Table challenge01

Nothing like getting down to the wire to finish a project! Actually, this one was so much fun I don’t think timing was much of an issue. Here is my table entry.

I used mahogany for all but the trim pieces. My son-in-law and daughter are building a house and have managed to acquire a large stash of the stuff for their flooring. It hasn’t been milled yet so I pilfered some for this table which I will give to them as a housewarming gift. I used 5/8” stock in place of 3/4” to give the whole piece a little lighter or delicate feel….besides, that’s all I had left after I planed out the imperfections.

The buttons on the front are pieces of black walnut (from the crib I’m making for them) and the cross design in the center is of oak. The buttons are all made on the lathe. I like circular shapes, I suppose because they give me a sense of completion, so I used round pieces in place of many of the square design elements in the original table.

I have always been impressed that the original top design looks like it would make a great serving tray so I incorporated that into my table. The top with the breadboard ends simply lifts off to be used as a tray. There is a sub-top underneath it that serves as the table top while you are serving with the upper top. The sub-top has a frame of regular mahogany with mitered corners surrounding a nice piece of spalted mahogany, mounted diagonally, that I used for the center. The tray-top has a cut-out on it’s underside that nests on the sub-top, effectively hiding it and providing perfect alignment. The undersides of the breadboard ends are coved lengthwise (like the legs) to give them a good, secure grip.

To make the legs a little more delicate and to give them more depth I cut a shallow cove with the table saw lengthwise on both exterior surfaces of each leg. I did this after I put the round oak pins in so the pins are flush and coved with the rest of the leg.

Photographing this table was challenging, too. Most notably, the shelf has very nice grain and is very crisp and clean but looks dusty in the pictures because of the lighting and shadows. Sorry.

I finished it with several coats of clear, semi-gloss polyurethane, no stain.

I can’t think of anything else unusual about my table but I sure love it. I hope my daughter and son-in-law do, too. And I hope you enjoy it.

David