Project: "Making a Harvest Table"

	Beth dabs a little bit of glue on the end of the dowel. These are expansible, like biscuits, so she doesn't want to get the exposed end wet quite yet.
She is about finished with spreading the glue over the edge and the dowels.
	She gives some loving taps along the length. I must say that it was nice to see the two boards join together with little resistance. The dowels were perfectly aligned — a major achievement with boards this long.
She tightens the glue-up. That is all we can do on that.
	Beth and I start to layout the rest of the table. She is studying the leg corner sample that I made with the RBI Hawk RouterShop some months ago. It has sliding dovetails for the apron into the leg and more sliding dovetails for the 45o crosspiece.  The last part can only be done with the tilting router table or a lot of jigging. It is a strong joint, so we will use it in our Harvest Table. We will cover the step-by-steps next week.
Here is a closer look.
	Our other problem is a design question. How large should the table base be, or how much inset should there be so that people can comfortably sit at this grand table.    She refers to a Shaker design book by none other than Norm. I got it off my bookshelf and much to my surprise it opened to the Harvest Table. I probably purchased it in 1993 or so and that may have been the last I viewed it. In any event, it gives us some nice considerations for our "dilemma."    The book is "Mostly Shaker from the New Yankee Workshop."
I have built my woodworking library just for times like this — and it pays off. There are also some good ideas on how the table leaf support system is made.
	Beth places one of the real legs for this table. The leg is part of a set of four from Classic Designs by Matthew  Burak.    There are a number of quality leg turners who offer many, many designs. I first saw Matthew's work in a catalog and liked his products and descriptions of table types. His legs are available in a wide range of species. I chose maple because I thought it would be better  for turnings. I don't know whether these will be painted or stained, but it will be easy to match the turnings no matter what. First and foremost, I wanted clean, crisp turned legs — that is what we have.    Beth is starting with a 10" set back.
She is also contemplating how the leaf will be held up. Norm used a simple revolving support piece — very similar to one on a table that I grew up with.    Next week we will have the pieces cut to size so that we can do a dry run. Somehow, I want to assemble the table and sit around it before we commit to the size of the under structure. That makes sense doesn't it?    Actually, think about it. We design and build as best we can, but we can also assemble things "dry" so that we can try the sizing and design out. We want our work to stand the test of time and be used successfully all that time.