In this short post I'll be showing you how to add trim to the bottom of the table legs. It isn't necessary and you can use the table without adding this decoration to the bottom of the legs but when you see them you'll understand why I did it! They add so much to the table legs and just perfectly finish them off.
To complete all four legs you'll need a piece of hard Maple that is 7' to 8' long and at least 4" wide! You'll be planing this down to a little over 1/2" thick but if you don't have a planer you can just use what you have. Be aware that if you can't plane down the wood your trim is going to be pretty thick and may stand out on the bottom of your table legs. You may want to tape them to the bottom of the legs and see what they look like before you glue them in place.
Take your stock of material and set your table saw to 3-1/2" width. We need to rip cut this material width down before we plane it.
NOTE: I ended up rip cutting my stock to a little over 3-1/2" because I'll be planing the surface as well as the width down to exact size.
First I planed the edge and trimmed it down to the exact 3-1/2" width! This is better because you're able to clean off any burn marks or nicks!
Now I'm planing it down to a thickness of 5/8"! Since the material starts out over 3/4" thick, don't try to plane down large chunks it's easier to run it through in slow, gradual passes. This is also better because you have to do less finish sanding due to the smooth edge the planer creates!
Now that we have the stock planed down to the correct width and thickness, we need to route the edge design to give it it's character! We will be using a 1/4" round-over bit and setting it so it hits the middle of the board and not the edge like you'd normally use it.
The weird cylinder you see at the top of the bit it where the precision bearing was attached. You have to remove this so you can take advantage of the upper cut portion of the bit. You will be setting the two cut points, which are the top of bottom of the round-over, to be as centered as possible to the wood edge.
Make sure you have the top and the side secured on the router table so you don't get any drift while pushing the piece on the router table. Below you can see how I used a feather board and an extra piece of wood to secure the piece yet it's still able to move along the router table surface.
CRITICAL: Make sure you close the air gap so it's as tight as possible to the router bit. The air gap is the distance from the edge of the cutting surface of the bit to the edge of the fence piece. As you can see in the photo, I've created as small of a gap as possible so the spinning router bit just misses the two fence plates. The bigger the gap you leave from the bit to the fence plate will produce rip out or chipping. This can destroy the look of your piece and make it so you may not be able to use the piece of material for your table!!!
Below you can see the design patter left by the round-over bit when it is centered on the edge of the material and not just on the corner.
Now let's go through and cut out each piece for the trim on the bottom of the table leg. You'll need four pieces to create the bottom trim and these four pieces will be glued together to the bottom of the leg.
I'll be using a compound miter saw to cut the 45 degree angles for each piece of trim.
Go ahead and set your miter saw to 45 degrees! If you don't have a miter saw you can use your table saw and set it so it cuts at a 45 degree angle!
Below you can see that I'm making my first 45 degree cut at one end of the board. This will be so I can trim off as little material as possible so I don't waste any material when cutting the piece.
CRITICAL: Make sure you have the piece flat and secure within the miter saw base! If this is not flat and square to the alignment of the saw blade, your pieces won't line up and will leave a large gap when glued!
Now we need to measure the width of the table leg so we know how wide to cut the trim piece. My table legs are just over 3" in width; 3-1/8" to be exact!
This is the measurement width you will use for the inside of the trim piece! When you make your 45 degree cuts you need to make sure you leave 3-1/8" "or whatever the width of your table leg" on the inside portion of your trim piece.
Now slide your miter saw over to the opposite side so it is set to a 45 degree angle opposite to the first cut.
NOTE: Make sure you have the blade set to 45 degrees and that the slide is in the correct grove on the miter saw. When you slide to blade alignment section it will hit a groove for the 45 degree angle telling you your in the correct position.
Below you can see the piece clamped in place and ready for the second 45 degree cut.
WARNING: Always secure both ends of the material because if you don't secure the piece that you are cutting, it may move before the final cut and you'll end up with a bad angle or a miss cut! Plus, a loose piece can catch the spinning blade and shot it across the room! Believe me when I say this can happen because I've seen it happen right in front of me!!!
Below you can see the final piece cut and ready for gluing! Now you only need to cut three more and your ready to mount all the trim pieces!!
Here are all four trim pieces ready for assembly!
Below you can see three of the trim pieces temporarily set in place BUT NOT GLUED just to see how they look and fit. Pretty nice!
Before you start gluing each piece you'll need a few things to help you out.
1. Some surgical gloves to help keep your fingers and hands clean of glue!
2. A bottle of Titebond II glue
3. A moist rag to clean up the excess glue that seeps out the cracks.
4. A bunch of metal clamps!
When you have the above ready, go ahead and apply the glue on one of the trim pieces. You can be pretty liberal with the glue but don't glue the 45 degree sides yet; these you will glue with the second and third pieces.
This first piece will be placed on the bottom side of the table leg, which you will then rest the table leg on top of. When you have this piece in place AND MAKE SURE YOU SLIDE IT DOWN SO IT COVERS THE CASTER PLATE!
Now glue the second and third pieces and add some glue onto the 45 degree sides. Fit these both to the side of the table leg and aligned with the bottom of the first trim piece.
If any glue starts to seep out just use the wet rag to clean it off now so it doesn't harden on the surface of the material!
When the second and third pieces are in place glue up the fourth top trim piece with glue on the 45 degree angles, then place in on the top surface of the table leg in alignment with the second and third pieces!
Now add your clamps! Place as many clamps as you can on each side of the table leg but apply even pressure because the trim pieces are going to want to move around as you tighten them together.
CRITICAL: Make sure you keep the correct alignment with each trim piece so they all match up at the bottom and maintain an even alignment with the side and the bottom! If they move around a little just loosen one set of clamps and mallet and a piece of wood to knock it in to place. This way you don't have to completely loosen the clamps and cause the trim piece to fall off or separate!
It may take a while to clamp everything together and still keep all four pieces aligned but above all make sure that all four pieces are aligned at the bottom of the table leg and over the caster plate!
Below is the finished table leg with the bottom trim glued in place!! All it need now is some finishing sanding and your ready to coat with a poly!
Below you can see two of the table legs finished and the difference between the legs with bottom trim and legs without! I personally think the legs with the trim look awesome but that's just me!
What do you think? I'd love to hear your opinion.
See you soon!
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