Ball bearing drawer slides for dining table extension

[atgcpaul]

I was at my parents' house this weekend and my Dad has been wanting a new dining table. Their current one seats 6 with the leaf installed but they want one that will do 8 to 10. They would be OK with adding extra leaves but I need to make new sliders underneath.

I was thinking about using 2 pairs of 22" ball bearing drawer slides connected to the table and to each other by wood. I have seen ball bearing table slides for sale but no DIY solutions. I'm wondering why that is. Any reason why this wouldn't work? Not strong enough?

[leehljp]

The longer the slide, the stronger/beefier you need it. I have never done anything like this, but I don't think it is feasible to add a drawer slide onto the end of the existing slide to get a longer extension. One thing I HAVE noticed a half a dozen times over the years with visiting different people - tables that sag a half an inch from being in the extended mode and used heavily. I notice these things in which my wife did not notice.

The longer you make the extension with two or three leafs, the stronger the whole section must be.

Look at this Rockler link:

http://www.rockler.com/search/go?w=table%20leaf%20extension%20slides

Table slides need to be beefy.

I always tend to overbuild, and may be doing that in this suggestion.

[atgcpaul]

I knew I had seen these done somewhere. Found the FWW article:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/45716/extension-dining-table

I'm going to have to mock it up to see what it will be like open and closed.

[leehljp]

I knew I had seen these done somewhere. Found the FWW article:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/...n-dining-table

I'm going to have to mock it up to see what it will be like open and closed.

OH, I don't think those are not simple ball bearing "drawer" slides. I did not download the article though. Those slides are built into supporting wood sliding frame, which adds considerable rigidity.

[atgcpaul]

Sorry Hank. My initial description was poorly worded. Now that I have printed instructions, it seems very doable.

[atgcpaul]

I finally had some time last week to start on this project. I kept going back and forth in my mind on how to approach it but one of my unofficial resolutions this year was to not be the woodworker who dies with the largest wood stash. This summer, my neighbor sold off his stash before he moved: http://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/dis...7372-more-wood I used the 8/4 red oak from that stash for this project.

I'm adding 2 20" wide leaves to my parents' dining table. They've had this table for over 30 years. I think my Dad "bought" it with points from his company's gift catalog. It currently seats 2 on a side and 1 on each end--6 total--and they wanted to be able to seat 8, maybe 10 people. I think the extra 40" will let them do 10.




Being a very practical family, we decided the table was in good shape, it already has matching chairs, so instead of making a brand new table, we'll just grow this one. It's got metal slides that do the job, but aren't long enough for this application: The table appears to be oak veneer over MDF.




I took some measurements when I was there last fall and also traced the profile of the leaf. I forgot to bring my profile gauge so my parents had to text me some better pics of the profile last night:




Originally, I was going to resaw this hunk of oak in half and glue up a 20" wide top. I sure am glad to have a 12" wide jointer! However, there was a slight twist in the board so I couldn't slice out 7/8" thick boards (the thickness of their tabletop) after all the surfacing was done. This was fine because it would have made for some heavy leaves.




So I switched to plan B and resawed sheets of veneer on my bandsaw. I had to make a better resaw fence for these tall boards and I installed a new blade. I definitely need to work on tuning the saw. I squeezed out 8 sheets that I drum sanded down to a thick 1/8". I glued on strips of oak banding to some 3/4" sandply. The sandply plus the veneer equaled a thick 7/8". Then I vacuum veneered the veneer onto the sandply. I've never cut my own veneer before or worked with veneer this thick. I've always used the 1/42" thin commercial veneers. At 1/8", it's definitely like working with "regular" wood. You can edge glue them, etc. Because my resawing wasn't the best, there were some divots in the veneer which I placed on the underside of the board. Since the bottom side was against the hard platen, some spots didn't stick to the substrate. Since I used Titebond 2, I pressed those spots with a hot iron and was able to reactivate the glue and press them down--mostly. There are still a few small "hollow" spots, but they're all on the bottom.




I cut the boards to size (20x38), and then routed a matching profile on to them. The top veneer blends into the solid edging, but the bottom doesn't. Oh well. My Mom usually uses a tablecloth anyway.



Here's the top sitting on the 1" thick apron I milled from some 5/4 stock.




I used the FWW article I linked above to make the drawer slides. Again, more 8/4 lumber I milled down to accept 2 heavy duty 22" 200lb drawer slides. When closed, the extenders are 56" long--long enough to accommodate the current 12" leaf full time and then will open up to accept the 2 new 20" leaves. Rockler sells heavy duty metal table slides for this opening size, but I read they were a little cheesy. I like the way these operate and look (although who's going to stick their head under the table to look?) At least I know I did the best I could.



Tonight I will attach the aprons to the tops and drill mounting holes in the slide to attach to the table. We're going over there this Saturday so fingers crossed it all works out. Usually when I do a "built in", I'm back and forth measuring again and again. This will be one of those times I don't get that chance so I hope I measured right. I won't have time to finish the top, but my Dad won't mind taking care of it on his end. My Mom says it'll at least keep him out of trouble.

Thanks,
Paul