Crossed-stretcher table - building advice needed

[glynster]

Her Indoors wants me to build a coffee table and her only stipulation is that she wants it black walnut and with crossed-stretchers. The image below is not the exact table I am building but this is the kind of leg-stretcher layout I need to make.

I am looking for advice on build order and how to joint the stretchers and solve the problem of angle assuming the table is rectangular and not square.

I have never made crossed leg stretchers before and it's got me scratching my head since the legs themselves will be square. Here's what I cant get my head around - my thoughts are running around it...

1. Do I simply mortise in the whole of the stretcher to the legs (the stretcher will be narrow - maybe 20 to 30mm square) or try and create a tenon?

2. Since the legs of the coffee table will be low and quite thick (60mm square) stretchers are prob not structurally necessary so could I get away with just cutting a 90 degree birdmouth and domino them in? Trouble is, how do I get a domino, dowel or loose tenon into a 90 degree corner?

3. If I set the whole stretcher into the leg at the corner by cutting 2 kerfs and then chiselling the waste out how do I transfer the exact dimension of the stretcher over a 90 degree corner?

4. Finally, where the legs cross, I was planning on a crossed lap-joint - but how do I calculate the exact angle that they will cross - I thought maybe of making the leg stretcher assembly as 2 pairs of diagonal legs joined with a stretcher and then bringing both leg pairs together (placing one on top of the other), scribing and cutting for the lap joint. Trouble is, the table will also have aprons and drawers so if I dont have the legs perfectly square to each other I will run into problems there.

If anybody knows of a project online where they build a table with crossed stretchers like this that would help enormously - I am not a "fine hand tool woodworker" who needs to cut every joint by hand, I am more of the table saw and domino-where-I-can type so simpler the better

 

[Silverbirch]

You say you`re not necessarily into "fine woodworking", so how about pocket hole screws from underneath to join the stretchers which would be birdmouthed at 90 degrees to the legs as you suggest. You could conceal the pocket hole entry points with strips of matching wood if you wanted to keep your method of fixing concealed.

 

[blackrodd]

I see the legs are stop chamfer'd, so the stretchers could be tenoned, as per usual, with flush shoulders, and for morticing, make a vee block cradle for the legs to sit in, being stop morticed. at 45.degrees.
The stretchers meeting at the angle, could be each half notched each side at the meeting angle, one on the top and The other at the bottom.
HTH Regards Rodders

 

[Racers]

I would draw it out full sized to get the angles where the stretchers meet the legs right and the half lap in the stretchers.
A domino would be fine for the tenons but you need to find a way of holding the domino at the right angle to the legs, may be a base plate with an angled notch.

Pete

 

[marcros]

as Pete says, I would draw it out full sized, or see if somebody could put it onto Sketchup for you- it probably wouldn't take long at all to draw a simplified version on Sketchup and would give you the angles to use.

 

[glynster]

Thanks for the advice, it's never occurred to me to make full size drawings before - I've seen others do it but never appreciated what value that might add over a scale drawing with measurements but I see what you are saying here, I might give that a try

 

[Racers]

Take your time and lay it out accurately and you can transfer all the measurements onto your stock simply by laying it on and marking.

Pete

 

[David C]

WHY stretchers on a coffee table? It will be more than strong enough without. They are redundant.

I feel the diagonal is in conflict with the feel of the rest.

If you must have stretchers why not one long centre rail with two short ones at the ends. Much more straightforward.

David Charlesworth

 

[blackrodd]

I mostly draw out a full size skid of what I am about to make, then you can accurately mark out tenons and, in this instance rails etc. and spot possible complications before sawing up valuable timber.
I quite like the crossed stretchers, unusual, but complementary.
Regards Rodders

 

[morfa]

David C, just answering your question:

WHY stretchers on a coffee table?

Her Indoors wants me to build a coffee table and her only stipulation is that she wants it black walnut and with crossed-stretchers.

There's a reason many blokes refer to their wives as She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO). Honestly tho, if that's what the customer wants, then I can't see the issue. It actually looks ok if you ask me.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I made a small but sturdy table using crossed stretchers - see here.

I didn't use full size drawings, but quite a bit of calculations that might not be for everyone ! There is one basic angle you need to know, it is the angle that the mortices for the stretchers go into the legs, which is also half the angle they cross at. The lap joint in the middle must be very accurately marked out and cut, because a small error in angle will put the legs a long way out of place.

I used the approach mentioned above - i.e. make a V cradle to hold the legs at this angle for morticing. In fact, 3 blocks - one for the leg to sit in right where you are going to mortice, and a pair to clamp it somewhere out of the way. I used a fairly ordinary tenon on the end of the stretchers, but with no shoulders top and bottom - and let this into the leg. With the leg clamped in the cradle, a saw cut straight down either side then chisel out the waste between, then chop the mortice into the flat face you've just created. Does that make sense ? Easy to picture, but hard to describe.

A final caution is to watch out that you can actually assemble it ! The design I picked meant that if I had glued up the two end frames that form the trestles first, it would have been impossible to assemble the cross pieces in afterwards because of the angle of the tenons. So it was a choice between glueing it up in a single stage, or as I did - glue up the cross piece lap joint first, then glue on the legs dry fitting the other joints to hold everything in place, then finally fit the top rails and "feet".