The Dale C. Maley Family Web Site

I am President of the Livingston County Historical Society in Pontiac, Illinois.  We manage 3 historic homes in Pontiac, including conducting tours to the general public.

If the Jones House, 1 of the 3 historic homes, needs something fixed, the woman in charge of the house gets me to fix it.  With the coronavirus quarantine, I told her I was going stir crazy and I would be happy to go to Pontiac and fix anything she needed.

She contacted me a few weeks later, and said she had a lifelong dream of raising the ornate doll house upstairs on the Jones House, so the mostly older tourists can see how ornate and cool the doll house it.  Right now it sits on the floor, and you do not appreciate what a work of art it is.  She requested I build a table and raise it 30 inches above the ground.  A challenging project for a woodworker like me during a quarantine !!

The house manager wanted the 2 front doors to be opened at 45 degrees, so people can easily see inside the doll house.

I decided to make the table from common pine 1xx4's and use Kreg Pocket screw construction. For the table top, I decided 3/16" Luan plywood would be thick enough, since the doll house weight is absorbed by the table frame, not the top itself.

I made 2 arms that stick out at 45 degrees to support the 2 front doors.  This lets viewers get close to the doll house, which they could not do if I made the table square.

I did not want 2 extra legs sticking down from the 2 arms, for people to trip over..........so they are supported by 45 degree angle arms.

There will be a cloth hanging over the table, so no paint or finish is required on the table.

I had a lot of scrap 1x4's in my inventory, and I have built other supporting structures from then..............and they work fine.

Once I got the table built, I decided to put a shelf in the bottom to store stuff.  I used a piece of 3/16" thick Luan for the shelf, with 1.25x.75 pine pieces around the perimeter to support the shelf.

I have a lot of Luan scrap pieces, but none large enough to make the top from 1 piece.  There is really no reason why it has to be one piece, so I made a separate piece for the RH arm.  I put the Luan upside down on my work bench, then set the table upside down.........on top of the Luan.  Using a ruler and compass, I made a 1 inch border, or the Luan sticks out 1 inch further than the sides (except the back which is flush with the table).  I used a compass to make the arm curved ends........and cut out with my saber saw.

To keep the Luan top in place when I flipped the table and Luan top, I used my air nailer to tack the Luan top in place.  Once flipped over, I used 1-1/4" finishing nails to attach the Luan to the wood frame.  I then hand sanded the Luan saw cut, so nobody gets any splinters from moving the table.