Allyson's Nightstand #1: Introduction

My five year old daughter Allyson was complaining one night that she had no place to set things when she went to bed. As I was getting ready to begin a woodworking class I offered to build her a nightstand. She enthusiastically accepted. I showed her some pictures of different types of nightstands that I thought I might be able to build. Immediately, she began giving me requirements including that it had to have two drawers and a shelf on the bottom. I have been working on it now for a little over a month and she has pretty much lost hope it will ever be finished. But, it is coming along. And in this Blog I will detail my progress.

I began with the bedside table design by Joseph P. Zeh (http://www.srww.com/sketchup-furniture-plans.htm). I liked the looks of the table and so did my client (Allyson). Of course, it needed to be modified to allow for two drawers and a lower shelf. The modified plan is done in Sketchup as is the original. I have changed some of the joinery and some of the dimensions, but it is largely the same. If anyone is interested, when I finish I will make the Sketchup files available. Here is what the table looks like:

I am constructing the table from plain sawn white oak. It is my first large project and my first time using mortise and tenon joints. The woodworking instructor provides a lot of advice and direction which has been very helpful. The shop where the class is held has some very nice equipment that makes many things easier. However, I am trying to make use of only those tools that I have available in my own workshop at home. Of course, if I come across a tool that I really like at the woodworking class, I have a good reason to buy one for home.

My Progress: I have milled most of the pieces (e.g., legs, apron, upper and lower rail). I have cut about 24 mortises. Well actually, I have cut a lot more. But 24 of them are done correctly. There is about four more left to do. I have fitted about 18 tenons so far. I have not really done much planning for the drawer slides or the drawers themselves. I also have not started work on the table top.