Drop Leaf Cherry Table - Making the Leaf Supports - Step 7

I have been on vacation out west for the past week, so I did not get a lot done on the table since the last post.

I had to make a decision about how I would support the drop leaves.  There are several ways I could have made the supports.  Hinge a piece to swing under the leaf, but the triangle base would have to be smaller to allow for the space to hinge the support.  I could make a sliding support through a hole in the apron but I think that would be too complicated.  I decided to make a swing support cut out of the apron.

I started by making a sample of the apron which is 19 inch long and 4 inches wide.  Then I decided on the length at 11 1/2 inches.   This allows for good support of the leaf and will not bump into the others in the middle of the table.

Since I wanted to reuse the cut  out material for the support I wanted to be as careful cutting it out as I could.  I did not want to drill a hole for the jig saw to start, so I tried to use a plunge cut and it did work but it was not a very clean start.  I needed to practice this more.

I angled the cut on the sides to thirty degrees and the thickness was 1 1/8 inch.   I cut the head off a 1/4 bolt that was 3 1/2 inches long.  I drilled a hole 15/64 so that the bolt fit tight in the hole.  As you can see I added a small washer to keep the swing arm from resting on the apron.

I drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the swing arm.  The bolt sticks up about 1/16 inch above the swing arm to create a gap for it to swing easy.

This is how it looked when I first tried it out.  But it wiggled too much.  I decided that I need to fasten it to see how it would really work.

I used a figure 8 metal fastener and a piece of scrap to see if it would swing once it was screwed down.

What I found was it was too loose.  The bolt sticking up 1/16 inch was too much, so I needed to lower them.

Only about 1/64 of an inch is all that  is required to create the gap for the swing arm.  Also, you can see how the figure 8 fasteners are installed.  I used a 3/4 inch forestner bit to drill an 1/8 inch offset hole.

Now that I had a workable solution, I needed to repeat the process on the the cherry aprons from the base of the table.

I cut the angles at 30 degrees across the top of the aprons and then plunge cut the remainder with the jig saw.  Plunge cutting with the jig saw takes a lot of practice and I was disappointed with the results that I got.  However, these cuts are seldom seen unless you get on your knees and look under the table. 

After I made the three  swing arms, it was time to glue up the base.  I used strap clamps to hold it  together while the glue dried.

Here is a picture with all three swing arms out supporting the drop leaves.  This top is not attached, but it looks like this is going to work.  
Now on to finishing!

Here is today's video: