Help reverse engineering a table please.

[Coyote Jim]

I am going to be building a dining table and after a bunch of searching I found a design that I am quite smitten with. Found a picture of the table I like in a book, so here is a picture of the picture.

I love the table, not the chairs, I think the chairs are cool but I just don't want them. The table was designed by Mira Nakashima, apparently Mira and her father George are furniture designers of some renown (wink).

As for re-creating this design, I'm not really concerned about the dimensions because I am just going to scale this to fit the room, I'm more interested in what you think the joinery should be.

Here is what I think:

• For the "feet". Connecting the 2 cross members to the long beefy "floor runner" would be great as a half lap.
• Connecting the slanted vertical legs to that "floor runner" would be fine as a bridal joint.
• Connecting legs to that cross piece under the top I'm thinking a double mortise and tenon, maybe also a bridal joint. I could use your input on this one.
• The ribs on either end of the top would probably be best as a sliding dovetail but I was thinking of just using screws with slotted holes because a sliding dovetail that size intimidates me.

Two questions for you good people:

1. Do you see any red flags with my joinery plan here?
2. How would you build this if you were going to build it?

 

Thank you fine people for being such a great resource!

[..Kev]

Solid plan..  The 2 ribs on the ends could be done away with and BB ends put on the top.  Slotted screws should work fine as well.  

[gee-dub]

Half lap is probably the way I would go too.  Tim Rousseau's dining table series shows some inventive ways to solidify an over-reaching form like this.

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, Coyote Jim said:

bridal joint.

Bridle ... we're not goign to a wedding here... I made this mistake  many times as well.

I agree with half lap or Bridal (bridle)    for all joints. I don't think that M&T would be fitting for the joints at the top of the legs. The half lap and bridle joint are among the strongest the downside is the appearance but this design celebrates that appearance.

For the bottom cross feet a dowel through the joint could go a long way in improving strength.

[Coyote Jim]

40 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Bridle

Thank you for the correction. I would love to blame this on auto correct but it turns out the issue lies with the interface between the chair and the keyboard.

42 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

For the bottom cross feet a dowel through the joint could go a long way in improving strength.

That is a good point. I may even play with the idea of having them squared off and proud all Green and Green style. Not sure if this would add or subtract from the look.

[Chestnut]

9 minutes ago, Coyote Jim said:

That is a good point. I may even play with the idea of having them squared off and proud all Green and Green style. Not sure if this would add or subtract from the look.

Could do that i was thinking driving them from the bottom up so that they'd be hidden.

9 minutes ago, Coyote Jim said:

I would love to blame this on auto correct but it turns out the issue lies with the interface between the chair and the keyboard.

  My favorite issue to quote when my friends are having computer issues.

[Cdlong]

2 hours ago, Coyote Jim said:

That is a good point. I may even play with the idea of having them squared off and proud all Green and Green style. Not sure if this would add or subtract from the look.

I wouldn't, unless you can do it elsewhere on the table, It would just seem out of place if that was the only place it's used. Also with the offset tops of each part, it might look odd. 

My only thoughts on the construction is on the bridle. If you just route out the sides of the base, and a slot in the upright, you probably won't get each angle to match perfectly and will have a gap on one side or the other. A notch across the top of the base will allow the whole thing to slot in and no possibility of a gap. 

I'd go with a bridle up top too for consistency. 

[wtnhighlander]

I agree with the crowd, your joinery plan is solid. Don't be afraid of sliding DTs, they are simple with a router and straight edge. That's an opportunity to go completely without metal fasteners, too.

Does the book show that as a panel of boards, or a slab / bookmatched pair of slabs? 

I'm not a big fan of breadboard ends, since they almost never retain a proper fit. G&G used intentionally oversized breadboards to disguise this. I would certainly not use them if the long sides of the table are slightly arched, as the picture seems to hint.

[Coop]

I think your plan is pretty solid. Although Kev simply suggested bb ends as an alternative, I agree with Chet in that I think it would tend to change the style. This will be a journal, right? What is your wood of choice here? 

[Coyote Jim]

2 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

Don't be afraid of sliding DTs, they are simple with a router and straight edge. That's an opportunity to go completely without metal fasteners, too.

What if I don't own a router? Still simple? Going to use mostly (if not completely) hand tools on this one, because I'm THAT guy. The idea of no metal is appealing, though that may need to wait till I am half as experienced as @derekcohen

2 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

Does the book show that as a panel of boards, or a slab / bookmatched pair of slabs? 

The  book does not show but I believe it is one solid slab, at least that would be consistent with the Nakashima style.

2 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

I'm not a big fan of breadboard ends, since they almost never retain a proper fit. G&G used intentionally oversized breadboards to disguise this. I would certainly not use them if the long sides of the table are slightly arched, as the picture seems to hint.

I'm not interested in that though so I am going to use a panel of boards. I also do not plan to use breadboards, I think they would take away from the look. I'm on the fence about a slight arch on the ends. Plenty of time to figure that out.

[wtnhighlander]

Ok, so sliding DT with hand tools is more work, but I'm confident you can do it. Fairly sure even I could do it.

Slowly.

With a few wedges for the base joints and tapered sliding dovetails under the top, you could potentially build that without even using GLUE, let alone screws!

[Coyote Jim]

1 hour ago, K Cooper said:

I think your plan is pretty solid. Although Kev simply suggested bb ends as an alternative, I agree with Chet in that I think it would tend to change the style. This will be a journal, right? What is your wood of choice here? 

Yes it will be a journal but it will be a bit before I get to this project. My hope is to start by the end of November. As for how long will the build take me? I have no idea, I tend to work at a pretty slow pace. The slow pace is a big part of the appeal of woodworking for me, I have young kids and I own my own business that has 16 employees, add those together and I have 18 kids. Life is a mile a minute for me, so the slow rhythms of hand tool woodworking keep me sane.

I plan to use white oak. White oak is my favorite.

2 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said:

without even using GLUE, let alone screws!

I just had an old timey wood-gasm.

[Coop]

Same here. Just sold my business with 17 employees. They are you greatest asset and your biggest liability. Looking forward to the build. 

[RichardA]

22 minutes ago, Coyote Jim said:

 

I just had an old timey wood-gasm.

I get those now and then for the same reason.

[Mark J]

3 hours ago, K Cooper said:

Same here. Just sold my business with 17 employees. They are you greatest asset and your biggest liability. Looking forward to the build. 

So Coop, are you finally really retired?

[Coop]

No sir, currently working 3 weeks a month, 3 days a week. It’s torture! 

[Chestnut]

I really like this idea. I can't wait to see how it comes together.

[legenddc]

Jon Peters just did a hall table similar to this. I haven't watched it yet, but I'm sure the joinery is similar.