Mahogany Veneered End Tables

Built 2 mahogany end table to match purchased coffee table.

Body of table is made of African mahogany. Top and sides are mahogany burl veneered to birch plywood, with paduak strip inlays.

Construction
- Used hot iron method to attach burl to birch plywood (paint two coats of PVC glue to plywood and to back of veneer, wait for it to dry, cut veneer and then use iron to reheat and attach veneer to plywood)
- Miter framed both the tops and the side panels with solid wood
- Construct L shaped legs by routing profile into two lengths. Miter rip the lengths on the RAS and then clean up with 45 deg chamfer bit on router. Should have spline reinforced the long miter but used glue blocks instead.
- Constructed feet in a similar way and joined to legs using dowels.
- Joined legs to side panels using floating mortise and tenon joints (i love the mortisepal jig)
- Joined tops using figure 8 connectors
- Finished using 2 coats light walnut danish oil, followed by dark pore filler, followed by 3 coats of satin poly
- Rubbed out tops using paste wax and steel wool

Lessons Learned:
- Burl veneers crack – After 4 attempts using a softening solution to prevent, I could not stop cracks from developing in face, even after being glued down. They look ok after finishing process
- Really need to ensure glue is evenly distributed before pressing a veneer as the process does not even it out and it is impossible smooth out afterwards.

-- Shawn, I ask in order to learn