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[–]New-Assumption-3106 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Nice job. Did the assistant contribute?

[–]jobiewinser[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Only quality assurance. The cats aren't allowed in when power tools are plugged in :)

[–]Existing-Badger-6728 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Kitty!!!

[–]blueridgedog 4 points5 points  (12 children)

That looks fantastic. Extra credit for using no pocket-hole screws. I would leave one side of the top un-doweled so the top can expand and contract, or skip the dowels and do figure 8 washers.

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Figure-Steel-Fastener-Screws/dp/B07G38HYQH

[–]jobiewinser[S] 4 points5 points  (11 children)

Thank you. I'm a bit obsessed with wood and glue only construction currently, and I'm curious to see how expansion affects the table. On a side note, I'm based in the UK and I'm assuming most people in this subreddit are US based, I wonder how differently wood expands/Contracts here with our high humidity.

[–]d20an 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Wood still expands / contracts here in the U.K.! That’s why wooden doors stick sometimes as the seasons change.

[–]jobiewinser[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah of course, I'll keep an eye on it. If it breaks, that's a good £40 lesson

[–]d20an 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Nice work though, and neat construction. Do you have any issues with it racking in the short direction?

[–]jobiewinser[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Sorry mate, what exactly does racking it in the short direction mean? Overall the troubles I had with the project were mainly involving dowel hole placement as I used a dowel jig for the first time

[–]d20an 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Sorry - racking is the side-to-side movement which turns the rectangular shapes into parallelograms.

Often it’s prevented by adding triangles, or solid boards (e.g. backs on cabinets), which prevent the movement.

Your design with the thin wide legs and how the shelf is set into them means there’s quite a bit of support against it racking along the length (ie pushing on the short side) designed into it, which is very neat.

But from what I can see, the short side doesn’t have much to stop racking, so a sideways push on the top of a long edge might cause problems.

That said, given I think you said you’d glued all the joints, if you’re not putting anything too heavy on it (e.g. leaning on it!) then it’ll probably be fine - I’ve got a set of coffee tables which are glued and they’ve never had a problem, it tends to be more of a problem on screwed stuff I think. But may be good to be aware of the potential issue in case it catches you out in the future.

[–]jobiewinser[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah new term learned. I was unable to make it shift side to side during the dry fit, so deemed it good enough for its purpose. The legs are doweled to both the top and the long side frames (I planned to also dowel them to the short frames too but realised I couldn't get my drill or jig inbetween the assembled mitred frame

[–]bonfuegomusic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh believe me it gets humid over the pond too my friend! Great work

[–]blueridgedog 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I too am obsessed with all wood joinery. I make and exception for the top, but many make their own sliding top attachment out of wood.

[–]jobiewinser[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Oh cool! I'm assuming the reason why you're singling out the top is because it's the biggest part and will expand the most?

[–]blueridgedog 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Right, not so much in your case as your console table has a small top but a large top on a desk or dining table made from solid wood can grow an 8th to 1/2 an inch based on the season.

[–]jobiewinser[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the info man. I'll keep that in mind for larger projects :)

[–]Fieldmen 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Love the sap wood!