Gate Leg Table ~ Circa_1800

Charlie__V

I'm told this is a very old table.....and possibly +125 years old....or more.

I can/will add to the provenance....but for now decided to just model the table to open some discussion about it.

For instance:
Both "leaves" of the table appear to be a single "slab' of wood (old growth lumber)

Wood stock used for the perimeter and hinges varies ± 1/8"....lending credibility to age of table.

Anyway.....I have just modeled the broad strokes....and am interested in how I might model the carved bits of the legs. (perhaps not necessary to model/just use image instead...pls. see attached leg pic)

Charlie

Table Leg

Gate Leg Table...animation... Fredo Animation!

SKP_V8

Dave R

Charlie,

For a gate leg table, that's an interesting design with only four legs.

As for the carving, I wonder if you might draw it flat as if you unwrapped it from the leg and then use Flowify to wrap it up. I would employ the "Dave Method" so you can run Flowify on a much larger scale. Since you have the table at hand you could get an idea of what the carving looks like flat by wrapping a piece of paper tightly around tand then do a rubbing with a wax crayon. That would also make it easier to get dimensions off the carving.

Just a little nit picking on your model: I noticed you've got apron parts inside the leg components. That's not the best structure.

Your arrangement

A better arrangement

With this arrangement, each discreet part is a component. Having a component nested with loose geometry can create problems for you. For example, if you wanted to create a cutlist from your model, the legs wouldn't appear in the list. By nesting them the way I have in the second image, the leg and the "Short hinge" will both appear.

I have a drop leaf table that looks similar to yours although it isn't a gate leg and there's no carving on the legs. My grandparents acquired it in about 1938 and it was about 100 years old then. My father grew up eating at it as did my siblings and I. my son has also grown up eating at that table. It's a curious thing, though. the top and leaves are white oak while the legs and aprons are maple. My grandfather refinished it when he got and it still looks great.