'Pulpit' Hall Table

Hey guys, I thought I would post this project, mostly because the wood has a very cool story behind it. I was approached by a client client asking that I make two projects, one for each of his two children. The projects would be very unique as he asked that I use lumber from a walnut tree that had grown on the children’s Great Grandfather’s farm. The tree was felled sometime in the 1920’s at which time a local craftsman created a pulpit for the Ebenezer Methodist Church located in the community of Ashland, in Franklin County Georgia. When the church was discontinued in the 1960’s, my client’s uncle salvaged the wood and gave it to my client.

When I met with the children, one of them decided to replace a hall table that he had purchased previously. The size was fine but it was all veneer and some of the laminations had started to peel and he desired a drawer for his keys. So the design was pretty simple, just copy the dimensions of what he had and add a drawer. He had seen my walnut coffee table and wanted some sort of relief carving like it had and we decided on what is shown here.

The joinery is loose mortise and tenon. The apron on the front is a single piece of wood, allowing the grain to continue through the drawer face. Sadly, I screwed up the dovetails on the drawer face and ended up with just one big one. I hated it but I didn’t have enough wood (given the second project) to replace the apron. What makes the dovetail issue even worse to me is now that this project is complete the second child decided she wanted this instead of her original idea and I would have had enough to replace the front. Oh well, I suppose you guys and myself are the only ones who will know. The finish is Minwax Dark Walnut Stain and 10 coats of padded shellac, followed by 3 coats of paste wax.

The entire project is made from the wood provided to me including the drawer bottom.

-- Chris,Atlanta Georgia,www.darkhorsewoodworks.com