Thursday, January 4, 2018
Wood Working Question
My wife has wanted a rolling table of the right height to extend our kitchen island. Not thrilled with reviews of such products on Amazon. I was thinking of making it myself, of red oak for the legs, using a butcher block cutting board for the top. My experience making rectangular structures from wood is that they need a diagonal brace to prevent the screws turning it into a folding structure. What am I missing? Or is that diagonal brace the only solution?
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Proper joinery and strong glue will give you the rigidity that you need. Mortise and Tenon joints would serve pretty well, depending on what kind of final design you have in mind (Just a table, or a rolling cabinet with drawers?)
ReplyDeleteI 'think' I understand what you mean by "turning it in to a folding structure.
ReplyDeleteA shelf frame added to the bottom would stabilize the legs and give her a place to store pots-n-pans, keep the legs from "folding". Also, using 2 screws per joint at the top would help...but eventually they would work loose without the lower bracing. A saddle joint with two pegs would also help, but again, without something lower down to keep the legs from moving the joint would eventually fail, I think.
And if I'm not getting what you mean...my apologies.
Another solution is to attach a skirt to the butcher block top and attach the legs to it. This gives you attachments in two planes. You would probably want to put a shelf at the bottom near the wheels for storage and extra support.
ReplyDeleteForget screws, use glue and good joint design for rigidity . Screws are to hold things together until glue sets..Lap joint or mortice and tenon are good, think if you want large legs or spindly ones. The idea of a shelf his a good one. look for rolling table construction videos on YouTube to get ideas.
ReplyDeleteIn my answer I just assumed you were including a frame or skirt to mount the butcher block to. The legs and the skirt should be able to stand on their own. The frame for the shelf at the bottom will further strengthen the box made by the two frames and the legs.
ReplyDelete