Demilune table question, with a drawer?

B

Bill Tindall

Member
Daughter needs a "wall table" to go between two doors.  I thought the half moon top would be ideal for this location, offering a less obstructed passage in the door areas.  I would like to add  a small drawer which immediately leads to framing the table with a drawer questions. 

1.  Is it practical to engineer a drawer into this style of table or am I pursuing a flawed goal?

2. At what angle should the front legs be located in relation to the back and should their faces be parallel to the back or tangent to the curved side rail? 

2.  would one frame the drawer opening between the legs like in a rectangular table- dovetail in the top blade and M&T in the bottom one ? 

3.  Any advice on laying up the brickwork for the curved parts to wind up with tenons to insert into the legs?  I am thinking about trying to arrange the top and bottom layer of "bricks to get optimum grain orientation for the tenons. 

4, When laying up bricks are they glued and nailed?  I can' t imagine trying to clamp all the parts. 

5. Anything else I need to know in moving from familiar construction at right angles to curved construction. 
 
Bill,
Rob Millard helped me to get started on a demilune table about 4-5 years ago so I can relate the methods we used.  We laid out the pattern for the apron on a piece of plywood.  It's important to note on the pattern where the center legs will be located.  Then we cut up pieces of poplar for each layer.  The top, middle and bottom layers used four pieces of wood each.  The 2nd and 4th layers used three pieces of wood each.  We cut the ends of the wood pieces at an angle so the ends would match up.  Make the apron long at each end so you can cut tenons for the back legs.

Hide glue was used to glue the "bricks" together.  It worked great!  It was the first time I had used hide glue and I was instantly hooked.  Apply some glue, rub the bricks together and they stick in just a few seconds.  The most important thing is to make sure that the bricks on one layer overlap the adjoining layers by several inches.  The center legs will be located within the overlap for strength.  The legs are attached with a bridle joint and so are parallel to the face of the apron. 

After the assembly was glued up it was cut out on the bandsaw.  This requires some hand finishing to smooth out the surface.  I have also seen videos where a finished pattern was used to route the face on each layer as they were installed.

I'll try to dig out some photos tonight and post them.  Pictures will make everything much easier to understand.

I don't know about the drawer construction.  Perhaps someone else has experience with that part.

Lonnie Edwards
 
Lonnie,

I would say brick it up and have a board to the right opening made up and make your bricks a division that can be divided evenly. Say if my bricks are 3/4 inch than I would want my drawer front to be 3 inches for 3/4 x 4 is 3. I would not want it 2 7/8. This way the brick can form the opening for you.

FR
 
I recall watching Will do the bridle joint in one of his demonstrations.  At the time I thought I'll never make such a table and didn't photograph his tips.  Yet another in life's flawed decisions.  Anybody remember what Neptune does for a bridle joint on a demilune?

BTW  I will use the drawer height tip. 
 
You can cut the front of the joint on the table saw while using a dado. The back after everything is scored with a knife is cut with either a bandsaw close to the line. Then pare to the line on the end grain, shoulder plane the rest of the flat which should be cross grain.  Will sometimes attaches the table frame to a piece of MDF. This ensures no movement and accuracy. Yet there are many ways this can be done.  I would scribe with a knife. Saw multiple kerfs, chisel and mallet close to the line, and than pare with chisels and shoulder plane. Its quick work.

FR
 
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