A
Anonymous
Guest
A friend of our has a walnut Victorian table that years ago her parents had 'chopped' down to fit in a modern dining room. It lost about 30% off its width. Whoever did it made new end rails rather than chopping those that were in it (no idea why - perhaps he wanted some nice bits of walnut?). Now the lady wants those replaced with wider ones as her new dining chairs are 1.5" too wide to go between the legs at the end!
The existing rails have been fitted, I believe, with a mortice and tenon joint into the substantial legs (haven't dismantled it yet as I want to do the whole job in one go over one day). The legs are turned walnut, 6" square at the top and tapering to about 3" diameter over about 30", sitting on strong brass casters. It's all extremely heavy.
The new joints will have to be concealed, but above all very strong as the table gets wheeled around. It also expands out to almost 15 feet long (by 3 feet wide) - a true dining table. The new rails will be made from 4" by 2" walnut. I have two thoughts for the joints...
Alternative 1 is a large dovetail with the rails dropped in from on top. Perfectly concealed and the ultimate in strength. But difficult to make on site to ensure a really tight fit. Not hard to cut the rails, but getting a decent slot into the leg is another matter. And there are four to make!
Alternative 2 is another mortice and tenon. Nowhere near as strong as the dovetail, but still concealed. Easy to make on site, but could they take the stresses of moving such a heavy beast around, on carpeted floor at that? I should point out that there's not enough room to pin the tenon from the back (inside), nor can I damage the exposed surface of the legs by using some sort of fastener into the ends of the tenons.
Any other thoughts from the experts?
Thanks.
The existing rails have been fitted, I believe, with a mortice and tenon joint into the substantial legs (haven't dismantled it yet as I want to do the whole job in one go over one day). The legs are turned walnut, 6" square at the top and tapering to about 3" diameter over about 30", sitting on strong brass casters. It's all extremely heavy.
The new joints will have to be concealed, but above all very strong as the table gets wheeled around. It also expands out to almost 15 feet long (by 3 feet wide) - a true dining table. The new rails will be made from 4" by 2" walnut. I have two thoughts for the joints...
Alternative 1 is a large dovetail with the rails dropped in from on top. Perfectly concealed and the ultimate in strength. But difficult to make on site to ensure a really tight fit. Not hard to cut the rails, but getting a decent slot into the leg is another matter. And there are four to make!
Alternative 2 is another mortice and tenon. Nowhere near as strong as the dovetail, but still concealed. Easy to make on site, but could they take the stresses of moving such a heavy beast around, on carpeted floor at that? I should point out that there's not enough room to pin the tenon from the back (inside), nor can I damage the exposed surface of the legs by using some sort of fastener into the ends of the tenons.
Any other thoughts from the experts?
Thanks.