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The side table seems to be one of the most popular beginning woodworking projects and I had never made one, so it was about time! Some call these side tables, some call them end tables, plant stands, night tables, etc. I have no idea what's correct, but I'm sticking with side. Feel free to disagree.

While building it you can really see why it's so popular. There are so many different directions that you can go with the basic design and so many different construction/joinery options you can use that it's accessible to pretty much everyone.

I decided on a classic shaker design with mostly traditional joinery. The aprons are joined to the legs with mortise and tenons and the drawer is dovetailed.

Everything is made of cherry except the drawer sides, which are poplar. Selecting the right stock for the different pieces actually makes a big difference to the final look of the piece - I had no idea. Chris Schwarz did a nice DVD for Lie-Nielsen a while back with the whole construction process, including selecting the right stock, and I think it makes a big difference to the overall look/feel.

Feel free to take a look at the full blog post here and I also filmed the whole process:


I'm really happy with how everything came out. The cherry is maybe a little splotchy, but nobody except me will ever notice. It fits in with the house really well and is something I'm happy to take credit for when people comment.

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Comments

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746 Posts
Oh man! I really like this.
You got it all just right!
Congratulations on a job well done!
 

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3,279 Posts
Nice job. The blotching will go away.
 

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16,235 Posts
I agree with the other commenters: Very nice build, looks great!
 

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4,322 Posts
I think one of the reasons it is so popular is the simple elegance of the final product. Yours certainly is something I would notice and stop to admire.
 

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85 Posts
This is an absolutely gorgeous side table. The Shaker side table might be a very popular project, but you really brought something special to this one!
 

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23 Posts
Nice job. The blotching will go away.

- CharlesA
Thanks Charles - I'm thinking it will too. I did a step stool a little over a year ago in the same cherry stock and it's gotten considerably darker already.
 
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