Nuts and Bolts

The heart and soul of this project really is the internal mechanisms that make the table expand from seating 8 to 12 people.  The time and effort put into designing these mechanisms has been huge.  The use of the best veneers and highest quality woods that I could find has largely been because the complexity of the mechanisms sets the bar so high.  The mechanisms were designed by myself and a friend named Devin.  Devin is a mechanical engineer by trade and was able to design every component in 3D to be milled out of solid material.  The milling was done in China and then shipped over for us to assemble.  

As much as we sometimes hear that the manufacturing coming out of China is substandard I think it is important to remember that any manufacturing company will only produce to the level that is demanded of them.  You get what you pay for.  

I had originally hoped to get the parts in time to assemble the table for entry into the SAWS 2013 Fine Works in Wood Exhibition but that deadline sailed by.  Also, back in January I applied for and was awarded a booth at the Calgary Stampede but had to back out of the opportunity as I would not have the table in time.  These were two very big disappointments, but life goes on.  As does work on the table.  After a series of delays getting the parts the last of them finally arrived today, quite a bit later than expected.  

Though late, the parts are fantastic in fit and finish.  The tolerances between drilled out hole centers, diameters of bushings, and everything else is within a fraction of a thousandth of an inch.  In other words within a quarter the thickness of a sheet of paper. 

The Parts Laid Out and Ready for Assembly

A Wide Array of Nuts and Bolts, Some of them Custom Built

In addition to the mechanisms which drive the expansion and contraction of the table, I also had custom allignment slots and tabs milled out of solid brass.  Each on is 3" long, 1/2" thick, and is recessed 3/8" into the panels.  The curvature at the ends of the piece matches the one left by the router bit I used to make the mortises.  It is quite convenient to be able to have custom hardware like this to speed up assembly.  

36 sets of Alignments Tabs and Slots

It turns out the brass screws we ordered had threads which were a couple thousandths of an inch larger in diameter than the usual steel ones so I had to ream out the mounting holes slightly. 

Reaming the Mounting Holes

Each of the alignment tabs and slots had to be hammered into place with a mallet.  Then a center punch was used to mark the center of the screw hole.  Each hole was pre-drilled and fitted with a brass screw. 

Each Component Was Tapped in With a Mallet

One Down, Seventy-One to Go

Slots

Tabs

Lookin Pretty Sharp