In the article and keeping with Shaker tradition, the plan itself calls for a turned spindle for the pedestal. It also includes an accompanying article showing how to do the turned spindle on a router table, or if you have a lathe, you could turn the spindle there. I, however, do not have a lathe and I didn’t want to tackle the router table turning method. Instead I purchased two Country French Legs, one 21” long and the other 15” long so I could make two different size tables. I turned the legs upside down to make them fit the table plan. This also meant I had to make 4 legs of the pedestal instead of the 3 called for in the article.
The only modifications I made to the Country French Legs was to chamfer the edges of the squared top of the leg, which I used as the bottom of the pedestal; and I had a buddy of mine, who has a lathe, to turn the bottom part of the leg and take off some material to create the 1-1/4” x 1-1/2” round tenon that was to be inserted and glued into the 1-1/4” round mortise I had drilled into the collar block and center drawer guide.
The Dovetail Mortise
Now I move over to my router table to make the dovetail mortises in the pedestal that the legs will slide into to complete the lower portion of the table. I attached four legs to the pedestal that I used as compared to the three legs in the magazine version. Making the mortises is a three-step procedure, I used a 3/4” straight bit, a 3/8” straight bit and a 1/2” dovetail bit to complete the process.
First I set-up the router in my router table with a 3/4" straight bit in order to make a 1/8” deep shallow groove in the center of each side of the pedestal. This shallow groove allows the shoulders of the tenons on the legs to be buried in the pedestal, so I can leave the shoulders square instead of having to shape them to match any curve in the pedestal. Before making the groove I marked a reference line on the fence to show where to stop the groove. I did this by making a mark that aligns with the leading edge of the router bit, then I measured 3-3/4” for the length of the mortise and made another mark to the left of router bit to represent a stop line (Note: You’ll need to repeat this procedure for each of the different style of bits. You will also need to mark the placement of the fence, if you have to move the fence to change bits, to ensure that each bit is centered).
Next, I used a 3/8” straight bit to remove the bulk of the material to complete a 5/8” deep groove. I do this to make it easier for the dovetail bit to its job in the next step. I make these grooves in 3 consecutive passes across the bit, each time raising the bit a little more until I reach the 5/8” depth.
Next, I set-up the 1/2” dovetail bit in the router and finished off the grooves for the tenons on the legs. This is a one pass procedure for each section of the pedestal, but for safety’s sake, it is important to turn the router off once the cut has been made, because you must back the pedestal off the router bit and it is safer to do this with the router turned off.
Now we’re ready to glue the legs onto the pedestal which will complete the lower section our pedestal table.
Note the turned 1-1/4" round by 1-1/2" long tenon at what was the bottom of the Country French Leg, but is now the top of the pedestal
