Table question

[charliex]

I'm seeking the wisdom of the assembled masses on building a dining table using extension slides? My niece is getting married and has requested that I build a 54" x 54" extends to 72" dining table. I'm looking for caveats, things to watch out for, dos and don'ts. I have built several tables, just never anything of this size.

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

Chas

[vaking]

My dining room table is round 52" diameter with additional leaf that extends it to 72" long. Because the table is round the leaf cannot be stored inside the table. It is not a big problem for me since my dining room is large and table almost never gets folded. Other than that - I am not aware of any caveats. It is a large table on a single massive leg but it is stable. I bought the top for that table years ago at the Levitz going out of business sale. They did not have the base, so I made my own.

[Cochese]

Interested in hearing the responses, because I'm about to embark on this journey myself.

[JimD]

I have an article on this in an old Fine Woodworking magazine at home. You might try their website to see if you can get the article. What I remember of what they said is that the commercially available mechanisms range significantly in sturdiness and are worse than what you can make. It seems like the author liked either a dovetail joint in wooden pieces or a heavy duty drawer slide on wood pieces for the mechanism.

I haven't made a table with extension slides yet. My dining room table will take two leaves which I store under beds. It does not open or close very smoothly but it works and seems sturdy enough. It has a metal mechanism.

If you want the grain to match, you might consider building the table in the extension size and then cutting out the leave(s). Even if you had to finish the cuts on the skirt by hand it seems like you could do this. I would use a guide for the cut, however.

Based more on my experience than the article I kind of reference, I would probably buy a mechanism. Rocklers site is well organized. I would check prices on at least a couple other sites, however.

Jim