"Chris Friesen" wrote in message
...

The question that I've got is how to support the shelf, given that it
wasn't originally designed for one.

I was considering cutting a 3/4" high slot into the inside corner of
each of the legs. Viewed from above, the cutout would be about 1"
square, or about 1/4 of the total cross section of the leg.

Be ready to assemble/glue-up the shelf, and half the legs and aprons at the
same time and, if the shelf is made with solid wood, be prepared to handle
the inevitable cross grain wood movement which will eventually cause
problems if not addressed.

What would you call this slot anyways? It's kind of like a mortise, but
it's on a corner, and there really isn't a matching tenon. Is it kind
of a wierd dado?

Has anyone seen anything like this? I expect I'd have to reinforce the
underside of the shelf, given that it will just be 3/4 pine.

Fairly common practice, but probably not the best, starting with the first
above.

Actually, and if you're bent on doing it this way, you don't even need to
make the dado square. Just use a dado blade or router bit, along with a jig
to hold the inside corner of the leg perpendicular to the router/saw table
while it is being cut. Then trim the corners of the shelf at 45 degrees to
match the dado in the legs.

A simpler solution is to mortise and tenon a 'stretcher' at the appropriate
height between the legs on each end, then attach a cleat to the inside of
each stretcher to act as a base/shelf for the ends of the spanning shelf.
The shelf is then fastened, by screws with slotted screw holes to
accommodate wood movement in the shelf, from beneath the cleats.

FWIW, the latter is the way many of the old time table makers, including the
Stickley's, et al, solved the problem of a solid wood shelf below the top
and between the legs of a table.

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Last update: 11/06/05