THE HANDY MAN’S CORNER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3899, 4 December 1928, Page 10

THE HANDY MAN’S CORNER.

MAKING A FOLDING CARD TABLE.

( Special fob the Otago Witness.)

Though primarily intended for card games, the folding table illustrated in Fig. 1 is equally useful for many other purposes. The constructional work involved is not difficult. The top consists of a light wooden frame covered with Jin three-ply wood, the hinged legs are made of ordinary - deal IJin wide and sin thick, joined at their lower ends by cross rails of §in hardwood dowel rod. The method of providing for the folding leg is simple, effective, and rigid, a safety device being provided to prevent the legs shutting up accidentally. Prepare a framework consisting of two cross members each 24in long, 3in wide, and lin thick, joined together by two members each IJin wide, lin thick, and 20in long. The ends of these pieces are tenoned for a length of lin, and fitted into corresponding mortices in the crossbars. The frame then measures 24in square, and is covered with a sheet of three-ply wood Jin thick, which is glued and pinned to the surface. When the glue is quite dry, the edges are planed off perfectly smooth, the whole sandpapered, given a coat of wood filler, again rubbed down, and then nicely stained and varnished. A like treatment is given later to all the other woodwork; but it is as well to do the top at this stage, whilst it is still readily accessible. The next process is to make, up the outer pair of legs, which should measure 32in long, and be constructed from good clean deal Ilin wide and Jin thick. The dowel rod should be fitted near the bottom to keep the legs parallel.

The width of the outer legs should he about 2lin, and a cross bar has to be glued and screwed to the outer face, as shown at C in Fig. 3, and in the side view, Fig. 2, showing the table when closed. This bar should be about 17in

from the upper end. The upper ends of the legs are then hinged to the crosspiece on the table, as shown at A and E in Fig. 2. The inner pair of legs are prepared in a similar way, but a crossbar is not

necessary. The width of these legs should be Ain less than the width between the insides of the other legs. They should be hinged, but to the opposite end of the table top. Open these legs, and adjust the table so that the top is level, marking inner leg the exact positions for the two stop blocks, D in Fig. 3, one of which comes on the outside, and the other on the inside of the crossbar C. Glue and screw these blocks into their places, and it will then be found that the crossed legs, when supporting the table, are held from movement in two directions. But the inner pair can still be folded upwards, so it is necessary to fit a stop catch to each of the outer legs, as shown in Fig. 4. This stop should be made of a piece of hardwood jin thick, and is so arranged that it can be pushed into a slot or mortice cut in the inner edges of the legs, as shown in Fig. 4. The shape of the catch should be such that it can be pushed into the slot until it is flush, the upper outer end preventing it from turning out too far. The catches should be fitted while the legs are crossed, so that they come exactly in the proper place—that is, the lower end of the catch should bear on the upper face of the inner leg. It may sound a little complicated, but in practice it is not so. The legs can be extended, and will lock automatically, a small spring being fitted to push the catches outwards. To close them the catches are pressed inwards, and the legs then folded up.