Drop Leaf Salon Table

After two seasons of cruising and having many guests over, Judy and I
concluded that the table in the salon was great for eating, but took up a
lot of room for getting together.  For a while last summer, we took the
table out of the salon and put it in the forward cabin.  It opened up a lot
of space.  I started thinking about a compromise that led to this drop leaf
table design for the salon.

The concept is simple.  Cut the table in three sections.  Put it back
together using hinges and drop leaf locks.  Rather than experiment with this
design on the actual table, I bought a piece of plywood and traced the table
shape on it.  I then cut out the plywood table and made the drop leaf
version.  This is not meant to be the final version but a prototype that we
could further modify to get it as we wanted it.
 
The first photo shows the start of the assembly process.  It is a view of
the back side of the plywood table cut into three sections.  The cut out for
the mast compression pole is plainly visible.
The next photos show the table with the hinges and drop leave locks fully
assembled in the flat and retracted positions.  I bought the hinges and drop
leaf locks at the local wood working store.  I cut the piano hinges to fit. 
The drop leaf locks cost about $8 for a set of two.  I used the round
fitting that connects the table to the post from existing table.
 
The next photos show Judy sitting in the salon with the leafs of the table
in the dropped and opened positions.  Also, they provide proof that the Sun
does shine in May in Wisconsin.

We are planning on trying it out for a while this summer.  I will then
modify the original table and cut it into the shape required.