Poppy Table

This was an interesting project. Back in 2006, Robert Lang, one of the editors of the Popular Woodworking magazine built this Gustav Stickley table. Ever since I saw it, I wanted to build one for myself. Well recently, I had the opportunity to build one for a client and, of course, make one for myself as well. My table is not a pure replica of the Gustav Stickley piece originally built in 1896, but close. This was a pre-”Craftsmen Style” piece when Stickley was evolving that style, but still had some “Art Nuveau” influences. I really liked the table, and now I have one.

The woods are birds eye maple and jatoba with African blackwood pegs. I was able to purchase a jatoba board that was 18 1/2” wide, so the table top is one solid piece. The table is built on a pentagonal shape and has five legs. This put the legs on a 72 degree angle. There were a fair amount of pieces to contend with and much duplication, especially with the legs. I made 1/2” plywood patterns of all the pieces, roughed them out on the band and scroll saws and trimmed them to final size on my router table. Stickley’s original piece was quarter-sawn oak, Robert Lang’s was mahagony. I like the contrast of different woods, so chose maple and jatoba. Lang also used hand cut dovetails to join the stretchers to the hub and the legs. I have not done hand cut dovetails before and did not wish to start them with this project, but intend to develop this skill. I used pocket screws and dowel pins instead of dovetails. Dovetails would probably have been easier. there are also two 1/4” dowel pins holding each leg to the shelf with a screw under each plug. I decided to use the pyrimidal pegs used in much of the Green and Green furniture to cover the screws. The finish is two coats of catylized lacquer (dull) that I sprayed on. My camera didn’t get the color quite right, they are not as red as they appear, but rather more brown like mahogany.

-- Bill G - West Springfield, MA