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claga_gw

Has Anyone Built a Harvast Table

claga
9 years ago

Hi,
Has anyone built a harvast table?
What is the degree of difficulty?

We would like to use 2" thick (widiths could vary)old planking as a table top.
Wooden legs and frame.
If anyone had some photos that would be great.

Approximate cost of a 38"x72" table.

thankis

Comments (11)

  • handymac
    9 years ago

    See below

    Here is a link that might be useful: Google is your friend

  • bobismyuncle
    9 years ago

    Beginner to intermediate, depending upon details of construction:

    Legs:
    beginner : buy pre-made legs from someplace like Adams Wood Products
    beginner+ : tapered on two sides on jointer, planer, or band saw, or by hand with a saw and hand plane.
    intermediate : turned on your own lathe

    Leg to apron attachment
    beginner : metal corner brackets and hanger bolts
    intermediate : mortise and tenon

    Top
    beginner : side by side planks, laid loose
    beginner + : edge glued
    intermediate : splined , tongue & groove, or breadboard ends

    Finishing:
    beginner : slap on some poly
    intermediate : distressing and/or glazing, and/or paint under glaze on legs & apron

    One piece of advice though (very important) a plank top will move considerably across the grain. Up to about 1/2" in a typical table top with the grain running the long direction. YOU MUST ACCOUNT FOR THIS MOVEMENT and use some attachment technique such as table top clips that allows for it to happen seasonally. Likewise if you use a cross-grain cleat or breadboard ends.

    I've seen way too many imported table tops that ignored this key principle of woodworking.* Typically, the owner is awoken in the middle of the night with what they think is a gunshot, only to find a through crack running the length and thickness of the top. If you choose to have floating planks on the top, you may come back complaining that they've opened up and fill with food crumbs or that you can see the floor through them.

    * Wood moves with absorption and desorption of moisture seasonally; you cannot prevent or control it, you must account for it.

  • joeboldt
    9 years ago

    Here's a table I just finished. The top is cedar, the trestle bottom is sapelle. As bobsmyuncle says you need to account for movement. I used z clips, but there are other things to use.

    Do you plan to use it outdoors? If so, you must use UV protection.

  • joeboldt
    9 years ago

    here's the end

  • bobismyuncle
    9 years ago

    double click... deleted post

    This post was edited by bobsmyuncle on Fri, Oct 31, 14 at 17:04

  • bobismyuncle
    9 years ago

    Here's an article on building a trestle table, if this fits your definition of "harvest table."

    And another from Roy Underhilld

    Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/american-trestle-table

  • sloyder
    9 years ago

    beautiful table

  • lazy_gardens
    9 years ago

    Check the "Farmhouse" tables at ana-white.com

    She has 4-legged and trestle versions.

  • jeff-1010
    9 years ago

    beautiful work joeboldt . take a bow and collect your bragging rights.

  • joeboldt
    9 years ago

    Thanks Jeff. We even had Thanksgiving dinner on it.

  • PRO
    Precision Carpentry
    9 years ago

    Very nice looking table.Wish I could find cedar like that around here.I especially like the trestle.Nice design.
    We usually build harvest table arounfd here with breadboard ends and tapered legs.Just more traditional.
    I use a sliding mortise and tenon on the breadboard end pegged in some slots and glued in the middle.