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Need table top

October 23, 2014, 01:57:09 am

When we bought our coach we were informed that the previous owners had the dining table removed and they used TV trays. Ours has the j lounge and from what I can find the table slides back towards the seat to offer more room . 

Contacted David Flannagan and he rustled me up an old base out of the attic and shipped it to me, arriving yesterday but there was no top available. Thinking of building my own top (wood) and was considering making the outside half of the table a drop leaf which would give me more room. I don't see why this wouldn't work. Has anyone else attempted to do this or have any comments as to the best shape and size of the table as I have seen several different shapes and sizes.  DW wanted granite but I told he that it was probably way to heavy for the base and or slide much less me!

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Re: Need table top

Reply #1 – October 23, 2014, 07:30:15 am

A wooden table would be nice.  I turned my football shaped table 180° on the base which moved it 11" towards the front.  That gives you more room at the rear end.  The table is mounted to the pedestal using a wide sliding dovetail mount.  I can send pictures if you want to ee them.  Look on Barry Beam's site.  J Dinette Modification He posted n item on my J shaped table modification.

The newer coached with a J shaped dinette have more of a rectanglar shaped table.  If you look on FT site at coaches for sale and look at pictures or floor plans you can see what they look like.  Maybe that would work for you.  A drop leaf is an interesting idea.

When you mount it make sure you can get drawers open with the slide closed. You can get by with a narrower table than the football table, maybe 20" or so.  Make sure you have enough room for getting round the J end.  Make the aisle side corners "friendly", rounded off or clipped at 45°.

Whenever I want to make something like this I make cardboard mock ups.  You can see where it will fit, how big it is and how it looks. 

Roger

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Reply #2 – October 23, 2014, 07:54:50 am

I had david F remove my J lounge and table and make me a dining bar. Love it much better then the old table. I saw one that was going to be installed out of granite and it was very heavy.

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Reply #3 – October 23, 2014, 08:29:44 am

Coming from the boating world to "land yachts", take a look at the salon dining tables or yacht dining tables thru Googlr for some spectacular ideas on wooden folding tables. You can buy onlays from folks like Cheasapeake Light Boats to really dress them up. Boats are clever about taking/returning floor space.

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Reply #4 – October 23, 2014, 09:12:21 am

I will be taking mine out (table and J lounge) in the next year or so, I want to have a curb side facing fixed table with two chairs

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Reply #5 – October 23, 2014, 09:14:28 am

JOhn,

Pictures are in the forum right? I want something like you have there.

Maybe the "base in the attic" was yours!

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Reply #6 – October 23, 2014, 02:52:33 pm

Thanks guys for the comments.

Roger:  I saw your post while back and looked at it again today and wondered too if the P/O's had turned it around for more room. Your comment led me to another idea or plan B to cloud my addled mind.

 All I have is the pedestal, not the dove tailed sliding base nor top. Here's an idea expounding on your offset comment.  Taking about an 1/8" X 1 1/4" steel and forming a 5" circle with a solid steel bottom welded to the round circle that forms a cup that will mount to the pedestal. Making another Cup slightly smaller that will fit inside of the one mounted to the pedestal and mount it to the table offset with a larger base for more support. Then mount a spring loaded latch pin to the table top that will lock in the position you want. When you want to use the table pull the pin and turn it around. I hope that makes sense.

I'll enlist the aide of my brother who is the wood Guru of the family and works on Historical renovations to court houses and such. He's the talented one of the bunch!

Tim: I like your idea too but I have to convince the Boss and she's tough.  I would really like a table and chairs instead of the lounge but that means taking out seating and she's not up for that....yet.  Our coaches are the same model. How much room is between the table and the kitchen cabinet with the slide in?   

John: I really liked the bar idea but she shot that down quick.       

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Reply #7 – October 23, 2014, 05:48:29 pm

i am still stock in my coach, want to go to something like JohnS's table

my current coach with slide in and table in leaves about 24" between cabinet and table top

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Reply #8 – October 23, 2014, 10:41:15 pm

Bruce,

Our table was in its original position.  The rear end of the table was closer to the seat back than we wanted so I just disassembled the base and turned it 180°.  The original bas is not in the center of the table.  Apparently in 40' models the relationship between the turned table and the kitchen cabinets is different than it is in the 40'.  I wnat to make a new table, more rectangular and move it 5 or 6" towards the rear.  I would be concerned about too small of a table. But a drop leaf might give you the best of both worlds.  In an ideal world we would have liked a simple table and chairs but we like the J dinette and have discovered an enormous unused storage space underneath it.  The front panels just pull off and snap back on.

However you make an attachment, table to post, it should not come off without some positive action on your part.  You wouldn't want the table coming off the base unexpectedly.

Roger

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Reply #9 – October 23, 2014, 11:34:05 pm

Thanks Roger,
I think the original idea of a drop leaf would be a lot simpler. Since I've never seen one, is the leaf on the original tables extend length or width?  I assume length but how long? Also is the original base under the table worth the effort in replicating or does it have something to do with the leaf system? I'm flying blind since as stated before I've never seen one especially from underneath. Thanks again.

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Reply #10 – October 24, 2014, 08:31:49 am

I found that the j lounge table top was too heavy and it was never stable and thus we went with the dining bar after a number of years trying to get it right.

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Reply #11 – October 24, 2014, 10:08:19 am

Bruce,

The original table does not have a drop leaf, it is just an oval football shaped top with the ends clipped off.  Ours seems pretty solid.  If the sliding dovetail mount is not snug then the table will wobble.  I will be out in the coach working on my endless list of projects today and will take some pictures of the underside and the table and send them to you. 

John's dining bar has a lot of nice features.  It can double as a desk (if the table height and chair height are right), you get to look out the window, maybe at something nice, and there is more room around it when not using the table.  John had some extra floor added along there as well, nice idea.

Here is a link to his mod.

Dining Area to Breakfast Bar

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