Table Talk part 42

I had dropped by the Studio a few days ago to check on the progress of the table project and found Molly hard at work.  There was nothing for me to do at that specific point, but she told me she was expecting to pour the tops later that night, and therefore I might be able to continue work early this week.  By this afternoon I still hadn't heard from her, but I had other errands to take care of, and added visiting the Studio to my list.  Once again I found her hard at work, adding paint to a triptych that will be used to create an altar at a Belmar church.  (not strictly a table, but under the umbrella of this project)  I could quickly see that she had indeed gotten some pouring done.  She mentioned that she was expecting a visit tomorrow from the organization that is financing this project and would really like it if we had something put together to show them, and really hoped it would be the drop leaf table.  For many practical reasons it would be the best choice for one to be completed tonight.  I didn't have anywhere else I had to be right away, so I gathered my tools, cleared off half a table, and got to work.

It made sense to take care of the legs first, and the flaps after that.  Every other table leg in this project is a 4"x 4" and will be attached with deck related hardware, but for these much thinner legs two screws through the leg and right into the frame should suffice.  I clamped each in place (above), used a level to make sure it was straight, then drilled and drove a few screws.  And with that, we finally had our first functioning table (below).

I put the table back up on my work table upside down and moved on to attaching the leaves.  I checked with Molly to make sure of which one went on which side (there was a specific order) and then tried the first one.  The tiny screws were causing problems at first- figuring out which one of my phillips head adapters would best fit them and getting them started.  My quick nail driven pilot holes weren't cutting it, so I carefully drilled them with one of my tiniest bits (carefully because I didn't want to go all the way through to the table surface) and once I had worked out the system it went quickly.  Finished all four sides and set it up on its legs again.

At that point I had to get going, so I'll leave the construction of the sliding leaf supports until later in the week.  For the purpose of demonstrating how it will work, I slid some 1" x 2" scraps into the guide slots on two sides of the table, and it turned out my cantilevered idea worked as expected.

Meanwhile, Molly had continued painting, first on the altar set, then moving on to the three large tables that will be for the Jersey Shore Arts Center.  At 7:00 we both decided we were done for the night, packed up, locked up, got into our respective cars, and took off.