# Greene and Greene inspired raised dog tray



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Sketch and leg glue up*

My wife and I have noticed that our 6 year old black lab/chow mix, Ninja,









lately has only been drinking water from the bowl in his crate(raised) and never from the water bowl on the kitchen floor. We keep his crate open at all times, he just likes to go in there at night when we're watching TV since its covered and den like.

Anyways, for a while we thought it was the bowl itself, but when we moved the one from the floor to the crate attached one that is attached half way up the crate and he'd drink it. We moved the one from the crate to the floor and he wouldn't touch it. So we figured it must be uncomfortable for him to lower his head so much. That's where this idea came from this past week. A raised dog tray for his water and food bowl. So I sketched up this one a few nights ago on a post it and got started on it today with leftover cherry boards I still have remaining from the nightstand last year (I purchased too much). Here are my plans, forgive the crudeness.










I wanted to use traditional joinery, and I've been wanting to do a Greene and Greene style for a while. I really like that style. I know these pics don't do it justice, but its going to have some of the staples of Greene and Greene. These include cloud lifts on the aprons and raised plugs to cover the pinned mortise and tenon joinery. Also, raised end cap covers for the breadboard ends. The only difference is I'm not going to use ebony for the plugs. I'm going to use Cherry for the entire piece, and Hard Maple for the plugs. I'm also still deciding how I want to make the legs. I may shave a curve into one edge, or do the chiseled indent that greene and greene is known for. If I do the latter though, it will be rounded per my wife's request.

So today I went in to the garage to decide on all the measurements and start work. Small plywood scraps can be very useful when you don't have paper nearby 









The top thickness will be 1", the aprons will all have a haunched tenons and will all be pinned. The legs will be 2" wide by 1 3/4" thick. Today, all I was able to do though was flatten, rip to 2" wide and glue together cherry to make the 1 3/4" thickness required. The legs are a bit long right now but will be cut to final size of 14" tomorrow.










I'm still unsure if the proportions will look okay since my drawing isn't to scale. The measurements are correct for the dog bowl spacing, but with a 17" wide by 9" top (not including breadboards), will 2" wide breadboards on each end look too wide?


----------



## bigfish_95008 (Nov 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Sketch and leg glue up*
> 
> My wife and I have noticed that our 6 year old black lab/chow mix, Ninja,
> 
> ...


A special piece for a special friend.


----------



## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Sketch and leg glue up*
> 
> My wife and I have noticed that our 6 year old black lab/chow mix, Ninja,
> 
> ...


Uh … Dang, Eric. You may not have been building too much stuff, recently, but you've obviously been thinking woodworking, and learning a great deal !

Nice drawings-truly.
Great picture. Awwww. Ninja ! Look at the MITTS on that dog. Good thing he's a sweetie !

I think this is going to be a great project to watch. Titebond III, of course. Waterproof.

The BB ends can be the last thing you do, and don't have to be impacted by any other element of design, meaning … you can test with strips of different widths, and then do your joinery on them, when you've decided. I wouldn't spend too much time monkeying around with something that you can live-test, later, with such great ease.

Very nice project. I'd like to eat and drink out of something so nice !


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Sketch and leg glue up*
> 
> My wife and I have noticed that our 6 year old black lab/chow mix, Ninja,
> 
> ...


Neil, Titebond 3 for sure. Ninja is a messy drinker. 
The top is last so thanks for suggesting waiting on the bb ends.
He'll be eating like a king when it's finished. I plan on making a nice dining table sometime hopefully in the near future. I bought a few books on beds and dining tables since those are my next projects most likely but a new coffee table may take precedence.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Sketch and leg glue up*
> 
> My wife and I have noticed that our 6 year old black lab/chow mix, Ninja,
> 
> ...


Great project, Eric!

Nice to know I'm not the only person still using Sketchup v0.0 ;^)

Our Quigley- a Basset Hound, is also a messy drinker but his legs are so short he probably couldn't use one of these!


----------



## Ken90712 (Sep 2, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Sketch and leg glue up*
> 
> My wife and I have noticed that our 6 year old black lab/chow mix, Ninja,
> 
> ...


I look fwd to watching this. We have Chlt Lab named Kaina. She is a therapy dog working with children in the schools and hospitals. As most dog owners, we love those little guys more than anything. I made a dog dish holder for her a while ago. Here is a post of that.
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/50942

I love G & G , I'm reading the book that Darrell Pert wrote on them, it's amazing. I can see myself making one of these G and G bowls as well
Great post!!!!!


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*

Today was a productive day 

The Legs
---------------------
I started by finishing up the legs. 









There wasn't too much cleanup needed, just a few passes with my trusy #7…









And then cut them to final length of 14" using a stop block on my crosscut sled.









I also found this on one of the legs. Is this gumming that is common with Cherry or is this spalting? Either way, its pretty.









Aprons
-----------------------

Now that the legs are done(minus the mortises), I moved on to the aprons.
I started by flattening and cutting to boards to length of 14" for the front and back and 7" for the sides…









I then planed them to 3/4" thick and ripped them to 3.5" width…









Now comes the tenons. Last time I did tenons for the nightstands, I used my bandsaw. This time I decided to try and do them on my crosscut sled with a stop block. I found this to be just as easy, and probably a little more accurate. First, I raised the blade to 1/4" and placed a stop block at 1" from the end.









After the first pass, I just slowly made successive passes to form the tenons. I wish I had a table saw capable of handling dado blades. Oh well.


















I then rotated them to the face and cut the bottom of the tenons.









Using the same technique, I cut 1" deep into the tenons for the haunches but 1/4" of the tenon length remained for this area.










Clouds Lifts
-----------------------
Now for the tricky part, the cloud lifts on the aprons. To start, I marked the center of the front and side aprons and then marked halfway from that to each side for the front. The side was similar but a little bit past half way on each side due to how small it was. I also marked a line across for each cloud lift level. Each one was 3/4" apart.

Since each cloud lift level was 3/4" apart, I set my compass to a 3/8" radius. 









To make the curves, I placed the point of the compass at the center of each halfway mark, and made a tick to the left and right across the horizontal lines.









Then, from each of those ticks, I made a quarter of a circle to make the S curves…


















Now I have the layout to cut 


















To cut them, I paired of the front and back as well as the sides, taped the tops and tenons together, and ran them through my bandsaw.


















Since I had a 1/2" blade, I wasn't able to make the curve cuts accurately. I did a few slices and then chopped those out, but still needed some filing to get the final shape.









I then used a dowel wrapped with sandpaper to smooth the curves out and get rid of the filing marks.


















And that's it for today. I still need to cut grooves on the inside of the aprons for the buttons that will be holding the top and allow for expansion. Also, I need to cut mortises in the legs, make the top and breadboard ends as well as the plugs which will wait until next weekend.

I'm also not sure about the height of the aprons at 3.5". The front and back look okay, but on the sides it looks squished. Also for a 14" leg height, 3.5" may seem to bulky. I may rip off the tops of the aprons a bit to 3" but I haven't decided yet. I may try to cut a piece from scraps to see how it would look at 3" before I cut them if I go that route.

Thanks for looking.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


Nice photo's of your progress, Eric!


----------



## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


That's "IT" for today ?

That's about two months of work, for me !

That, my friend, is beautifully blogged, well thought out, and serious progress. Great fun to watch, and … spot on, at every step !

Well Played, Sir !

One question: that Old #7 …. does that come with a mast and sail for those breezy summer days ?


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


Thanks Lew.

Much appreciated Neil. I thought Greene and Greene style would be a good one to blog on. I definitely am moving faster than I was on the Nightstands. I think I've become more comfortable with my skill level compared to last year and have the jigs and scraps I need to work efficiently and accurately.

That old #7 is a beauty isn't she? I plan on restoring her soon. I still can't believe that she's over 110 years old and I bought it in great shape for its age for $30 on ebay.


----------



## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


lil doggy is gonna luv it.


----------



## Rob_n_Wood (Mar 25, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


Dog gone good idea 
I Love the Greene & Greene Style 
I will be following along with the progress 
although at this pace looks like it won't take to long
Great pictorial thanks for posting


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


Next time you are at a hobby store pick up a large and a small circle template. I use mine all the time for making circles and arcs for band saw boxes and other woodworking projects. (A French curve helps too- this is the old draftsman in me talking.) I have and use a compass too- but the templates are easier to use most of the time, and the large one goes up to 3.5"D. They cost just a few dollars and have saved me lots of time.
You do excellent woodworking- and with limited resources. Gotta say though that buying an inexpensive 1/4" band saw blade would have saved you lots of rasping time. Been there, done that, and changing out the blade is a bugger- but sometimes worth it.
That is some nice figure in the cherry wood. Hope your dog has a high appreciation of beautiful wood- LOL.


----------



## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


eric, 
you might look into getting a table saw box joint set like the one by Freud. It's handy for box joints, but it also makes a nice "dado" set that is sure to fit on your TS. The blades are flat ground, which is good for joinery, and very good quality. it's also good for cutting grooves, such as in frames to hold 1/4" panels, etc. I got mine on ebay for less than $50.


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


Aaron, do you mean a dado blade set? My table saw can't handle it but I wish it could.

Donna, 
I actually was thinking a curve template would be helpful but at that moment I just wanted to get it done and didn't have one on hand. I will be picking one up for sure though soon. Also, I do have a 1/4" bandsaw blade, and heavily debated putting it on, but my current one was already square to the table and ready to go so I thought rasping/sanding would be quicker. It really only took a few minutes extra to file and sand it smooth. But yes, I agree I could have saved time with one if it was already on my bandsaw. This would have been the perfect use for it.

Ninja has a very high appreciation for wood, it just involves "marking" it outside lol. He won't be marking anything wood related indoors though


----------



## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


no no - something like this http://www.amazon.com/Freud-SBOX8-Cutter-4-Inch-grooves/dp/B000ASGV1E

it's basically as wide as two regular TS blades side by side, the teeth are just a little wider on either side… so it fits on small benchtop saws (although you might need to make a new insert).


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


Thanks Aaron, that would have helped. Adding it to my wishlist….


----------



## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

Eric_S said:


> *Legs, Aprons, Haunched Tenons, and Cloud Lifts*
> 
> Today was a productive day
> 
> ...


I'm adding that to mine too.. looks handy to have.


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Updated sketch using SketchUp*

My initial crude drawings didn't give me a sense of the proportions of the apron heights. I wanted to see how it would look with the 3.5" height against the 14" leg all assembled. So I made a real sketchup to size…

I think it looks okay. This was done quickly this morning and without all the curves or exact spacing in the lengths of each cloud lifts, but gives me a good idea that it will look fine. The legs will each have a bit carved out of the outer corner edge too.




























I can't wait to get back to working on it next wekeend.


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Updated sketch using SketchUp*
> 
> My initial crude drawings didn't give me a sense of the proportions of the apron heights. I wanted to see how it would look with the 3.5" height against the 14" leg all assembled. So I made a real sketchup to size…
> 
> ...


well from a dogs perspective

looks good enough
to eat off of


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Updated sketch using SketchUp*
> 
> My initial crude drawings didn't give me a sense of the proportions of the apron heights. I wanted to see how it would look with the 3.5" height against the 14" leg all assembled. So I made a real sketchup to size…
> 
> ...


Thanks, David. Its nicer than the table my wife and I eat off as of now. Hopefully that will change soon.


----------



## JohnMeeley (Jan 5, 2012)

Eric_S said:


> *Updated sketch using SketchUp*
> 
> My initial crude drawings didn't give me a sense of the proportions of the apron heights. I wanted to see how it would look with the 3.5" height against the 14" leg all assembled. So I made a real sketchup to size…
> 
> ...


I was hoping for the .skp file 

Can't wait to see more.


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Updated sketch using SketchUp*
> 
> My initial crude drawings didn't give me a sense of the proportions of the apron heights. I wanted to see how it would look with the 3.5" height against the 14" leg all assembled. So I made a real sketchup to size…
> 
> ...


John, send me a PM with your e-mail and I'll forward it to you. Just know its pretty crude, but the overall dimensions I think are accurate. The placement of the plugs though aren't, etc.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Updated sketch using SketchUp*
> 
> My initial crude drawings didn't give me a sense of the proportions of the apron heights. I wanted to see how it would look with the 3.5" height against the 14" leg all assembled. So I made a real sketchup to size…
> 
> ...


Ninja is going to be the envy of all his friends!


----------



## kenn (Mar 19, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Updated sketch using SketchUp*
> 
> My initial crude drawings didn't give me a sense of the proportions of the apron heights. I wanted to see how it would look with the 3.5" height against the 14" leg all assembled. So I made a real sketchup to size…
> 
> ...


I was worried people would think I was nuts for dovetailing my dogs feeding stations! You've got me beat!


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Mortises and dry fit of base*

Today I was able to route and square all the mortises for the haunched tenons.

To start, I laid out the legs with the best faces facing outward and numbered them so I know which way each leg should face and where the mortises would go.









I then measured in so that the apron was 3/8" from each outside edge of the leg and scored them.









I then lightly went over each scratch mark with a pencil to make the lines easier to see.









The mortises are going to be 3/8" wide by 3 1/2" by 1" deep. However, the first 1 1/4" is only 1/4" deep for the haunched tenons.

I grabbed my mortise jig that I made for the nightstands a while ago. I'm so glad I made this, it made making these a breeze (minus one error on my part you'll see later). 









So with my jig, I placed the leg underneath the jig, added 1/2" extra to the depth of the router cuts to account for the mortise jig table, and placed the adjustable stop blocks.









I also placed a stop block below the jig so that I could crank these mortises out quickly by setting each legs start point in relation to the jig.

However, after my my first leg, I realized I forgot to clamp down the leg itself. This is the result. Luckilly the mess up will be on the inside of the table and no one will see it.









After that mess up, I grabbed a few toggle clamps and fitted the jig with them and continued to make the other legs. You may be wondering why there is a wedge in there. Well the jig wasn't perfectly square anymore so I used the wedge to make the leg rest flat under the table so the mortises were at 90 degrees to the leg. 









I routed the mortises in increments of 1/4" using my plunge depth locks on the Dewalt router(love it). After the first pass bringing it to 1/4" deep, I used a line I marked to know how far I can go to the left to continue the deeper cuts. This allowed me to have two stop blocks for the two depths without having to lay one down after the first pass. 









Then I just squared up the mortises using my 3/8" Sorby mortise chisel.









Now for the dry fit to make sure the height I originally measured against my dog, actually was correct and that the base came together square. I placed his dog bowl directly over the base and put a treat in it to see how easy it was for him to get to it. The table will add another 1" in height, but after watching him I'm sure it will be fine.



















Tomorrow, I'm going to route a few grooves on the inside of the aprons to accept buttons that will hold the top and allow for it to expand and contract. I'll also be making the table top and breadboard ends. If time allows I'll work on the plugs but I doubt I'll get there. Stay tuned….


----------



## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Mortises and dry fit of base*
> 
> Today I was able to route and square all the mortises for the haunched tenons.
> 
> ...


it's great how the jigs that seem to make one project take forever when you have to make them then (seemingly ad hoc) make other projects go so smoothly and quickly 

anyway, it looks good. your dog certainly seems to like it already.


----------



## Rob_n_Wood (Mar 25, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Mortises and dry fit of base*
> 
> Today I was able to route and square all the mortises for the haunched tenons.
> 
> ...


Things are looking good And it is always good to know the end user
will be happy


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Mortises and dry fit of base*
> 
> Today I was able to route and square all the mortises for the haunched tenons.
> 
> ...


Good photo layout.


----------



## gul (Apr 16, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Mortises and dry fit of base*
> 
> Today I was able to route and square all the mortises for the haunched tenons.
> 
> ...


nice work and the user seems to like it !


----------



## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Mortises and dry fit of base*
> 
> Today I was able to route and square all the mortises for the haunched tenons.
> 
> ...


mighty nice haunched mortise n tenons. I know the pup gotta luv this design


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Mortises and dry fit of base*
> 
> Today I was able to route and square all the mortises for the haunched tenons.
> 
> ...


Glad you did't have to shorten the dog's legs!! ;^)


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Top and breadboard ends*

I was hoping to finish everything today except the plugs. However, I only had enough time to do the top and initial breadboard ends. It took longer than expected being my first time doing it, the grooves on the top for the end caps and making the elongated holes on the sides of the BB ends will have to wait until next weekend.

To start, I grabbed the widest board I had to avoid having to edge joint the top. Here it is at 11" wide and in dire need of flattening. The sapwood near the edge will be cut off. 









Look at all the beautiful shavings..









I was hoping to have the top an inch thick, but due to some bad warping I had to bring it down from a little over 4/4 to 13/16. I was debating bringing it down to 3/4" to make math easier for tenon and groove spacing, but I wanted it as thick as possible. After thicknessing and planing one side smooth, I cut it to 19×9. the top is 17" with an inch tenon on each side.









Just like the aprons, I ran it through the table saw using a crosscut sled to make the tenons with the blade set 1/4" above the sled.









I still have to make them haunched, but that will have to wait until next week.

I then ripped the breadboard ends to 2 1/2" wide and crosscut them to 9 1/2". 


















I was going to use the router table to make the groove, but due to time constraints today I ran it through the table saw a few times since that was already set up. If I did it with the router table, I'd have to do a few adjustments to get the width since the tenon was between 1/4" and 3/8", but not quite 3/8". So this was quicker. After looking back, I should have thicknessed the top to make it 3/4". It would have made this so much easier in the end.

Here is the underside with the breadboard ends on. Or maybe its the top side, I haven't decided. I sort of like the not, but I think either way its going to be partially cut out when I make the holes for the dog bowls.









Next weekend, I'll hopefully finish it up. Still remaining…grooves in the aprons to accept buttons for the top, the buttons themselves, end caps and haunching the tenons for the G&G style breadboard ends, and then glue up/pinning the tenons on the legs. The BB ends will have elongated screw holes covered with plugs as will the pins.


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Top and breadboard ends*
> 
> I was hoping to finish everything today except the plugs. However, I only had enough time to do the top and initial breadboard ends. It took longer than expected being my first time doing it, the grooves on the top for the end caps and making the elongated holes on the sides of the BB ends will have to wait until next weekend.
> 
> ...


coming along nicely eric

your series here is a nice journey too

ninga must be getting exited

he'll be eating like a dog soon
a happy one


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Top and breadboard ends*
> 
> I was hoping to finish everything today except the plugs. However, I only had enough time to do the top and initial breadboard ends. It took longer than expected being my first time doing it, the grooves on the top for the end caps and making the elongated holes on the sides of the BB ends will have to wait until next weekend.
> 
> ...


Thank you, David. Ninja I'm sure will enjoy eating comfortably without leaning down. Hopefully though he appreciates the work too lol.


----------



## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Top and breadboard ends*
> 
> I was hoping to finish everything today except the plugs. However, I only had enough time to do the top and initial breadboard ends. It took longer than expected being my first time doing it, the grooves on the top for the end caps and making the elongated holes on the sides of the BB ends will have to wait until next weekend.
> 
> ...


nice chunk of progress 

considering that its a dog's dish, i'd put the knot on the bottom side if I were doing it. it'll be easier to clean


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Pinned Tenons, Routing the holes for the bowls, and routing/gluing end caps for the tongues*

Today was a short but busy day. I glued the base together earlier this week and finally had time to finish that with the pinned tenons today.

Pinned Tenons
----------------

I started by making a quick jig with some scrap for aligning the pins in all the glued tenons. Each tenon was going to have two pins in it at slightly different positions. To make the jig, I took a scrap piece of wood, and screwed a scrap to each side so that it was almost flush with opposite sides. I then glued a piece on the top and bottom flush with opposite sides as well so that I could use one jig for both left and right legs just by flipping the jig over. I drilled two holes in each side to help guide the drill holes as well.



















I then used a very sharp brad point I use for drilling pen blanks and set a stop collar on it for the dowel depths. The dowels and drill bit I used was 5/16". 









Using the jig was a breeze, just match the leg side to the leg and clamp. The top rests on the top of the base and the side rests on the leg side so each leg was spaced correctly.



















The dowels I had were standard length dowels, but I didn't want to use the full length so I taped all of them together(and a few extra just in case), and sent them through the bandsaw.



















I then glued them in tapered side down to make it easier to get them in place. I used a mallet and a full dowel as a guide to help hammer them in.



















Bowl Holes
-------------
For the bowl holes, I debated using a jigsaw and carefully cutting the circles but decided against it. This would be the perfect use for a router with a circle jig and was super easy to do. First, I took a 1/4" piece of plywood and cut it to size to accept the router and some extra length for different sized circles to allow for future use.










The bowls under the rim measured 6", so I plunged my bit through the new jig and measured from the edge of there to 3" and drilled a tiny hole for a nail.


















All I had to do now was find the centers of the bowls and drill another tiny hole, rest the jig and place a nail through both holes. Then I took two passes on each one with just half depth on the first pass.









Now for all you pros out there, is there a good way to do the final pass? I was just very careful to make sure once the circle was fully cut, the router didn't shoot out and damage the table top. There has to be a better way. Any suggestions? Tape from underside before its fully cut out?

Table top Tongue End caps
---------------------
To hide the open joint of the tongue and groove used in the breadboard ends on table tops, Greene and Greene were genius in using a decoration to hide the expansion and open joint. I always thought these were just for decoration until learning their true purpose when I became interested in G&G style. They just used end caps glued to the table top side so that it could move freely in the breadboard ends. If the wood contracts in the breadboard ends, instead of having a recessed tongue visible, the end caps still covered that recess. Clever guys.

Anyways, I used two straight edges to keep my router flat and routed the tongues 1/4" deep by 1" long to accept the end caps using a router edge guide.



















After squaring these off, I cut end caps using maple. The side that glues on to the table top was 3/8" thick, and the cloud lift detail that will rest in the breadboard ends gets to 5/8" thick.


















Placing glue ONLY only the table top side, I glued them in place.



























One question though I'm hoping someone may have a suggestion for. 
Originally, I planned on using buttons to keep the table top flat to the base in grooves on the aprons. I forgot to take those in to account when deciding on the table length and width and the position of the bowl holes. Now that they are cut, there is no where except the center to screw buttons to the aprons. How can I attach the table top now so that it remains flat while still allowing for expansion of it? The last picture hopefully shows what I'm talking about. The bowl holes just take up too much space to allow for buttons anywhere but the center.

Tomorrow I hope to make the elongated screw holes for the breadboard ends, cut the plugs for those and the pinned tenons, and sand everything. Then just apply finish and call it done.

I can almost see the finish line


----------



## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Pinned Tenons, Routing the holes for the bowls, and routing/gluing end caps for the tongues*
> 
> Today was a short but busy day. I glued the base together earlier this week and finally had time to finish that with the pinned tenons today.
> 
> ...


very nice supper table for a best friend


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Pinned Tenons, Routing the holes for the bowls, and routing/gluing end caps for the tongues*
> 
> Today was a short but busy day. I glued the base together earlier this week and finally had time to finish that with the pinned tenons today.
> 
> ...


Eric,

That dog is going to be the talk of the neighborhood!!

As for the routing question, I clamp the piece onto a sacrificial surface- usually a piece of 1/2" plywood- and then set the depth stop to punch through by about 1/8".


----------



## Bsmith (Feb 2, 2011)

Eric_S said:


> *Pinned Tenons, Routing the holes for the bowls, and routing/gluing end caps for the tongues*
> 
> Today was a short but busy day. I glued the base together earlier this week and finally had time to finish that with the pinned tenons today.
> 
> ...


Wow! I would eat off of that. Very nice.


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Pinned Tenons, Routing the holes for the bowls, and routing/gluing end caps for the tongues*
> 
> Today was a short but busy day. I glued the base together earlier this week and finally had time to finish that with the pinned tenons today.
> 
> ...


Thanks guys.

Lew, thanks that would have helped. Oh well…next time.

Any ideas on securing the top to the base? The buttons that were going to be screwed to the top and fit in the grooves on the aprons can't now with the holes cut out. Woops…


----------



## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Pinned Tenons, Routing the holes for the bowls, and routing/gluing end caps for the tongues*
> 
> Today was a short but busy day. I glued the base together earlier this week and finally had time to finish that with the pinned tenons today.
> 
> ...


Nice table, Eric!


----------



## fernandoindia (May 5, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Pinned Tenons, Routing the holes for the bowls, and routing/gluing end caps for the tongues*
> 
> Today was a short but busy day. I glued the base together earlier this week and finally had time to finish that with the pinned tenons today.
> 
> ...


Hi Eric,
Fabulous work. Thanks for posting this.

I admire you guys who can work with wood and simultaneously make a blog on that. I can afford doing two things at the same time.

Look fwd to see the project posted


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Pinned Tenons, Routing the holes for the bowls, and routing/gluing end caps for the tongues*
> 
> Today was a short but busy day. I glued the base together earlier this week and finally had time to finish that with the pinned tenons today.
> 
> ...


Thank you Fernando. I hope to have the final blog and project posted in a few weeks. Stuff has come up that has been keeping me busy and out of the shop  but life will hopefully slow down again soon. Thanks again.


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Attaching the breadboard ends and plugging all the pinned mortises/breadboard screws*

Took me a while to get back to this project. It's been a hectic past few months.

All that was remaining was plugging all the pinned mortises, attaching the breadboard ends, and plugging those screws as well. 









Plugging the legs
----------
Plugging the pinned mortises was a real pain in the ass. I wish I had a mortiser as they would have all been identical in size. Instead, I had to custom fit every single plug. I used a 1/2" chisel to square the holes, but most weren't perfectly square or exactly 1/2".

So to start I cut some left over scrap hard maple a bit larger to 5/8" for plugging the legs.









Then came the fun task of hand fitting all 16 holes. To make it a bit easier I beveled the sides to insert them. 


















Another issue I had was that all the dowels weren't the same size going in, so the depths of these plugs varied and I had to shave them to relatively the same height.









Look at all the shavings 









Attaching the Breadboard ends
-------------------
To attach the breadboard ends, I drilled 3 holes through the ends into the table top. I then took off the ends and extended these holes in the tabletop to 2" deep. I couldn't get that full depth through the breadboard ends.









Since I was using screws to attach the ends, I elongated the holes in the breadboard ends to allow room for them to adjust as the table expands and contracts. Hopefully you can see in this pic the elongated holes. I just used the drill to expand them. 









I drilled a larger hole in the ends and chiseled them square(or close to) with a 3/8" mortise chisel.









I applied only a tiny bit of glue in the center to keep it centered and attached









I used 3" screws to attach the ends, but cut the center screw to 2 1/2" on each side because it would have gone through the bowl cutout otherwise.









Now back to the bandsaw to cut out more plugs. These went a little smoother since most were close to 3/8" square. I cut them just slightly larger but most didn't take much to fit.









Using the same process as the plugs for the legs I inserted these. Then I beveled all the plugs on the legs and ends. 
The only issue was since the heights were all different on the legs, I shaved off too much material on most of the plugs. I wish I left more. They are beveled but its hard to see. The breadboard end plug's however again went smoother and are noticeable,although probably not in this pic. I also beveled the cloud lifts on the table.









This weekend I had time to do the final sanding, softening all the edges on the table, and start the finishing process. I'm using a polyurethane Arm-R-Seal Top Coat Semi Gloss on the top and a satin on the base. The top will have somewhat of a piano finish because my dog is a messy eater/drinker and I want to make sure it is sealed. I don't have pics of that process though so you'll have to wait a couple more days for me to post the final project.

Thanks for looking. The final project will be posted by next weekend!  Then on to more projects….


----------



## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Attaching the breadboard ends and plugging all the pinned mortises/breadboard screws*
> 
> Took me a while to get back to this project. It's been a hectic past few months.
> 
> ...


Lotsa really nice details in this project. Very nicely done.


----------



## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Attaching the breadboard ends and plugging all the pinned mortises/breadboard screws*
> 
> Took me a while to get back to this project. It's been a hectic past few months.
> 
> ...


Eric, your dog bowl is coming alone.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Attaching the breadboard ends and plugging all the pinned mortises/breadboard screws*
> 
> Took me a while to get back to this project. It's been a hectic past few months.
> 
> ...


You have one lucky dog!!

I really like the detail on the breadboard ends.


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Attaching the breadboard ends and plugging all the pinned mortises/breadboard screws*
> 
> Took me a while to get back to this project. It's been a hectic past few months.
> 
> ...


Thank you guys. By the way I got those chisel sizes backwards. The legs were done with a 3/8" chisel and the bb ends with the 1/2.


----------

