Cherry Shaker Table

Gorgeous table.
Too good for a lowly fish tank :)

-- Still learning everything

Ditto rpmurhpy’s comments. The dovetails and the finish look good.

Thanks for sharing.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Very nice,,,,,don’t think I would hide it with a fish tank though. Make another out of one 8’ 2×4 to put the tank on! ; )

-- Les, Wichita, Ks. (I'd rather be covered in saw dust!)

I like the table – having never built one before, I noticed that the gap between the drawer opening and drawer is pretty symmetrical – I was wondering how you create a gap on the bottom if the drawer is sliding on drawer runners – how did you create the effect of a gap – it does not look like you used drawer slides so I was wondering how you got the lift to the drawer front to create the appearance of space under the drawer front? Thanks.

nice looking table. I like the knob. did you make that too ?

-- ..... art for lifes sake

Thanks guys for the great comments. Les, I wish you’d said that about a month ago, I think I could have come up with something interesting. Truthfully I just couldn’t come up with anything on my own which is why I didn’t enter. lol.
Tomas, the drawer was of course made first with about 1/16” gap around the whole drawer face. I then made some L shaped drawer sliders out of two pieces of 3/4” hard maple and drilled them w/ square bottom countersinks for for pan head screws. Then I drilled out the screw holes so that the threads wouldn’t grab on the L shaped slider and would also give a tad of wiggle room so that you can adjust it a hair if the slide moves on you while putting in the screw. Next take the drawer face and wedge it around the perimeter so that there is a 1/16” gap all the way around. You can also use some squeeze clamps to help hold it in position. Next take the pre-drilled L shaped sliders and place them snugly underneath the drawer. Clamp them with two or three clamps. Screw them in place. check your up and down drawer alignment and if the sliders crept any on you, just loosen the screws and move them as necessary. Check the alignment of the drawer face and reclamp if necessary. Next the side to side movement need to be addressed. Measure the side gaps and cut a spacer out of some 3/4” stock and screw to the table sides. leave a hair less than a 1/16” on each side between the spacer and the side of the drawer. The only thing left to do is to put the kicker/top mount assembly on which is just the same L shaped slider turned upside down with slotted holes facing the table top to allow for seasonal movement due to moisture. I knew I should have taken some pictures on the construction. I’ll see if I can post some tomorrow.
Dan, I can’t take credit for the knob. I wish I could!

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Very nice table! Excellent work.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

It’s beautiful, and the finish looks perfect.

-- Maplewood, MN

Really good looking table.

-- Andy Stark

nice!
I agree.. a shame to cover up that table top

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Very nice. That wipe on poly did it justice. Did you use filler or stain underneath?
I wish I had a truck load of that cherry too. It looks wonderful.

Steve

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Nice work, great looking table.

-- Jim Hallada, Chesterfield, VA

Beautiful job, Carl!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Now there’s an example how the dovetails should be done, Nice work

Wonderful looking table, classic design. What are your tricks for preventing chipout on those beautiful dovetails? Which doveil jig do you use?

-- Bob A in NJ

Thanks again for the great comments!
Steve, the only thing I put on this was Minwax satin wipe on poly. One of the wood mags (I can’t remember which one) did a comparison of wipe on polyurethanes. Anyway, the Minwax was the cheapest and the best. I can’t say enough good things about it. I sanded between coats with 220 on the first three, and went to 320 on the last three. The great thing about this stuff is that it skins over in about 15 minutes and is ready for sanding and recoating in 2 hours. Because it dries so fast, dust isn’t a problem. Plus you can easily put on 6 coats a day. Anyone who hasn’t used this stuff, need to try it. I really don’t think they’d be disappointed. I originally got started on this stuff when I built a coffee table recently. Been hooked ever since.
Bob, I cut the dovetails by hand. j/k! I’ve actually got the Porter Cable dovetail jig. (not the omnijig) I’ve got all three available templates. I used the miniature template on this one. I really didn’t do anything special to avoid tearout. When cutting half-blind dovetails on this thing, you put both boards in and cut the tails and pins at the same time with the outside faces facing the jig. This in effect gives you a backer board for the tails (drawer sides). Also, you cut these things with a climbing cut from right to left which helps too. And, I may have just gotten lucky to some extent. The Woodwhisperer has a pretty good video on the subject in which he scores a line along the bottom of the dovetail and also suggests covering the face of the cut with the blue tape which helps also. If cutting through dovetails, always put a backer board in the jig on the side where the bit will emerge. One other thing to note is that some woods are just more prone to tearout than others.
One more thing, the jig is really easy to use as it has all kinds of tips on the top and sides. Maybe one day I can graduate to an Omnijig or a Leigh.

-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC

Thats a nice Shaker Table, and nice dovetails.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

OMG!

That table would make any Shaker jealous!

Lew

Great table!

Thanks for the post

Callum

-- Look great, get your TTK merchandise now! http://www.printfection.com/thetimberkid/ Check out my site http://thetimberkid.blogspot.com/

Wonderful looking table,

-- jeanmarc manosque france