Legs and Under Structure
The function of the tools I use and how they work are explained here. Specific tools used are noted in bold.
The table allows for adding a leaf on each end of the table. When the leaves are added the legs pull out and remain on the corners of the table, thus providing continued uninterrupted leg room between the legs. This is opposed to having the legs being in a fixed position, with the leaves being added to the “outside” of the legs. The legs attach to two drawers, and drawers attach to the aprons (horizontal perimeter boards on the underside of the table) via heavy duty drawer slides. The table expands by pulling the legs and drawers outwards. The large drawer under the table is used to hold leaves when they are not in use.
The table legs are solid, and are tapered on the inside faces. This is done by clamping the legs on an angle to the stroke of the sliding table saw bed. After cutting the tapers, the saw marks are removed using the edge sander.
The aprons and drawer sides are made using the typical wood prep process:
Flatten one face using the jointer
Flatten the opposing face and plane to desired thickness using the thickness planner
Straighten one edge using the sliding table saw or jointer
Cut to width using the table saw
Remove saw marks from edges using the jointer
Sand faces using the widebelt sander
Cut to length using the sliding table saw
The sides of the drawers are held together using rectangular wooden “domino” blocks. The specialized domino cutter cuts the slots for the dominoes in each mating face. The dominos are then glued into the slots.
