Turnings are used continually in the construction of furniture, and they always appear smaller than a square stick of the same dimensions. This is apparent in the above illustrations. No. 1 shows the projection of the corner of a parallelopiped beyond the inscribed cylinder turned from it. The angular projection exists whenever an abrupt change from a square to a turned section is made. As this is objectionable in furniture work, it is cut away by rounding off the angle, as in No. 2, or by moulding it, as in No. 3. Nevertheless, if, as in these examples, the diameter of the cylinder and the side of the square are the same, the turning appears so much smaller than the square portion of the stick that the transition is too great.

When the design will admit, the square parts of the stick are cut down after the turning is made, so that they are a trifle smaller than the turned portions. This makes the two sections seem more nearly of the same dimensions, and is shown in No. 4, where a torus and fillet are also introduced to make the change of form more gradual. This same feature is shown in No. 5, where the angles of the square are cut away. The square is smaller than the diameter of the turning, and the torus is introduced to grade the transition. No. 6 is a longitudinal section of No. 5. The use of the torus or a bead between the square and turned parts of a post seems desirable in most cases, whatever the profile of the turning. No. 7 shows it in use on a twisted turning.

The depth of the frame of the table is largely a matter of individual taste. If, however, the table is one at which a person is to sit, with his knees beneath it, the frame must not be so deep as to reduce the space between its lower edge and the floor to less than two feet.

An important condition of beauty in a table is its stability. It should not appear insecure on its feet, as happens if the legs are placed too far beneath the top. A safe guide is not to make the spread of the feet of a table less than two-thirds the spread of the top; or, in other words, the overhang is one-sixth of the top. The overhang may be considerably more than this before the table becomes dangerously insecure, but it will have, nevertheless, an appearance of instability, especially if the width of the top is less than the height above the floor.

It is well to round off slightly the corners of rectangular tables, that they may not present a sharp angle.

The size of a table is determined by its use and the location it is to occupy. Unless intended for a special purpose it is thirty inches high.

Possibly the most important uses to which tables are put are those of dining and writing. For either of these a table thirty inches high can be and is used continually, but there are those who find this somewhat too high. A dining table should be sufficiently low that a person need not raise the elbows when cutting his food, and that his plate rests well below him. If a writing table is too high, it is tiresome to sit at and write. Many dining tables and writing tables are, therefore, made but twenty-nine inches high. The side table used in dining rooms as a place from which to serve dishes or to carve should be thirty-six inches high.

A dressing table is made thirty inches high, unless the person to use it requests that it be made otherwise. Parlor, fancy tables, etc., intended for ornamental use only, are made to correspond with the surroundings of the rooms in which they are placed, and may be any desired height, as they are neither intended to sit or stand at. The following list will give the dimensions of tables of average sizes that have been made and found satisfactory. It will serve as a guide or starting point in laying out new designs:

Dimensions Of Tables

The parts of a table have already been named; it remains to see how they are put together.

The frame is joined to the legs either by the mortise and tenon or by doweling. The former joint was the old way of framing, but since the introduction of dowels the tenon has largely gone out of use among furniture makers. They consider it old-fashioned. And owing to the shrinkage of the tenon or the carelessness with which it is made, it does not seem as strong or equal to a dowel-joint.

The mortise and tenon consists of a tongue (tenon) cut on the end of one of the joined pieces so as to fit tightly in a cavity (mortise) sunk in the other piece. In table work the tenon is on the end of the frame, and may or may not be its full width, while the mortise is in the leg. Plate I.

The dowel joint derives its name from the dowel, a wooden pin, used for fastening the two pieces together by inserting part of its length in one piece, the rest of it entering a corresponding hole in the other. Where possible, more than one dowel is used. In table work two or more are fitted in holes bored for them in the end of the frame, and in the proper position on the legs are corresponding holes in which the dowels fit, and are glued when the two parts are brought together. Some small tables are constructed without a frame; in place of it there is a wooden cleat fastened to the underside of the top and the full diameter of the leg is inserted in this block; or if the leg is of large size it is tenoned into the block.

The top of a table may be solid or veneered. When small and cheap work is desired, it can be made of solid wood; but otherwise it should be built up and veneered. Solid wood tops shrink, crack, or warp. The only sure way of avoiding these unfortunate occurrences is to "build-up" the top. The building up process consists in constructing a core of some common, well-dried, lifeless wood, preferably chestnut or pine. This core is of several strips of wood doweled together at the edges until a board is made about the size of the required top. These strips are arranged in a way that the annular rings curve in opposite directions in each alternate piece. The core is next cross-veneered on both sides with hardwood, generally oak. A cross-veneering is laid so that the grain is at right angles to that of the wood on which it is applied. In table work it is at right angles to the grain of the core and the finish veneer; both of these naturally follow the length of the top. All around the edge of the top, after it is cross-veneered, is fastened a strip of the finish wood of the table (Plate I.). Finally, both sides are again veneered with the finish wood; that is, if the wood is not too expensive. If it is costly, a cheaper veneer is placed on the underside.