Final Pedestal Table Photos

Here are the final photos of the dining room table I recently completed. Thanks to Jay Paul for these terrific shots!

Pedestal Table: The Spider

Traditionally, pedestal tables have a steel brace called a spider attached to their undersides which serves to protect the joint between the legs and column from the stresses of being moved around on the floor.   When made properly, and with modern glues, the long sliding-dovetail joint that attaches the legs is quite robust.  Even so, over the years that joint is bound to suffer a lot of stress from the weight of everything above it including the tabletop itself.  The photo below shows the underside of the pedestal without a spider.  In it you can see the ends of the dovetail-shaped tenons that slide into corresponding mortises on the column.

The first step in making a spider is to come up with a template.  I like to make the central disk separate from the tines that attach to the legs.  That way, the tines can be individually tweaked until they're perfectly centered on their respective legs.  Once I have each tine where I want it, I attach it to the disk with a little spot of glue.


At the shop where I apprenticed, we always made our own spiders from 1/16" thick sheet steel, cutting the pattern with a metal-cutting jigsaw blade.  When I called my old boss Harrison for a couple of reminders about the finer points of spiders, he mentioned that he'd found a local metalworker who would make custom spiders for a very reasonable price.  Below you see the pattern I provided to Larry the Spider Maker and the spider I picked up at his shop this morning.  I was interested to see that the tines were welded on.

A spider should be attached to the pedestal in the four spots between the leg joints and in two spots along the underside of each leg.  I marked the hole locations with a center punch (actually all I had handy was a ground-down nail set) then bored the holes with my drill press set at a very low speed.  I was sure to use plenty of oil as I did so, and I used a scrap of plywood to protect my drill press table from becoming an oily mess.

After countersinking all of the holes, I used a bevel gauge set to the initial angle between the bottom of the column and the legs.  With the spider clamped to my bench I then bent each tine to match that angle.


Once all  of the tines were bent, I was ready to install the spider.

Here's a shot of the spider screwed into place with #10 wood screws.

Tomorrow morning I'll do a little bit more rubbing out and waxing of the finish, and then it will be time to move on to the next project!

Pedestal Table: Beginning the Finish

Over the weekend I got started on the finish for the pedestal table I've been working on. The clients and I decided on a light honey color for the piece. At the point pictured, the table has been wash coated with a 1-lb cut of shellac, stained (with a water-based aniline dye), and topcoated with a few additional wash coats of shellac. I expect to build up enough shellac on the base today so that I can rub and wax it tomorrow. The top will be receiving a few coats of Minwax's Antique Oil, which I think creates a wonderful, tough, low-luster finish.

Veneering Curved Aprons

A few days ago I veneered the curved aprons for the table I've been working on.  Veneering curves along a large radius can be tricky, especially when there is no practical way to accomplish the task using a vacuum press.   I decided to break the veneering of each apron into several separate glue-ups.  This way I only worked about 1/4 of each apron at a time.  More on this in a moment.  

In the meantime, the photo below shows the set of tools I used for  this process.  In the picture you can see regular PVA glue, perforated veneer tape, a glue roller (or brayer), an Exacto knife, packing tape, a glue pallet, and a piece of sandpaper.  It's important to have all of the required tools close at hand before any glue is spread.

One of the most important tools in any veneering operation--but especially when veneering curves--is the caul one selects.  The caul helps spread clamping force equally across the entire surface of the veneer, ensuring good adherence to the substrate.  The trouble with cauls is that they almost always accomplish this task imperfectly.  Some people use thin packing foam, others use plain poster board, and many people use a layer of cork.  I've tried all of these with mixed results.  I was all set to buy a length of cork at the hardware store last week, when I saw a roll of the material pictured below.  It's sold as "floor liner" and appears to be the stuff you wipe your feet on before entering a building on a rainy day.  I immediately thought it would make a terrific caul.  The rubber material has just the right ratio of rigidity to give, and the "kerfs" along the backside allow it to follow a curve well.  Besides all of that, it's marvelously inexpensive and it resists glue.

I attached a piece of the rubber caul material to a length of 1/4" plywood with one centered piece of packing tape.  I had made sure earlier that 1/4" ply would bend around the radius of the apron without cracking.

Long before I spread any glue on the apron, I cut and taped my 3" lengths of veneer.  I had purchased quarter sawn maple veneer which came in three 8' lengths.  I used two of these lengths, cutting 3" pieces from each one, numbering as I progressed.  Thus I had two #1's, two #2's, and so on.  I then taped together four pieces, bookmatching the edges.  

Perforated veneer tape is still my choice for building-up any kind of veneer panel.  Getting the moisture level just right for the tape can be difficult, but I find that a sponge with as much water wrung out of it as can be done by hand provides just about the right level.

My next step was to figure out how to hold the apron substrate in position so that I could apply as many clamps as possible to it without causing it to twist and break.  I decided to clamp it on blocks to my work table in three places.  This felt pretty solid.

This next shot shows all the clamps in place squeezing the 1/4" ply, the rubber caul, and the veneer against the substrate.  Before I got to this point, I had masked the area of the substrate adjacent to the beginning of the veneer panel using packing tape.  That way, when I removed the clamps I could simply peel the packing tape, leaving glue-free substrate for the next panel.  I worked my way around the perimeter of both aprons this way until they were completely veneered.

Next, I scored along the back side of the veneer along the edge of the apron with my Exacto knive.  I then bent the veneer towards me, breaking its fibers.  A quick snap away from me, and the excess veneer broke off. After a light sanding with 120 grit sandpaper along the edges, my veneering was complete.

If any of this is unclear and you'd like more detail, just leave a comment, and I'll be sure to respond!

Pedestal Table: Almost There!

I expect to finish the woodworking on this pedestal table tomorrow. It will be a full day of planing, scraping, sanding, and sweating. Today I finished applying the quarter-sawn veneer to the curved aprons (more on that topic tomorrow), finished installing the table slides, and attached the cockbead.



Here's a detail shot showing how the vertically-oriented grain of the aprons relates to the rest of the piece.



Soon it will be time to shift from the woodworking to the finishing phase of this project.

Pedestal Table: Final Sizing of the Top

This morning I cut the three top pieces for the pedestal table to their final sizes and shapes. Whenever I am making a top with multiple pieces, even if the pieces are rectangular, I like to complete whatever method of attachment I've chosen while the pieces are still only rough-cut to size. For example, when making a drop leaf table of any kind, I complete the rule joints and install the hinges before the top pieces are cut to final size and shape. The reason for doing it this way is that no matter how well one measures for hinge mortises or leaf pins, tiny amounts of slop in the marking, mortising, or boring can lead to misaligned tops. So in the case of this table, I got the leaf pins and sleeves set before cutting the top to size. The first shot below shows the pins I used for this project.



After I was satisfied with the alignment of the leaves, it was time to cut the three pieces to final size and shape. I used a router compass to cut the radius along the perimeter of the two outer pieces. The specific rig I used allowed the compass to index from the same lines I made for boring the center pin and sleeve. That way I knew that the two pieces would create a perfect circle when slid together. If I failed to use the exact same center points, I could have ended up with two outer leaves which aligned perfectly along the center (thanks to the pins and sleeves) but which were off at the ends.

After ensuring that the two half-round leaves were aligned the way I wanted, the next step was to cut the center leaf to its final length. To do this, I simply placed it between the two outer leaves, slid everything together so all the pins and sleeves were aligned, and used my Festool circular saw to cut a straight line across the center leaf between the ends of the outer leaves. In the past, I've used a variety of methods to make this crosscut, but this was by far the easiest and most foolproof method I'd employed so far.


Here is the table where I'm leaving it today. Tomorrow I'll veneer the curved aprons, finalize the attachment of the slides to the undersides of the outer top leaves, and begin the process of flattening the top. Hopefully by the day after tomorrow I'll have all the woodworking completed and can begin on the finish process.

Pedestal Table: The Guts

Today I made the center leaf for the table and began working out the details for the extension slides. I've decided to make slides with heavy-duty drawer slides and maple milled with a channel to accept them. The series of photos below show 1) the table in its closed position, 2) the closed position slide setup, 3) the extended position, and 4) the extended position slide setup. Note that none of the top pieces are cut to exact size and that none of the parts shown are glued, so if things look a little cattywompass now, don't worry--they won't when it's all said and done.

Pedestal Table: Curved Aprons

I've decided to make the curved aprons for this pedestal table the old-fashioned way. These days, aprons like these are often made from several laminations of bending plywood--a perfectly viable method--but I felt that the traditional approach would be more appropriate for this project.

The first step in making traditional curved aprons is to make a pattern for the outer and inner radiuses. I like to make the initial pattern a little oversize and then trace it onto stock that has been surfaced on two sides, as you see in the photo below.



It's important to know the circumference of the apron so that you can estimate the amount of stock you'll need. Once I've traced as many pieces as I'll need, I cut the boards into manageable sizes and begin sawing out the blanks.



As I cut out the blanks, I begin stacking them in their approximate final position on the roughed-out top. Notice how the seams in the aprons do not line up. That's the whole point of building aprons in this manner rather than just sawing some curves out of thick stock. By staggering the joints this way, you're overlapping the relatively long grain towards the centers of the curves with the shorter grain of the extremities. Short grain is very prone to breaking; by overlapping short and long grain, this tendency towards breaking easily is overcome.




The next steps will be to flush-trim each blank to an exact template, then assemble the aprons. After that, I'll veneer them with vertically-oriented quartersawn maple.

Pedestal Table: Days 3 & 4

Here's where things stand on the pedestal table. More details coming soon.

Pedestal Table: Days 1 & 2

I'm two days into the building of a single-pedestal dining room table, and it's going well so far. I spent half the day yesterday driving out to lovely Zion's Crossroads, Virginia to buy lumber. Check out this giant heap of logs I saw along the way.



Once back in the shop, I glued together the blank for the column and dressed lumber for the legs. I sawed the outline of the legs which now need to be tapered along their length. Once the glue had set up on the column blank, I got it on the lathe and started roughing-in its shape. It was the first project I've ever turned on this particular lathe, a Craftsman from somewhere between 1939 and 1941 which originally belonged to my grandfather. The lathe wasn't in working shape when I got it, and it's been alternately trying and fun finding parts for it and getting it all together. I'm pleased to report that it handled a 6" diameter column quite handily.



Below are a few shots of where things stand at 4:30 in the afternoon on day two. Next week I'll create the sliding dovetails that attach the legs to the column, taper the legs, and get started on the top and veneered aprons.

UP NEXT: SINGLE-PEDESTAL DINING ROOM TABLE

Here are two initial sketches of a single-pedestal dining room table I'm working on for clients in Philadelphia. They're looking for something simple, unadorned, and light. I'm thinking that the pedestal will be modeled on a doric column, though I'm not sure it will include entasis on so short a length. If anyone has a point of view on that, please weigh in. In any case, I'm looking forward to turning the column on my grandfather's old (ca. 1939) lathe, which I hope to have operational next week.

The table will be made mostly from maple. I'm planning on using quarter-sawn maple veneer with the grain running vertically on the apron. I'll include a small quirk bead along the underside of the aprons. Because the bead will have to be in sections along a 170" circumference (diameter of the table without its leaf is 54"), I was thinking I'd include some ebony accents at the breaks rather than using a scarf joint and hoping nobody notices.

I'm getting to where I'm pleased with the basic massing of the piece, but am not yet settled on a final leg design. This is where I turn to the books. I'm pretty certain that the inspiration I'm looking for can be found between the covers of Angus Wilke's definitive text on Biedermeier, recently reprinted with amazing improvements to the color photographs.

More on this project coming soon.