Thorsen Table #7: Final Assembly

With the drawer problem solved it was time to attach the drawer runners to the side aprons, a stop to the back (to keep the drawer from recessing too far into the table), and get the table glued up. A shallow dado on the drawer rides along maple runners attached to the aprons.

You can see the dado in this shot of the drawer box.

With the assembly dry fit and turned upside down on the bench I placed the runners into the dadoes and lower the drawer between the aprons. To raise the drawer to the right height off the bench, so that the bottom lined up with the aprons and the top cleared the front brace, I had placed sticks of appropriate thickness under the drawer. I had to add a few shims (old business cards) to get the drawer to just the right height and to even out the reveal on the sides of the drawer. Then it was easy to run a pencil along the runner to mark the aprons.

After pulling the assembly apart I drilled counter sunk holes for screws in the aprons. Using double-sided tape I temporarily affixed the runners to the aprons and tightened the screws to mark the locations on the apron. Finally I drilled the pilot holes in the aprons and attached the runners.
Here's the runner attached to the apron.

Another dry fit confirmed that the runners were correctly placed.

To give stability to the front of the table I added a brace to the top edge. The drawer front and aprons were cut from a single board. I had intended to cut the brace from the drawer front to give a perfect grain pattern, but when I was cutting I forgot to make the front slightly oversized to compensate for the saw kerf. I was able to find a piece that was a close match though, so it is not obvious that the brace and drawer front were not once one piece. The brace is 3/4" X 1/2". At each end I cut a dovetail to help keep the table from pulling apart at the front. One side of the brace as seen from above.

Final milling step for the table was to add a chamfer to all the exposed surfaces - bottom edges of the aprons, all sides of the legs, edges of the shelf and top, all edges of the breadboard ends. You can see this in the detail of the leg pictured below.

Then it was time for glue. I started with the sides, then added the back apron. One of the tenons in the back decided to fight back - perhaps a little too tight. I ended up wrestling the assembly from the bench to the floor, which was not an easy task with five of my Bessy clamps on it - those suckers are heavy. I did prevail, though. Here's the assembly all clamped up.

The dark patch on the back is the stop block for the drawer.

-- Chelle http://artsgranddaughter.blogspot.com