Split-Pedestal Table Design?

sorry never seen one

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Might try Google Images or other Internet source of pictures

Re: sorry never seen one

Brad Chenoweth

Hi Bill,

I've found lots of pictures on the web. Several of the Amish furnituremakers just south of us sell them, it appears, so I may have to go to one of their shops and examine one in person. Figuring out where to get the latching/unlatching hardware might be the hardest part, but those guys build them, so it's available. One of these tables would be a perfect solution for us as we start to remodel the kitchen/dining area.

By the way, I always enjoy following along with your builds, I've learned a bunch from them. Keep it up!

Brad Chenoweth

Re: Split-Pedestal Table Design?

roger lance

Go to a furniture store that sells Stickley......they have a round 4 seat table that has a split pedestal as you describe.

Re: sorry never seen one

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

post the best picture of this table you can find. Maybe seeing what it looks like will lead to suggestions for how to make it. Sounds complicated......

There are lots of solutions to table expansion besides this one. Extension table with post in middle, side table that adds to main table, other extension varieties.

Re: Split-Pedestal Table Design? *LINK*

Jesse Cloud

Here's a link from Amish Furniture showing how to set one up. Gives some insight into the design and hardware.


split table setup

Re: Split-Pedestal Table Design?

Don Stephan

Very clever, and the split pedestal will answer some support issues inherent in expanding tables.

Re: sorry never seen one

Brad Chenoweth

Here's a link to a picture, Bill. It does seem a bit complicated, but not overly so, now that I've studied some pictures more closely. I'm think more of an A&C style, with a square/rectangular top with leaves.

Re: Split-Pedestal Table Design?

Brad Chenoweth

Thanks, Jesse! Thats a great video!

Forgot the link...

Brad Chenoweth

https://amishdirectfurniture.com/shop/dining/split-pedestal-dining-table/

straight forward to build

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I could build one. I am unsure what you need to know to build one. So if you describe what you need to know you can get help. The latch is a variety of latch used to fasten extension tables together. Lots of places sell them. Look where the extensions are described.

Re: straight forward to build

Brad Chenoweth

Bill, the more I think about it, the simpler it seems :>) How would you approach building the split pedestal? Glue it up in one piece and then split it in half, kind of like cutting the lid from a box? That would seem to be the most straightforward method. It will probably be hexagon or octagon shape in my iteration.

Re: straight forward to build

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

exactly....I would build a hexagon or octagon and split it like a box. Fastening the legs will be the most important engineering to decide.

Re: straight forward to build

Sgian Dubh

"I would build a hexagon or octagon and split it like a box."

Isn't that somewhat overcomplicating the construction. I agree with you regarding the forming of a complete hexagonal or octagonal column glued together, but there would be no need to split it apart later like a box. I'd just leave two opposing joints unglued - no splitting apart would then be needed.

I frequently find the tastes of people interesting. To me, that leg form and the table style in general, as seen in the earlier linked to video describing assembly, is a singularly unattractive and visually clumsy solution to the extending table canon, even if it is technically satisfactory. I really wouldn't want to give such a table house room, yet it seems likely that the style has a fan base.

To me, it just goes to show how different we all are in our preferences when it comes to interior décor and furnishings, as well as all other choices in things we find attractive to live with … or not. Slainte.

agree witht that opinion, question

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Amish furniture is usually oak or white pine and massive. Not fond of it either. I built an extension table for daughter that looked like an ordinary table and it solved the problem of expanding to set more. There is no need for a center support unless the table is going to expand several feet. (chairs have since been replace by cherry Windsors)



How would you glue up a hexagon? My first thought was to glue and cut apart for I could see how to "clamp" a whole hexagon. If assembled in haves, how would you clamp the parts?

Re: straight forward to build

Brad Chenoweth

You're definitely correct about the look when the table is extended. We need a table for 4 that can be extended to seat 10-12 people for occasions like holiday dinners. I think you and Bill have convinced me to pursue a more elegant solution.

Re: agree witht that opinion, question

Sgian Dubh

"How would you glue up a hexagon?"

Well, if the joints are just mitred I'd probably just look to tape them together, which is a method I've used several times in the past, sometimes using just masking tape, but also I've used clear plastic tape (commonly known as Sellotape here in the UK), or strong fairly thick packing type tape. Either of the last two might be better because they have better ability to stretch a bit if necessary to pull the joint a bit tighter.

I suspect you already have a good idea of the routine: lay out the parts with their inside faces facing down on a flat surface, and roll tape across all the joints, one strip near the top, and another near the bottom, then reinforce each intersection with extra tape. Next, flip the open column over, roll it up into its proposed assembled form to check everything goes together right. Then add glue to the mitres, roll it up again, and tape the last joint closed tight.

Alternative or supplementary pressure application means might include strap clamps, elastic bands or stretchy tyre inner tubing, a Spanish windlass type arrangement, etc, particularly if the basic mitres include some additional reinforcement, e.g., biscuits, tongue and groove, Dominos etc. Then, of course, you could always make a fancy assembly and gluing jig, which might take longer to do than just making the darned column itself using relatively simple techniques, and timewise, that might even include all any carving or turning.

However, where the mitre joint is long grain to long grain, as in this case, I can't see any advantage in adding any of the just described reinforcements - they make it harder to pull the assembly together, and if the plain mitred butt joint is executed well, it's just as strong a glued assembly as a flat panel job, e.g., a plain butt jointed table top or a cabinet panel or top.

Well, that's just my opinion, and I could be all wrong, but I do like to try and keep something like this that could easily become over engineered and unnecessarily complex rather basic if I can - it's also, as I'm sure you know, working on the KISS principle, ha, ha. Slainte.

how about something like this?

Bruce, a MN Galoot

I picked this pic off the ‘net. It is a butterfly table with a fixed base. I built one with an extending base. Mine looks very much like Bill T’s table (who helped me with a couple elements of my table).

Re: agree witht that opinion, question

Steve jenkins

I would do it just as Sgian described. Just remember to leave two opposite joints unglued.

Re: agree witht that opinion, question

Barry Irby

I have used hose clamps many times to clamp polygons. Some with 20 sides I turned on the lathe into cylinders. The stainless steel doesn't stain the wood and doesn't stick to he the glue. They can proved tremendous pressure. 6 and 8" ones are common in the duct business and you can add several together if need be.

To make one you can split, just leave the glue out of opposite joins.

Late to the party; hope it'll still help

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

Our dining room table was a factory-built table from the late 19th or early 20th century. It's not an ideal design; value engineering is not a new concept.

Here's a general picture from the side:

The two parts of the pedestal and the center leg run on sets of slides that work like this:

These slides are constructed with long dovetail grooves and dovetail pins running in them; this is a classic method. Some modern tables use devices like drawer slides. This particular design has nothing to center the leg as you split the pedestal except how hard you pull on one half of the table. There are slide designs like this that have toothed racks on the inner and outer slides, with a gear on the center "slide" that ensures the two parts move together. We've gotten by for years without that extra feature.

The bridges connecting the two halves of each slide (inner for one pedestal half, outer for the other, center) are just nailed or screwed with undersize screws (can't now remember) to the slides, one of the several "value engineered" features of this table. Our son bent up some metal braces, which I screwed to the slides to reinforce this joint. I haven't done anything about the center leg, which is under less stress, but should at some point.

The way the pedestal halves are attached to the bridges is weak, too, a bed bolt pulling against a nut into a cross-drilled hole:

The center leg attachment is pretty pitiful. If I were making a table with this design, I'd look at something more robust.

When the pedestal is closed up as a single pedestal, the two halves are locked together with table locks. You can see the two halves at the bottom of the pedestal toward the left side of the picture here:



These are cast iron, a poor material choice. There are various designs available; as an example, look at Lee Valley's offerings, here: http://www.leevalley.com/us/home/Search.aspx?action=n (or by looking on their website for "table lock"). One example from Lee Valley:

Not a bad idea to use a set on the table top when it's locked into closed position too.

Hope this will help.

Re: Late to the party; hope it'll still help

Brad Chenoweth

Hi Bill,

Thanks for taking the time to take the pics and make up the sketches. Gives me more to think about as I try to figure out what direction to go. Take care.

Brad