# How do you make a Czech Hedgehog joint?



## jacobem3 (Jun 3, 2014)

I saw this table on RoomsToGo and I'm trying to figure out how you would make the joint. Any ideas?










I'm not sure what the real name of it is, but it reminds me of the Czech Hedgehogs zi Germans laid on the beaches at Normandy.

Thanks!
Jacob


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## jerryminer (Jun 15, 2014)

One possibility: half-lap the first two pieces, then M & T the other parts, offsetting the tenons, and sizing them to leave enough structure in the original (half-lapped) pieces.


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## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

Take a look at this blog by a woodworker named Justin. He's built a table with a similar joint design…


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## whope (Sep 15, 2011)

You'll have to rummage through the article: http://www.dezeen.com/2011/11/07/chidori-furniture-by-kengo-kuma-and-associates/

Not sure of the strength if tilted.


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## ARivingHome (Nov 23, 2015)

Hi Jacob, I'm the blogger that Herb linked to up above. The joint in my table is just a series of half-laps, which gives a result that is similar, but not identical, to the joint in your picture.

What kind of table are you looking to build? A side table? Or a dining table? The reason I ask is because (as whope alluded to) the stresses on the joint may be pretty severe given the fact that all of the members will be under tension, which is not the case in the chidori furniture that he linked to. It's not possible to build the joint as pictured and keep more than 1/3 the thickness of any member at the joint. So on a dining table, which gets leaned on and generally abused, any possible solution might be too weak unless you scale up the dimension of the legs to be pretty beefy. By offsetting slightly, which is what I did, you get 1/2 the thickness of each member at the joint (so, 50% more material), plus the joint is much simpler to cut.

On something that doesn't take quite so much abuse, like a side table, you may be able to get away with doing what jerryminer suggested, but I doubt it would be sufficiently robust for a dining table.

I suspect the Rooms to Go table has some sort of hidden hardware involved, but who knows?


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## jacobem3 (Jun 3, 2014)

Hi Justin,

It's for a kitchen table similar to the one you built for your kitchen. Your design looks better than the commercial version and much better than I would have imagined it based on a written description alone.

Thanks, and thanks for all the fast responses!

Jacob


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