# Dining room table legs joinery



## dfox52 (Aug 31, 2013)

I'm building a 7 foot long by 42" wide country style table. Glueing up 5/4 cherry for the top and using 3 1/2 poplar for the legs. I plan to make the aprons 1" x 3 1/2" also from poplar. I would like to make the legs removable for obvious reasons but am concerned about how well they will hold up over time. So my question is two fold; Is it practical (structurally) to build such a large table with removable legs? and if so then how would you construct them? 

Thanks


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*from easy to more complex*

These would be easy:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21578&site=ROCKLER

A little more work:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=782&rrt=1

Buy or build this type:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=25090&site=ROCKLER

It's the joinery at the corner that gets complicated when you need to remove the legs. Mortise and tenon are typically used, but a tonge and groove will work fine also. The groove/dado runs down from the top of the leg ad stop shory of the width of the apron where it is squared off. The apron can be the actual width of the dado or reduced to form a tongue which will cover the dado for a cleaner look.

Good thread here:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f5/table-leg-bracing-20431/


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## dfox52 (Aug 31, 2013)

woodnthings said:


> These would be easy:
> http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=21578&site=ROCKLER
> 
> A little more work:
> ...


Hey thanks again! Your comments were enlightening... Yes I have used those corner braces from Rockler before on smaller tables but just wasn't sure if something like that would be practical on a larger project. I thought about using mortise joints without glue and adding either these metal braces or using leftover pieces of cherry from the table top. The problem I foresee using tenons is "will the legs come off?" I mean if you have tenons entering the leg at right angles to each other it would make it difficult if not impossible to remove the legs after assembly no? (unless the entire table can be disassembled). The dado on the other hand, would allow the legs to be pulled straight down and out or, with a tongue and groove, simply taken off.

That is a great thread btw...


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