My client warned me not to reveal the
mechanism of this secret compartment, or he would have to shoot me, a
threat I took seriously as the compartment was designed to hide his
45 which would be easily accessible should a poker game turn south.
But, of course, this is the West. You see a tug on the perimeter of
the table sets the pneumatic lifters, lifted from trunk lifting
parts, into motion, briskly raising the tabletop above its interior
apron and making the contents quickly available. Large custom made
wooden scissor hinges keep the two pieces aligned and a nylon strap
limits the upward motion.
The tricky part was finding lifters of
exactly the right pressure and length, which would deal with the flat
force angle and yet not snap the tabletop upward dangerously fast.
Anyhow, my hope now is that the requisite number of years has passed,
not to mention that this was one of six seemingly identical tables
which I built, though only one with the compartment. The many apron segments are splined, and the whole
apron screwed to the top in order to allow for wood movement.
Aprons glued to their tabletops are, of course, a most common novice
woodworker error.
