Thread: Triangle dining table ...

Af ,
are you going to have a carcase under the top to keep it honest ?

And what are the dimensions ?

What do you mean by "carcass under the top"?

It's about 2000mm long and 1200mm wide at the wide end. Down to 600mm at the narrow end. 760mm tall.

The carcase is the the frame , the bit that stops the top twisting and bowing and cupping and sagging
How thick is the top ?

I see what you mean. No, no carcass designed for this table. The top is 1.5" thick so it's not going anywhere. Recycled timber, very well dried and quite stable. So I'm not worried about twisting/warping in that regard.

I might however put a cross bar at the narrower end to help keep it level if you think it needs it.

So ... how would I go about attaching that wide leg to the top? Is it as simple as a large tenon/mortise?

Cheers,
Af.

G'day Af,

I spose it'll be stable enough but it does remind me of this
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T98JvmubpMk]YouTube - Top Gear - three, 3 wheeler, Reliant robin, crashes[/ame]

I would be considering bread board ends. If the base is a strong independent unit you could just use buttons across the wide support and longways too for consistency, though screws would suffice.


Cheers
Michael

Michael, that was one of the most amusing things I've seen on the telly for many a year.

AB good to see you back.

Maybe you could suggest to the architect he stick to designing buildings... or then again, maybe not... buildings that is. That's an attrocious design of a table and apart from being somewhat difficult to resolve from a woodworking perspective, it probably wouldn't even be as stable as a Reliant Robin.

For what it's worth, I would M&T the slab into the top. Good luck with it.

If you're absolutely confident that it's well & truly settled, you can probably simply mortice the leg into the underside of the top, but unless it's quarter sawn, it will try to cup no matter how old and dry it is.
Another way I've used is to cut a half-dovetail slot across the table, and half a dovetail on the end of the leg. The slot needs to be wider than the thickness of the leg. Make a packing piece that will fill the slot tightly and hold the leg in place. Glue it all together - you'll only get one go - making sure that the leg stays perpendicular to the top.
The half-dovetail will stop the top from cupping, at that end anyway.
Hope that's clear.

WW & Mic-d are absolutely correct about it's instability, of course.

My suggestion is that you talk to the architect and see what he REALLY knows and understands about timber.

Bring up the problems noted here and gently persuade him that he needs to change some elements of the design. Then take it from there.

By the way, I think its a mongrel design. Perhaps a viewing of the above video will chang his mind!

It puts me in mind of an ironing board ,
except that ironing boards are designed for stability

I bet that table will be plenty stable enough.

I like furniture designed to reflect the space it's going into.

Most architects don't bother going that far. So good on him for going the extra yard.

The alternative would be a table that might not suit the space and that would look like every other table out there.

Of course, I'm just a weekend DIY guy and so have nothing to offer on the construction side.

Scott

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I certainly didn't expect the reaction I got though. I guess it's not to everyone's taste.

This particular architect is more of a designer in many ways. His houses are absolutely exceptional (side of cliff top type stuff) and really extremely well thought out for the land and surrounds they occupy. Nothing like your average bulk builder crap we get so much of. Anyway, I quite like the design and am looking forward to seeing it in-situ within the space it is designed for.

I think I will take the advice to pin down the top by putting another crossbeam at the narrower end and using buttons along it and the wide leg.

Will post some photos and the build continues (the top itself is almost finished).

Cheers,
Af.

Reminds me of the popular story I heard in Germany of Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria who built the Castle Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. The story went that castle was designed by an opera stage designer, Ludwig being a great fan of Opera, and Wagner in particular. As a stage designer he knew nothing about real castles and designed a most architecturally difficult castle, which Ludwig loved. Ludwig commissioned the castle to be built, it took many, many years to build, and Ludwig only spent a small portion of his time there, listening to concerts by Wagner, his favourite musician, by himself in the grand ballroom. The castle was used as an inspiration for Disney's well known Sleeping Beauty Castle many years later.

Of course, it all was just that. A story. Ludwig was quite likely not mad at all, being certified insane without even a medical or psychological examination, and then dying straight afterwards in very suspicious circumstances. The castle was conceptualised by a stage designer, but planned and realized by an architect, and while architecturally challenging, it only took 12 years or so to build, which wasn't bad at all.

So while the concept was radical and borne from a creative mind, it was difficult build, but it still stands today as an inspiration, certainly to Disney, and also to architectural student all over the world.

So go for it Afro Boy. It'll probably turn out great and we can all look back on it in hindsight.

Af, i like the table.

Attaching the top is easy with out the need to mortise up into the top or put a support under it, but its tricky to explain and my camera is stuffed , so I cant do a quick mock up to show you. I will try and think of somehow explaining.

By the way, great get that commission

Whats the top dimensions?

It is good to have architects pushing woodworkers to the limits.
Zelk