Dining Table

[Dave Richards]

I thought I'd share some images of a dining table I designed for clients in New York City. They wanted an extension table large enough to seat 10, or even 12, for their frequent large Friday night meals but they wanted it to suit their smaller family the rest of the week. They asked for a wood top and steel base. This is what I presented.


With the leaves in.


I spec'd equalizer slides from Osborne Wood Products which worked quite nicely.


And here are pictures of the finished table in place. The table was built in Hendersonville, NC.



Unfortunately those are the best photos I have.

 

[Jim M.]

Wow, what a beautiful table, I love the wood/metal mixed media. Although the creepy Marionette hanging in the background gives me the willies.

 

[Dave Richards]

Thanks Jim. I hadn't noticed the marionette.

 

[llucas]

Dave
Fantastic design! Love the combination of materials...but I'm having trouble separating the metal from the wooden parts in the sketch...can you post something which just shows the metal or which makes it more clear which is which?
Again, congrats on a great project.

 

[Dave Richards]

Thanks Luke.

Here's an image of just the metal parts. Of course the racks and pinions for the slides aren't included. Essentially it's the entire base plus some guides that attach on the top and bottom of the apron pieces. They turn the aprons into C channels. There are some slick plastic strips on top of the base rails to reduce sliding friction and make opening and closing the top quieter. The table top halves attach to the top guides, as well.

The legs are bolted to the rectangular frame and the curved braces are bolted to both with carriage bolts and square nuts. This makes it possible to disassemble the table if needed. As you can imagine, it is very heavy.

 

[Ward Green]

I really like your design. How much time did you devote to your design and then build? And from what I can tell, your table top slides independent from the legs, correct? I think I have seen some older designs which require you to slide the legs further apart to insert leafs. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JGregJ]

Very nice - highly functional, there are times I could use a table like this. Did you fabricate the metal as well? I see mention of Slides from Osborn Wood products, so perhaps part of that rather complex mechanism is something you can purchase?

P.S. I grew up in Hendersonville NC!

 

[Dave Richards]

Thank you.

Ward, I don't remember exactly how much time. Maybe five or six including time spent talking with the clients in NYC showing them different design options and getting a better feel for what they wanted. I also had several conversations with the guys who did the work. It's handy to be able to set up a screen sharing session so everyone involved can get together from the comfort of their own living rooms.

As for the sliding mechanism, yes, the top slides but the legs don't. Due to the weight of the steel base and the fact that the client would be adjusting the length of the table several times a week, I decided the legs shouldn't move.

Greg, the metal work is custom fabricated for the table. The fellow who did that nice work got pretty close to my design, too.

 

[KenOfCary]

Very nice. I like the way it provides all that seating without having a lot of stuff in the way underneath to take away from the legroom. Very clever design.

 

[Willemjm]

Very nice!!

Is the top solid wood?

 

[Dave Richards]

Thanks.

Yes. The top is solid wood. The plan was to use cherry.

 

[zdorsch]

That is a very good looking table! I especially like the combination of steel and wood.