Sagging?

[woodbloke]

The issue of shrinkage here is important. Both sets of rods would look good but only the ones parallel to the main axis of the table need be glued each end. As others have said, the steel rods going into the shorter axis need to be in overlong holes and glued in one part only. I might do it by gluing on the outside piece of iroko on the leg after the steel pins have been inserted (and glued into the beech core) The problem with doing it this way is that it might be a tad awkward to cramp together and would be very 'ard to clean up the final joint line. However if you made all three sections of the leg dry and cleaned them up, glued the two inner ones and located the outer one with some cut-off panel pins it ought :roll: :wink: to go together...needs a lot of careful thought to work out just how you're going to do it before you even attempt it and if I were you I'd have a dummy run on the leg assembly using a bit of pine. If you get it right, it'll be a nice piece. I also recommend that you try and get hold of some chrome steel (or stainless) as mild steel 'ordinaire' is going to go a bit dull - Rob

 

[Steve Maskery]

I think Jake's point is that you can't push all the roods in at the same time, it's one set of three or the other, but not both.

If you wanted the other three just for show they could be dummies, not going into the wood at all, just butting up.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Jake]

Jason's idea is the simplest, and therefore best.

The movement/shrinkage thing is a non-issue, to my mind. Iroko is pretty stable wood, and the leg isn't very big. There isn't a whole table top's worth of movement to consider.

To put it in perspective, tangential shrinkage from green to oven-dry is quoted at 6% and radial at 4% in one set of figures seemingly widely quoted on the web, and 3.8%/2.8% in another.Taking the bigger 2% difference, assuming those are 4" legs, that's 2mm across the whole leg, or about .5mm between each pin. That's between green and oven-dry - so a massive overstatement of what your piece will actually experience.

 

[woodbloke]

Jake - agreed, the shrinkage in the leg is negligible...there will be far more shrinkage across the actual table top and that's why the rods in the short axis need to go into overlong holes and not be glued in - Rob

 

[jasonB]

Am I seeing that right? Sounds like a plan.

That it.

Just need to make up a jig so all the holes are spaced the same and all in line, time for a nice sharp brad point bit me thinks.

J

 

[Jake]

It is all going to move together anyway.

If it doesn't, the table is going to be a bit odd in winter, with a gap between (a) the outer board and leg assembly, and (b) the inner boards of the tops resting gently on the floor. :lol:

 

[woodbloke]

As Jake said, the other issue is that there may not be much movement in the top anyway. If the timber has been inside a centrally heated school for the last 40 years the moisture content ought to be in single figures, but if Wizer's storing it in a cool garage, or even outside under a tarp in November... :-k - Rob

 

[beech1948]

Wizer,

If your looking for small amounts of epoxy then have a look here

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/wgrhglshp/

regards

alan

 

[Mr Ed]

I'll leave the wood movement debate to others, other than to say I cannot see it being much of an issue.

FYI, I recently bought a metre of 8mm stainless round bar, which was £4 inc. VAT. If you give it a good buffing with Autosol it looks great. For what it costs I would definitely go with stainless.

I can also endorse the suggestion of Araldite, which will bond stainless to wood perfectly. I've also used the Z-poxy 5 minute epoxy (Axminster) which is good - this sets clear whereas Araldite is milky, not that it matters in this instance.

Cheers, Ed

 

[wizer]

Thanks for your help guys. I thought this design might be met with harrumphs. Thinking about it, I think my idea of routing out a channel on the underside and then filling it after will make assembly easier. The filled groove will be hidden under the tops.

I have been playing with the design, this is what I have at the moment.

i.e. the leg is tapered on the insides and there are only 2 rods on the under-shelf. In the SU design I have tapered the edges of the 'cut-outs' in the top to match the angle of the legs. It's only 2.5 degrees, is it worth the hassle I wonder? I guess the only way to cut it would be with a handsaw.

Oh has anyone for an online supplier of chromed rod? What diametre? I drew it at 8mm. I guess hardwood dowel would look good too.

 

[wizer]

Ah, Alan thanks for that.

Ed where did you get the rod from?

Oh, and I'll bring the iroko into the house tomorrow for at least a week. The garage now has a CH Rad. but I haven't got round to insulating it yet.

 

[shim20]

looking at it from the pics i like others i cant see that it would sag, good idea with the steel rods btw

 

[jasonB]

Look in yellow pages for a local "stainless steel stockholder" I used 12mm 304 stainless on this bench and table, cost about £10 per 6m length.

If you do go with tapered legs then drill the holes before you plane the taper, its a lot easier drilling at right angles to a surface.

And don't forget to clean the wood with acetone to remove the natural oils before using the epoxy

J

 

[Mr Ed]

I have a brilliant little steel stockholder near me called 'Better Metal Stores'. Its just a one man setup though so I can't imagine he's into mail order unfortunately.

I would just find a steel stockholder in Yellow Pages near to you and I'm sure they'll have it. I was trying to give you an idea of price more than anything.

Cheers, Ed

 

[wizer]

Thanks again, let's see if I actually build this one... :roll: :wink:

 

[Ironballs]

Same here, no transverse rods, too much wood removed from the leg and not needed. If you can find them then a nickel finish on the rods would look good

 

[Shultzy]

Hi Wizer, I thought you might like a different "slant" on your table fixing. The spacing are not great, but what do you expect from a 10 min drawing. Might be easier to fix as well

 

[jasonB]

Might be easier to fix as well

But is it easier to drill :? :wink:


Jason

 

[wizer]

yes, very nice, but I haven't a clue how i'd drill that.

 

[Chris Knight]

Tom, it would be easy to make a jig that can assist in drilling that. Basically an L shaped thing on its inside and flat on the outside, in thickish wood (ca 25 mm thick). Clamp it to the leg and drill away.