Small bedside table apron size

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  • Glen
    8 March 2020 at 6:59 pm #652309

    I’m in the process of designing and prototyping some bedside tables and being a total novice in terms of design I’m concerned about some sizings.

    The table top will be 13 inches by 15 inches with 1 1/2 inch square legs. My wife wants the aprons to be 1 1/2 inch wide but I’m not sure about this as it might make the tenons too small. I’ve just cut one mortise and tenon and it fits nicely but I’m not sure how it would hold up over time.

    The tables will have one drawer with a shelf about 3 inches under it (for a book/laptop/phone etc) and then a further shelf a few inches up from the bottom for a basket.

    I’ve just followed Paul’s small table series to help with mortise and tenon layout but his aprons are 4 inches wide which will obviously make them a lot stronger.

    Any thoughts on minimum apron size would be appreciated, along with any other helpful tips for a build like this.

    Cheers

    Sven-Olof Jansson
    10 March 2020 at 10:05 pm #652620

    Dear Glen,

    The attached photos do not show a bedside table, but an old school pupil chair. The construction, though, appear to be similar: a surface with aprons beneath jointed by tenon and mortices to the legs, and then stretchers closer to the floor (would correspond to the shelves in your bedside tables).

    Apart from how generations of pupils have worn down and shaped the front stretcher with their feet and shoes, one can also note that the pieces are quite narrow, and that drawboring has been applied to reinforce the tenon and mortice joints.

    All in all: the combination of tenon-mortices and stretchers can evidently withstand quite a lot.

    Sven-Olof Jansson
    London, UK; Boston, MA

    Glen
    16 March 2020 at 12:34 pm #653321

    Many thanks Sven for your reply and the pictures.

    They definitely seem to have held up well and it certainly puts my mind at ease using narrow rails in a small table that will rarely be moved.

    Hopefully I’ll get a prototype finished soon and can report back on how it went.

    Best wishes

    Sven-Olof Jansson
    16 March 2020 at 6:28 pm #653361

    Always happy if I can be of any kind of assistance.

    Sven-Olof Jansson
    London, UK; Boston, MA

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