Drop leaves on a classically made tabletop overlap the center panel with rule joints. Unlike the flat interface of a hinged door in its opening, the center panel on a tabletop rule joint will have a roundover profile along the drop-leaf edges, with a short, flat fillet formed along the top of the roundover. The drop leaves, in turn, have a mirror-image cove profile, also with a flat edge on top, so they can nest against the center panel and rotate down and away from it. In the “down” position, the joint still overlaps, hiding the dropleaf hinges underneath.
