Arts and Crafts Nightstand

A really beautiful stand. Great job!

Nice job, Cody. The light finish on the oak, plus the tapers on the legs, give the piece a nice contemporary look. Nice job on the joinery details.

-- Tim-- http://www.tmuli.com

You can’t go wrong with the Arts and Crafts style. Your nightstand looks great! Now get busy on that matching bed. We want to see more pictures of your work, and sleeping on the floor is hard on the back.

-- Doug

Great piece to start with, will get more confident as you progress

-- Norman

Beautiful nightstand.

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

Hi Cody,

Nice simple design even if was hard to assemble.
Someone has to ask, and we don’t see all sides, however why did you put the shittiest piece of wood on the front?
If it’s by choice and you wanted it there, it certainly adds bit of off-beat charm to the whole piece.
Not insult meant or implied by asking.
Thanks for sharing
jb

-- Playing with wood and metal for the last 50 years, driving and building Land Cruisers for the last 40. Experience is what you get when you don't know what you are doing.

Well now, that is very nice. Those mortices must have been tedious, but just think if that was all you had to do for a living. Beautiful!

The drawer front and side aprons seem a little high and the through tenons protruding a bit too much, unless of course you like that a lot, but the lower shelf is perfect in its placement and the under-beveled top adds a real level of refinement. Nice finish too.

-- gene@toronto.ontario.canada : dovetail free since '53, critiques always welcome.

Nice craftsmanship.. Keep up the good work..

-- Tim, Missouri ....Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the heck happened

Very cool. I’m extremely impressed with your dovetails.

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

Usually tops are beveled to make a piece look lighter ,(as in a Shaker design with tapered legs), but in this case , it just looks like a thin top on a heavy carcase , at least in these photos….I agree with vipond33 that the protruding tenons are excessive and the lower “aprons” are a bit on the high side as well. Can’t trust my eyes , but it appears that there is a small bead at top and bottom of the drawer and I can’t tell if it(they) were continued onto the aprons or not. It seems like you have a lot of different styles in mind as you’re designing your pieces , which isn’t a bad thing . JMHO : )
Overall , you did a great job and the finish looks great from here. Congrats on the dovetails !! : )

-- When did quiet and quite become the same word ? I'm guessing about the same time as your and you're did.

Rimfire- I purposefully put the piece with the knots on the drawer front to add a bit of rustic visual interest.
Dusty56- Your eyes have not deceived you, there is a small 1/4” (approx.) bead on the top and bottom of the drawer.
And as several people have noticed the through tenons are a bit longer than is typical. They protrude 3/8”, initially I thought I would like this but now with it complete they do look a bit odd. Things I would change:
No bevel on the underside of the top, full 3/4” thickness with corbels on the sides.
Shorter through tenons, 1/4” rather than 3/8”.
Make the drawer front and upper aprons 5” rather than the 6” I went with.
Thanks everyone for the critiquing and comments, they are much appreciated.

-- Cody - Salt Lake City, UT

I think if the top was full thickness , the 6”depth would look fine because some of it would be in “shadow”and the corbels would also come into play, giving it more balance : )
Keep up the good work !

-- When did quiet and quite become the same word ? I'm guessing about the same time as your and you're did.

Nice shot on the dovetails. I’m vasilating between getting a leigh jig or going traditional….

-- I'm not crying... That's dust in my eyes!

Great looking bedside table, love the exposed tenon.

If you are dreading doing lots of square spindles on the bed, there is a shortcut method with a table saw. What you do is cut out a groove from the stretchers and then cut a strip that looks like dentil molding to fit back into the grove. The result is that you get lots of square mortises without a chisel or mortiser. I found out about this method when building a coffee table from some wordsmith plans (see my projects). The technique is easier to do than describe, but the plans were pretty clear.