options -
1) Get under the house and stack up some bricks for the chair legs to sit on, or
2) With the chair at the correct height mark the floor level on the chair legs then drill holes through the chair legs and put a large split pins through the legs. Lower the chair down into the floor until the split pins support the chair and hey presto - problem solved.

Originally Posted by ian

probably not.

the timber from this end of the wires looks a lot like Jarrah.

sabots in a contrasting colour at the bottom of each leg are an option but given the leg shape the shoes once fitted might look more like knee length boots.

because the top overhangs the legs and apron, there's a natural visual break between the top and the supporting structure which means that a achieving a perfect colour match is not critical to the overall look.
Besides, new legs could be tapered somewhat similar to the chairs.



ian

Then by all means keep the top and replace the legs and apron....

My initial thought was to cut a little off the chair legs, but that seems not to be an option. My next thought would be to extend the table legs (after all it's not the actual height of these things, but the relationship betwee the table and it's chairs), but that would depend on how much you want to extend them and if you wanted them to match the table, you would have to match colour and grain so you wouldn't notice the extensions..
If it were me, I would extend the the legs but with a contrasting timber and make a small feature of the extensions. How much of a contrast would depend on the look of the table and chairs as a whole, and it's environment, it's a bit hard to picture from the photo. That's got to be better than cutting the table or the chairs...

Sorry if this has been covered already, don't have time to read the whole thread at the moment, but the problem intrigues me.

Good luck

Chris

Tables and chairs generally fit into a fairly tight ratio, the one thing I watch is that the table is not so high that it feels like your eating off the back of a truck, so raising the table is out, reducing the height of the chair will make you feel like your in a Japanese restaurant and you then get the back of a truck feeling again! There are only two options here! One is to raise the rail height and that just takes a little care, each end of the cut can be simple or as decorative as you like, given the table is not that long, sagging is not a worry! The other option is to swing your chairs out from the table 45 degrees and sling your legs, cross legged up onto the table! All sling to the right, good fun!

Cheers...Jeff

I had the same problem with my dining table. I took Derek's approach but with plastic screw on feet to raise the table around 40mm until I decided what I was going to do, either the table or the chairs. That was 4 years ago.

Cheers

Bryan