Adding a shelf to the shaker table

[JDP]

Hi all,

I am new to the guild (really enjoying all the content!) and looking for some advice.

I am building a pair of the guild build shaker tables for a friend, but he wants to add a shelf to the table to up the storage space (someplace to put a couple books for example).

I have three ideas (I am playing with sketchup to see which one I like):

1) Keep the legs straight until just below the shelf, then start the taper (this seems like the easiest option, although I am not sold on the look)

2) Notch the inside corner of the legs to house the corners of the shelf, which also seems like it would be pretty easy if you cut the notch before tapering the legs. I think the easiest way to do this would be to crosscut the notch with the legs held at 45 degrees using a jig, then clip the corners of the shelf at 45 degrees as well.

3) Add a lower stretcher on the right and left sides connecting the front and back legs, then use these two stretchers as shelf supports, either using rabbet or tongue and groove joints to connect the strechers and shelf. I like the look of this the most, but it would require the most work, including angled shoulders on the stretchers' tenons.

Any advice or other options people have used before?

Thanks for the help!

Josh

[Tom Crawford]

Another option would be to make the stretchers wider and make two drawers. I've done this in the past and it works quite well although it does impact the lightness of the original Shaker design somewhat.

[Godet]

I would add the stretchers in using dowels. I would actually wait until you have finished pretty much everything else, leveled the legs, and then add in the shelf. I believe dowels will be more than strong enough for a small shelf, and, it is not that much work. One hint--since you are going to be doing this late in the project, the last thing you want to do is get a bunch of tearout when you drill for the dowels. What I do: I take the drill bit the size of the dowels, and hand turn it, backwards, to score the fibers around the diameter of the hole...this should limit tearout a great deal. Of course, using a nice, sharp, brad point bit is essential.

I noticed that this is actually what the Thomas Moser tables use, so I think the design is pretty well proven. However, a dado , the same depth as the rails, would look pretty good too and be less work than the methods you described. As far as the tapers go, I would start them below the shelf.