When we left off we were working on attaching the side and end sashes to our frames. With ample glue, clamps, dowel rods, and time we managed to get all eight of the pieces onto their respective frames. (That green box in the background is another project in progress. More on that later.)
With this all done we turned to attaching the legs. We had hoped to use our corner clamps to hold the legs in place but realized that they wouldn't leave enough room to drill into the leg. What to do? We improvised by making this 90-degree jig and using a bar clamp to hold it (and by extension the leg) steady. It worked like a charm. We also clamped the table down to the work table to keep it from sliding around while trying to drill. This project reinforced the truism in woodworking that you can never have too many clamps.
Lather, rinse, repeat four times and we were in business. Looks a bit like a foosball table
The final step was to screw through the five cross pieces into the bottom of the boards that would be the top and presto!
Here are a few action shots of this little guy. It goes great with the recently refinished sewing table.
With two-thirds of this work area done we turned to the bigger brother. This time we actually decided to attach the top first by again screwing through the five cross pieces. We both clamped the table to the work table, and (in the bottom photo) we used a new 3-foot bar clamp to hold the three boards together to minimize the seams down the length of the table. Remember what we said earlier about never having too many clamps? We needed it again to hold everything in place when we attached the legs using the same technique.
Ta-da! Another table is born. So much nicer than the old drafting table. But how would everything look together?
We must say that we're mighty pleased with how these turned out.
And here's the whole system in use already. This proves another truism, that a level surface abhors a vacuum.
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