Getting there

We've almost got two complete dining tables and two complete kitchen tables.

With the front legs finished, I needed to work on the crosspieces and the back legs. I had to make a run to Lowe's for lumber - a 2x4 for crosspieces, and a 2x3 for back legs. Of course I got exactly three of each out of what I purchased; there was a 2x3 scrap for the fourth back leg. But scrap 2x4 isn't so easy to locate. I found a short piece in the garage behind the lumber stack, and discovered that it has a substantial twist. I chose the best end, and hope to make the best of it. Robert got some painting of the crosspieces and legs done this weekend, and he located all the available table tops.

We've got several plywood table tops which we've used in lieu of better, more period joined panel tops. The two 8' x 30" plywood tops will become tablecloth-covered dining tables. The two 6' x 22" joined-panel tables were the ones I used for Caer Galen Cooks. They need to be wider and finished. The crosspieces of the table legs I measured at 28", presuming a 30" wide tabletop. Heh! My math failed me at the lumber store, and I cam home with enough for 22" wide tops! A spare 1x12 from the lumber stack will increase one of the kitchen table tops to 33", but I'll need to go buy 1x12 another if I want two.

The 1x12s are cleated together on the backside by furring strips. I used them unfinished at Caer Galen Cooks, but I really feel like I want to finish them. Suggestions have been made for linseed oil - the kind from the whole foods stores, rather than the hardware store. A friend uses Howard Feed-N-Wax, which I want to try - I had Robert pick up a couple of pints at the Big Tool Box on Saturday. However, although it calls itself beeswax, carnuba wax and orange oil, it also says it has petrolium distillates, so perhaps it will be used to finish Evan's bed instead of on a food-prep surface. Perhaps I'm back to linseed oil for the finish; the important thing is that it has to be food-safe, and I want to be able to clean the surface sufficiently to maintain kitchen hygene.

Back for a minute to crosspieces. I wanted to play with the idea of using two a-legs rather than one - that is to have an a-leg on bothe the "front" and the "back" of the table. The concept is to see what the differences are in stability, especially in dining tables where people are going to be moving around the legs frequently - and maybe inebriated people. Thus I have made four crosspieces which are cut to accomodate the a-legs on both ends.

The picture above shows a number of table parts in various stages of completion. The red parts are table legs (a-legs on the left, crosspieces to the right, and the back legs just visible in front of the crosspieces). The unfinished parts in the foreground are Evan's bed. The table legs lean up against a panel of uncut table leg braces, which in turn rest against a plywood table top. Two more plywood table tops are to the left behind the mitre saw. The plywood table tops are functional only - they'll be covered with table cloths for dining, and replaced with wood panels when feasable. I'm not opposed to using plywood in the period camp; I just don't want it to look like plywood. Thus the use of paint.