# The Nightstands Build



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Nightstand Progress *

I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.

The legs. On the 4th leg from the left I had to use maple wood filler half way up after partially drilling a mortise in the wrong location. The double mortises are 1/4" and the apron mortises are 3/8". I still need to cut them to correct length, cut the curves in the sides, and cut a dovetail opening on tops.









Bottom aprons. The tenons were all done on the bandsaw with stop blocks. Much easier to do than relying on my inaccurate fence and table saw, even with the tenon jig I made. I still need to template and create the curve in the bottom of them and groove the top of them 3/8" 









Top aprons. Still need groove in bottom for panels.









the front blades. These still need the double tenons and the top ones need dovetails.









My favorite and most used tool in the shop. Its ooooold. Stanley No. 7 with hock blade and chipbreaker. All original japanning. Tote is replaced but isn't the correct one for it. Also in pic is newer No.5 from the 50's I think also with hock blade and chipbreaker.









These are the original side and back panel of one nightstand but decided 12 1/2" between the legs was too small  so I decided to do bookmatched panels at 17" 









Bookmatched panels for the sides of one nightstand. These still need to be flattened and I still have another pair and backs to do.









Odd small scraps from cuts. What should I do with all these uniformly cut tenon shoulders and cheeks from the bandsaw? Hmmm. Suggestions?









Thanks for looking.


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## TwangyOne (Apr 21, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


Make an end grain cutting board with the scraps!


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


Hmm maybe, it would take some creativity in the design. Not sure if I even have enough for one.


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## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the update Eric. It looks like you are making great progress. In the sketchup plans it seemed
like there were more curves than what I see here. Did the plan change? Thanks for posting.

Tom


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


Well the curves are only on the bottom of the legs now instead of top and bottom, but i still have to make them.


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## dlmckirdy (Oct 27, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


The pieces that are too small to work would make great smoking chips for the BBQ I just try to smoke with one specie at a time.


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## JimArnoldChess (Mar 15, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


Excellent documentation of your project, Eric! Looking forward to following this. As for the scraps, I bought a garbage can just for my scraps, you never know when you might need an odd shaped piece somewhere or blocks for your clamps, of course the problem is the can gets full then its time to fire up the smoker like Doug said.

I appreciate the detail of your documentation, one of the many reasons I signed on here was to watch you guys in how you do your precision table work. Too often I spend lots of time carving and end up just throwing the board together…I'm learning quite a bit watching projects develop like yours.

Thanks!

Jim


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


Smoking chips suggestion sounds good doug, i may have to try that.

Thanks Jim. Maybe in the future I'll try and include some pics of setups and cutting to help.


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## mjacobs (Mar 25, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


You could always use the scrap chips for a nice game of Jenga..


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


*Eric*:

Emotionally, I'm a very awkward mix of:

- cheering on your progress
- grateful for your documentation, and
- waxing more than a touch nostalgic 

Good show! Keep it up, Bud!!


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


This looks very much like the joinery that was used in Peter Korn's Basic Woodworking. This is very nice work.


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## sandhill (Aug 28, 2007)

Eric_S said:


> *Nightstand Progress *
> 
> I've been saying I would post pics on the nightstand progress for a while so I thought I would actually do what I said. The nightstands are progressing nicely. These pics aren't really exciting though but its a work in progress. The legs are hard maple and the rest is cherry. THe panels are more of a Red cherry and the top and drawer fronts when finished will be curly cherry.
> 
> ...


Nice job, it looks a lot like the ones I am making. When I am home.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Update, pattern cutting the curves on aprons and legs*

Well its been a while since I posted an update on the everlasting build of the nightstands. I'm starting to move much quicker now with the build, but still only get a few hours a week to work on it. I'm still on though to apply finish before end of July so hopefully by August it will be fully assembled. All thats left now is the Drawers and top, and a few big fixes to some mistakes which might be more time consuming than I think to fix.

These pictures don't show too much progress, but hopefully they will help. Last time I posted, I had finished all the mortise and tenons as well as jointing and flattening the bookmatched sides. The side and back panels have all received a 3/8" tongue around the edge to sit in the grooves in legs, I just hope the panels are long enough so they don't show the inside when it cools down this winter…we'll see. I dont have a pic of those though as they were all stacked and I didn't want to take them down for a pic (I was lazy this weekend).

So first up is the patterns I made for the legs(one for the front and one for the side of each leg). The side of the leg patterns start at 1 1/4 and gracefully curves out to 1 3/4". The front of the legs start at 1 1/4 but I believe go to 2". The bottom aprons have an 1 1/2" curve. Yes, the patterns for the legs have holes in them. I cut the patterns from my test leg I used to try the mortises on first. A shout out to Dave R is necessary. A while back he helped me redesign my nightstands. These shapes aren't as defined as his were, but were inspired by his redesign of my legs. Thank you Dave.


















Next up are pics of the aprons cut close to the line on the bandsaw. These will be cleaned up with the router and my new expensive(woodcraft had 30% off though) 2 1/2" solid carbide up spiral trim bit  It also produces a much smoother cut then the regular trim bits. I needed a trim bit at least 2" long and this was all I could find.









This bit was expensive but it can be sharpened since its solid carbide. I believe it retailed for almost $90 but I got 30% off. I'm very happy with this purchase.


















Originally I was going to make seperate pattern jigs for each curved shape, but decided I could get with making one that could be adjusted to all of my curves.


















And here are the apron curves after beinged cleaned up on the router. The top apron is before being cleaned up with the router bit, the bottom curve just came out of router.









And here are the side aprons all cut 









I made sure to only cut the pattern bit with the grain, so I cut halfway down the curve, flipped it over, and cut the other half downward to prevent tear out. The very first apron I cut I forgot to do this, and required extra wood to be taken off to hide my mistake…oh well. live and learn.

The legs I cut on the bandsaw, but haven't done the pattern bit to them yet. I first need to tape them back up with the removed wood to give it a flat top for the template to rest on. These will hopefully be done next weekend.

So now the big things remaining are the tops and drawers. The drawers should be very easy for me, once I get past the milling wood stage. The tops I plan on doing breadboard ends. The top though and drawer fronts though I'll need to sharpen up my plane irons again because the cherry I'm using for the top and drawer fronts is curly cherry that I tend to tear out. I'll take my time with those pieces.

All the leg mortise and tenons will be pinned, although I don't know what wood yet. Perhaps more cherry? I need to also route out a patched hole that is in a VERY visible location on the front of the leg (misplaced mortise…woops). Because of its size, the wood putty doesn't really blend in so I plan on routing it out and replacing with an inlaid piece of matching hard maple that hopefully will be less conspicuous. The mistake is on the 4th leg from the left, halfway up. This area will be exposed because its the shelf area. If you have a better idea on fixing this than inlaying a matching hard maple please I'm all ears. It doesn't look to obvious in the picture, but believe me it sticks out. 









Finally, I need to figure out what I want to do with the center shelves. I jointed a normal hardwood shelf to the front apron, but the joint wasn't tight enough so it shows a slight gap. Because of its location as the center of the nightstand, I feel it needs to be fixed. I dont know if I'll veneer the top of the shelf to hide the gap or just trip the apron part of the shelf down and veneer/inlay a piece or what I'll do. I don't have a picture of it because those panels were stacked with the side panels as well but I can post one later if you are interested or have suggestions on the best way to fix it(best = quickest that hides the mistake).

Hopefully now that my schedule is a little more flexible, I can post some more updates. I'm still tryign to figure out what I want to finish it with. I want the cherry to be its natural color. I understand it could take a while to darken but looks much better than trying to fake the cherry aged look with a stain. So I was thinking BLO and shellac clear coat on top?

For the Hard Maple, I'm all ears to a finish that would look good the cherry finish. Take care.

Comments, suggestions, and *helpful* criticisms welcomed.


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## lanwater (May 14, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Update, pattern cutting the curves on aprons and legs*
> 
> Well its been a while since I posted an update on the everlasting build of the nightstands. I'm starting to move much quicker now with the build, but still only get a few hours a week to work on it. I'm still on though to apply finish before end of July so hopefully by August it will be fully assembled. All thats left now is the Drawers and top, and a few big fixes to some mistakes which might be more time consuming than I think to fix.
> 
> ...


It looks like it will be a good night stand.

I like all the marking on the legs. That's something I always fail to do and always regretted it.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Update, pattern cutting the curves on aprons and legs*
> 
> Well its been a while since I posted an update on the everlasting build of the nightstands. I'm starting to move much quicker now with the build, but still only get a few hours a week to work on it. I'm still on though to apply finish before end of July so hopefully by August it will be fully assembled. All thats left now is the Drawers and top, and a few big fixes to some mistakes which might be more time consuming than I think to fix.
> 
> ...


Thanks. Yeah I made all the leg markings at the same time to make sure they were all level. yet still I managed to route a mortise in an unmarked location…go figure.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Update, pattern cutting the curves on aprons and legs*
> 
> Well its been a while since I posted an update on the everlasting build of the nightstands. I'm starting to move much quicker now with the build, but still only get a few hours a week to work on it. I'm still on though to apply finish before end of July so hopefully by August it will be fully assembled. All thats left now is the Drawers and top, and a few big fixes to some mistakes which might be more time consuming than I think to fix.
> 
> ...


Very nice cabinet and excellent posting. Thanks


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Update, pattern cutting the curves on aprons and legs*
> 
> Well its been a while since I posted an update on the everlasting build of the nightstands. I'm starting to move much quicker now with the build, but still only get a few hours a week to work on it. I'm still on though to apply finish before end of July so hopefully by August it will be fully assembled. All thats left now is the Drawers and top, and a few big fixes to some mistakes which might be more time consuming than I think to fix.
> 
> ...


looking great Eric. that's some sweet parts planing and follow through!


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*The Dry Fit*

Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels 

Anyways, it took a lot longer than expected to dry fit one of them since I was fixing fitting issues as I was assembling. I'm hoping the second stand dry fit will go faster tomorrow.




























Here is the second one in pieces










After that is finished, I can start on the tops. I've decided to slice veneers from the curly cherry board I have. I have a few of these boards, but I also want to do a matcing bedframe and dresser eventually, and I don't have enough to match. So I'm going to veneer them and then frame the top in hard maple. Here is an updated sketchup of final look.










So now the big question, after sanding and scraping, how much of the finish do I do before glue up? I'm still deciding what I want to do, although I did purchase Charles Neil's Precolor conditioner so I know thats going on first. I am not going to dye the cherry, I want the color to be natural. Any suggestions on a finish? I was probably thinking an oil finish with some sort of top coat.

Thanks for looking.


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## RonPeters (Jul 7, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *The Dry Fit*
> 
> Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels
> 
> ...


That's a 'sexy' looking nightstand! Nice curvy lines. Looks strong with those dovetails.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *The Dry Fit*
> 
> Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels
> 
> ...


Thanks Ron. I have to give a shout out to DaveR for helping me design those legs. The originals didn't look anything like that, these look much nicer. Those curves were a real nightmare though for me to cut at first, mainly because my jig wasn't sturdy enough. Once I fixed that it got a lot easier.

The dovetails definitely make it sturdier when you attach those to the top, I really like them there, although they will never be seen  when the top is on. Thats ok though, I'll be doing half blind on the drawer fronts.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *The Dry Fit*
> 
> Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels
> 
> ...


nice work. how did that resawing go?


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *The Dry Fit*
> 
> Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels
> 
> ...


Very nice work. I love the joinery and the design. Thanks for showing this.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *The Dry Fit*
> 
> Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels
> 
> ...


Those nightstands looks great.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *The Dry Fit*
> 
> Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels
> 
> ...


Thank you for the compliments.

Aaron, I didn't get a chance to this weekend. I did the dry fit of this one on Saturday. On sunday I was hoping to dry fit the second one and slice veneer on the band saw for the top. Sunday morning though I picked up an HF 12×33 3/8" floor lathe for $200 after sale and coupons  It's hard to say no when your wife says something along the lines of "You've been talking about a lathe for a year now. Will you just get the damn thing so you'll shut up about it." LOL. I don't plan on setting it up until the stands are done, but I couldn't say no to the price after watching it for a year.

While unloading it from the truck with help from my wife, I threw out my back supporting most of the weight as we lowered it down. So I didn't do anything yesterday after that. I had to take off work today as well to recover. Sitting in an office chair in front of a computer for 8 hours is NOT comfortable right now. Hopefully I'll have a chance this week to slice them in time for a weekend glue up, but we'll see.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *The Dry Fit*
> 
> Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels
> 
> ...


youch! congrats on the new tool though.


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## revieck (Dec 29, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *The Dry Fit*
> 
> Well, I finally got to the dry fit. It took forever. I know I still have a lot to do before these are finished, but to see it assembled felt great after all the mess ups I've had to fix. I still have a couple more minor things to do such as planing down the top aprons a bit, and a few of the tenons aren't as snug as I'd like, but other than that it went together really well. I could always reglue piece and then redo the tenon, but at this point I kind of just want to move forward. I plan on pinning them too so I'm not sure how crucial it will be after glue up. It looks like I'll also have to sand out the current cherry darkening, because I can see the sticker lines on the panels
> 
> ...


The nightstands are come'n along nicely! Congrats on the new lathe! You will have a lot of fun on that thing! I do on mine.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Slicing the veneers and making the half-blind dovetail drawers*

Life got in the way again and it took me a few weeks longer to get a lot more done with the nightstands. I hope to have the stands finished by first or second week of November now. All thats left are the tops and fitting the drawers.

There are a few lessons I learned along the way, as always.

1) Don't plane veneers thinner than 1/8" or you're asking for trouble.
2) Before chiseling half blind dovetail pins, its best to sweep up the surrounding area in case you chip a pin it will be easier to find.

On to the pics 

The original figure/curly cherry boards I chose for the 'stands tops. I have lower quality veneer to use on the bottomside of the tops.



















Resawing the veneers to approx 1/8" 









...I said approx 1/8" 









... after planing them just a bit.

Top of Nightstand #1









Luckilly I wont need that part of the veneers for the top. Thats from putting it through the planer. I raised the bed which helped, but only till it reached a certain thickness, then all hell broke loose. I ruined a few pieces but luckilly I managed to save 8 lucky tiles that matched for the most part. They don't match perfectly because of the thicknessing but they still look nice  Since I stopped thicknessing them all the way because of the blow out, they are not all the same thickness and will require sanding before I put them in a press.
Top of Nightstand #2









----------------------------------------------------------------------------

And now for the half blind dovetailed drawers. This is the first time I've done dovetails, so half blind was going to take me some extra patience. I think I managed to do each drawer side of pins in about 30-45 min per side. The tails were much easier. My marking gauge was very dull though so you can see it looks bad on the poplar. I think thats also why they didn't join together as cleanly. The later ones I used an exacto knife since my marking is dull. Also I managed to chip some of the pins but luckilly was able to save the pieces and then glued them back during the drawer glue up. Front is cherry sides and back are poplar.

Cutting the drawer side tails together









After cutting tails, I put the drawer front in the vice lined up with the side of a hand plane so that I can rest the tail piece on top and mark the pins. The pins were then chiseled out by hand.









...and the chips from chiseling









First set of dovetails… not great









Second set…getting better









7th set…much much better









Drawer pieces finished









..glued up. You only see 3 because I ran out of clamps and had to wait. The backs were joined to the sides with a rabbet. Nothing fancy.









Test fit of one stand while the 4th drawer was being glued up. The drawers need a little cleaning up but not bad for my first drawers ever. I was super happy when they slid in very smoothly.


















So next time i get in the shop, I'll be pressing the tops and adding 3/4" maple edging to frame them. And then its more sanding and finishing. I wanted maple for the drawer pulls, but my LOML outvoted me with metal drawer pulls that match the curves. Now we just have to find them 

Thanks for looking.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Slicing the veneers and making the half-blind dovetail drawers*
> 
> Life got in the way again and it took me a few weeks longer to get a lot more done with the nightstands. I hope to have the stands finished by first or second week of November now. All thats left are the tops and fitting the drawers.
> 
> ...


It's looking great, Eric !

I think your hand-cut dovetail #7 looks about as good as my seventh try with a dovetail jig, so … Bravo !

I love the 4-way veneer top. That's going to look great.

Also, nice job on the re-saw. What blade were you running, and … relatively speaking … how slowly were you feeding the boards ?

Last, is your basic carcase all level ? From the last picture, and-with a tough angle, particularly for me-it looks like you may have some high spots on the perimeter, on which your top will lay. Is that just a photo anomaly ?

[EDIT: if it's the same stand in all the pic's, then … it IS just the angle. Sure looks flat in the earlier pic ]

Very good progress. As to your November time frame … in my experience … I'll get there when I get there ;-)


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Slicing the veneers and making the half-blind dovetail drawers*
> 
> Life got in the way again and it took me a few weeks longer to get a lot more done with the nightstands. I hope to have the stands finished by first or second week of November now. All thats left are the tops and fitting the drawers.
> 
> ...


Thank you Neil. It was a new Timberwolf 1/2" blade and my feed rate was pretty slow. I still prefer the Woodslicer but mine was dull and I couldn't run out and buy one last minute so I thought I'd try the Timerbwolf. It cut well but was rougher than the Woodslicer. I think the boards required more planing because of this blade. When I resawed with the Woodslicer when it was brand new, the blade hardly left a mark on the board.

The carcass is all level now. I dont remember if I took the pics before or after I planed it though. The drawers however are not, but it wont take long for me to fix that.

The veneers turned out well but I won't be completely happy until its glued up. Thanks though.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Slicing the veneers and making the half-blind dovetail drawers*
> 
> Life got in the way again and it took me a few weeks longer to get a lot more done with the nightstands. I hope to have the stands finished by first or second week of November now. All thats left are the tops and fitting the drawers.
> 
> ...


nice work, eric. that top is quite beautiful, as are the drawer faces (not sure i saw those till now). as far as thicknessing veneer, i guess you have a good excuse for a drum sander now, huh? ;-)

just wondering: what kind of saws were you using to cut the dovetails?


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Slicing the veneers and making the half-blind dovetail drawers*
> 
> Life got in the way again and it took me a few weeks longer to get a lot more done with the nightstands. I hope to have the stands finished by first or second week of November now. All thats left are the tops and fitting the drawers.
> 
> ...


Thanks, a drum sander would be nice wouldn't it. Actually, a random orbit sander would be nice. All I have is a finishing one. I think I may have to pick one a random soon.

The saw is a Dozuki dovetail saw which I like very much.


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## BertFlores58 (May 26, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Slicing the veneers and making the half-blind dovetail drawers*
> 
> Life got in the way again and it took me a few weeks longer to get a lot more done with the nightstands. I hope to have the stands finished by first or second week of November now. All thats left are the tops and fitting the drawers.
> 
> ...


Eric, You have a nice doveltail cut and veneering technique. Nicely done.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*

So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.

So anyways, things with the tops started out smoothly. First, here is how I glued up the veneers without a veneer press using Cold Press Veneer Glue. I cut two templates that are the same size as the panel being veneered and line them with wax paper and then clamp the hell out of them(I need deep throat clamps). After laying cross bracing and clamping them, I then take a curved brace and bend it down tight using clamps and spacers to press down in the center of the panel. Leave it for 4 hours and tada.









I finished adding the maple edging to the tops after the veneers dried. So far so good:
Here is Top# 1. You'll notice the bottom left edge isn't the same thickness. This has been corrected and the framing looks perfect now.









And Top #2 I had issues with. The edging wasn't square so in order to bring it into square I removed a lot more material than I had wanted. It now only goes out 1/4" or so on all 4 sides of the stand. The one above(Top #1) one looks better with the thicker edging. 









Notice the circle in the lower left? Yeah, thats tear out that I fixed with glue and sawdust  I thought it would look better.

So anyways, as I was flattening and smoothing the the veneer(with the grain) using a very light cut with my smoothing plane(these are my own veneers and as such were much thicker and could be planed easily although I should have stopped with planing and moved to sander earlier than I had thought). I managed to tear out a good size piece of the veener due to a small part not being glued down that I didn't feel before. You could imagine as soon as this happened I let loose every single curse I knew and then some. I was so upset and depressed that all the hard work I have done has just gone down the drain. The tops were PERFECT and I managed to screw them up after that fact. GREAT! FUDGE FUDGE FUDGE FUDGE FUDGE!!!!!!

I've been working on these stands since last December with only about 8 hour a week working on the weekends (and some time spent redoing a few other pieces). I freaked out, walked out of the garage, took some time to cool off and think straight. I didn't know what to do so I decided to square up the edges of the missing veneer and try and fit a similar shaded piece from leftover veneer. I managed to get them to match shades, but I couldn't get it to match grain exactly. It looks better than this pic since I smoothed it out a bit more, but its still noticeable to me. Here is it highlighted and some tearout in the center that I hope I can sand out (assuming I save these tops)


















and without it circled, do you think its still very noticeable?









I also had another small tearouts in Top #1 as shown in the second pic although its much smaller and less noticeable. So now I've managed to screw up both tops. GREAT!! As you can imagine, I am heartbroken by this. These stands have taken over my weekends for a full year and this is what I have to show for it 

So, what do you think?

a. Should I completely scrap the tops and redo them? 
b. Do you think it will blend in better as the cherry darkens?
c. Should I keep the tops and scrape away all the veneer and redo just the veneer(although I dont know how easy it will be to get it to fit perfectly in the framing).

I still think I'm going to go ahead and start final sanding of the stands and working on the finish of them, but concerning the tops I need the help of all you pro veneerers out there. Please help. Are the tops salvagable? Thanks.

Eric


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## IrishWoodworker (Mar 28, 2007)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


Eric,
Man that sucks going through stuff like this. But hey we live and learn right! I could tell you what I would do (my two cents worth that is) I would do some inlay work over the pieces that were torn out. Four leaf clover, or North Star, or butterfly or something else. Find something that will go with a theme for the two and make the inlay play of the other one. Mistakes are sometimes blessings; they force us to think outside the box. Have a blessed day friend.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


Thank you, thats not a bad idea newplane. It would have to be a basic inlay though and fit with the asian theme I was originally going for. I don't think it would take too long either depending on the design, but who knows. I have scrap veneers of hard maple as well that would be perfect I think for just this, but I'd have to think of an inlay for the larger piece I replaced and then smaller inlays for the smaller tearout near the edge. I really am not sure though if I can sand that center glue line without it tearing out, its starting to get pretty thin now. Any suggestions on what to do there?


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


Eric, that looks good to me.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


man, eric, i sympathize with you. When i did the bookmatching for my blanket chest i realized the when you bookmatch (duh) the grain runs opposite on each side. I got that tearout too, but they werent veneers, so I had room to sand.

i think the idea of doing a decorative inlay is great - even a mediocre job on that will look better than not doing it. as far as the smaller ones that you havent patched - are you sure there isn't enough veneer left to just sand it down a bit? you could always use a little grain filler when you finish.


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## NBeener (Sep 16, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


As you know, I've had some real award-winning screw-ups on some of my stuff, so … I'm really sorry.

And much like the router screw-up, on my recent wine cabinet project, I really like the idea of digging it out, and using some sort of inlay as a design feature .

For that matter, you could do a couple of them, in a few areas, if you thought it would be a better overall look.

You've been doing such a great job on this project … and at it for so long … it really doesn't feel too good to have this happen, when you're nearing the home stretch.

But … my bet is you wind up with an even better looking piece, when its done !


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## RonPeters (Jul 7, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


If you don't go for a complete scrapping of the top - I can clearly see the 'fix' - I would opt for the creative inlay.

Maybe a Pokeman icon? Just kidding… something like a Japanese letter? Maybe your initials? I searched 'Japanese letters' on Google and found a bunch of places. '123freebrushes' has some good ideas. FWIW


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## IrishWoodworker (Mar 28, 2007)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


To go with your Asian style maybe a simple Cherry Blossom. I remember one table that I was working on I messed up the top pretty bad. So I made a template to route out the parts that I didn't like. Once I routed out the recess I made a mixture of the Epoxy and Dye that was a very dark brown pouring that into the inlay. It turned out pretty good but I did have to sand the epoxy down so I don't know if this would be a good option for you. Maybe do a search for Cherry Blossoms or some other classic Asian theme and roll with it. I am following this to see what you decide to do. Have a blessed day friend.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


Thanks all for the inputs. I would really really hate to trash these tops. It took forever to make the veneers and the tops as is and I would hate to redo it ALL. I love the veneers on them and so I think I will do a decorative Inlay that newplane and a few others suggest. Now its just a matter of finding an easy inlay(I've never done one) to do. I'm going to show a few patterns to my wife and get her input into it. Whats funny is she told me which top she wanted and I said "good because I have tearout in the other one." And then shortly after saying that I end up screwing hers up as well(the one with the replacement piece is hers).

Ron, I dont think Pokemon would work lol. However, my wife is a huge Anime fan and I'm sure she wouldn't mind an anime character being in one. With that said, I dont think I could do one at this point in my skill level of inlays.

Newplane, a cherry blossom sounds great as I have lots of childhood memories of them growing up in DC with them being all around and on my property, but I think they may be too much work to do for a beginner. I was thinking a Crane or something like that. We'll see though.

Unfortunately, this screws up my original plan of having them completely finished next weekend but oh well, thats life and it isn't the first time. I have to start on holiday gift projects so I may have to put the stands on hold  until after those are finished. This sucks as I want them done lol. Oh well. Thanks again for the inputs. If anyone has a link to some good inlay patterns or asian themed patterns please post them here or PM me. Thanks.


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## IrishWoodworker (Mar 28, 2007)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


If you want to cheat on the inlay…lol

http://www.inlaystickers.com/servlet/the-110/Sakura-(Cherry-Blossoms)-Inlay/Detail

Here are lots of ideas for you

http://inlays.com/marquetry.asp


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


Thanks newplane. LOL no I wont be cheating with stickers. I wanted these stands to be ones that can be passed down as family heirlooms hopefully.

Thanks for the second link though. And thanks to Ron for the freebrushes link. Cherry blossom flower might work, but I dont think I can handle a full cherry blossom tree which is what I was originally thinking when you said it.

Aaron, i think if I'm careful I can sand away the tearout in the center.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


I think I may do something similar to these blossoms:

http://www.tagodesign.com/ebay/kokeshi/US38.jpg


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## IrishWoodworker (Mar 28, 2007)

Eric_S said:


> *The Nightstand Tops and how I messed them up*
> 
> So I was super confident that I'd finish the stands this weekend(minus final sanding and finish). Well now I'm not so sure  I had fitted the drawers. They have a little bit more gap around the sides than I'd like but aren't anything to be concerned over.
> 
> ...


Friend that will turn out beautiful. I look forward to your masterpiece tables complete with cherry blossom inlay or whatever you decide. Be blessed friend.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Fixing some mistakes with Inlay - Part 1 of 2*

I've finally decided to get back to finishing the nightstands that have been going on for over a year now. They are very close to being finished. Once I finish this inlay hopefully by next week, all thats left is final sanding and then waiting for it to warm up a bit to apply my finish which in itself could take a while. Speaking of the finish, I'd like to take a second to thank Charles Neil for taking time to e-mail me a few times and help me out with finishing questions and suggestions on how to apply them through the different coats. To Charles, thank you, sorry it's taken this long to get to the actual finish.

On to the inlay. The inlay wasn't originally in the nightstand build but due to me screwing up the veneers I created for the top as you can see in Part 5 of the build(http://lumberjocks.com/Eric_S/blog/19337) I had to figure out a way to hide it without having to redo the tops completely. Thank you to everyone for the inlay suggestions, and newplane for the cherry blossom idea.

To start off, this is my first time doing inlay. I watched a few videos from the Wood Whisperer and fine woodworking and decided I could do it too. I decided to keep with the asian theme for the stands and use cherry blossoms for the inlay.

First was finding some blossoms to use. I found a few good quality pics, printed them out, traced over the outline and xeroxed them onto a few sheets since I didn't know how many i was going to use. 









As you can see, i will need a way to inlay the flower's anthers and Stamens. I originally wanted to do inlay of these using cherry, but since I dont have a scroll saw or feel comfortable with how tiny that inlay is, I thought about filling it with CA and cherry sawdust. So I sliced up some scrap pieces and bagged the dust. I also did this at an earlier time with my maple just in case I needed saw dust at some point I had it on hand. You can see the blossoms already cut out in this pic, sorry its out of order.









I did a test with the sawdust and CA on a scrap piece of the maple veneer by drilling a few holes and filling them. I didn't like how it turned out so I'd decided I'd go the Epoxy/dye route I've seen the Wood Whisperer do to plug a knot. I haven't gotten to this point yet but I did pick up the epoxy and dye. Thats for Part 2 of 2 coming next week hopefully.

Next I needed some veneers to use, so I sliced a block of hard maple I had laying around. 


















I cut them on the bandsaw but I didn't feel like taking out my 1/2" woodslicer for my 1/8" blade so I just took it slowly and made lots of relief cuts









I thought it would be easier to drill the holes for the anthers now and then fill them later. This was a bad idea. A few of the pedals split along the grain lines when I did this, even when using a tiny drill bit. So I stopped but had to fix those as you can see with the blue tape in the 2nd picture below. Plus, after gluing them down, all the holes i had drilled were just filled back up with glue and will require redrilling anyways. So I'll just wait.

Next I layed them out how I thought I'd like them, and using a normal glue stick, attached them to the veneer.









The blue tape in this pic is to fix the splits caused by the drilling of the anthers









Next up was the uber tedious process of tracing and scoring them with an exacto knife. I've only managed to glue in one so far as it took much longer than I expected last week to carefully trace them all(not surprised).









Then I pulled the pieces out…








I wasn't expecting it to be perfect and thought I'd have to sand the inlay to get it to fit. I was surprised that this wasn't the case, it was close to perfect and only required a little bit of sawdust while gluing to fill a few tiny gaps.
Here is what it looks like with one piece glued in place using titebond 2 to blend with the maple. Although you couldn't tell it's inlayed because of how thick I sliced these pieces 









So I realize i made these inlays way too thick. They will require a LOT of sanding to bring them down. Glad I purchased a ROB a few months back. Stay tuned for part 2 where I will finish them all, fill in the flower anthers and stamen with epoxy/dye, and sand them down. In regards to this, I've heard that it helps to spray a coat of laquer to seal the grain followed by wax on the surrounding wood to prevent bleeding of the dye/epoxy. Does anyone know if this will work for me or have other suggestions to prevent bleading of a cherry dye into the maple surrounding? I plan on applying the epoxy directly into the holes using a tiny syringe if that makes any difference.

Thanks for looking.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Fixing some mistakes with Inlay - Part 1 of 2*
> 
> I've finally decided to get back to finishing the nightstands that have been going on for over a year now. They are very close to being finished. Once I finish this inlay hopefully by next week, all thats left is final sanding and then waiting for it to warm up a bit to apply my finish which in itself could take a while. Speaking of the finish, I'd like to take a second to thank Charles Neil for taking time to e-mail me a few times and help me out with finishing questions and suggestions on how to apply them through the different coats. To Charles, thank you, sorry it's taken this long to get to the actual finish.
> 
> ...


Eric that looks good!


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Fixing some mistakes with Inlay - Part 1 of 2*
> 
> I've finally decided to get back to finishing the nightstands that have been going on for over a year now. They are very close to being finished. Once I finish this inlay hopefully by next week, all thats left is final sanding and then waiting for it to warm up a bit to apply my finish which in itself could take a while. Speaking of the finish, I'd like to take a second to thank Charles Neil for taking time to e-mail me a few times and help me out with finishing questions and suggestions on how to apply them through the different coats. To Charles, thank you, sorry it's taken this long to get to the actual finish.
> 
> ...


Thanks Charles.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

*Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*

Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.

I learned a lot from those mistakes though. 1) Make sure if you resaw your own veneer, that its all a consistent thickness before trying to press it. 2) make sure you press the veneer correctly. These tops were the first time I did veneers and I did them with some cheap clamps and cauls. Well they weren't glued down in some places so when I went to level the veneers and flatten them using a hand plane(they were around 1/8" thick veneer), it would grab a piece and just tear it out since it wasn't glued down.

So I redid my veneer press to use cauls that I tapered at the ends with a hand plane so that there would be pressure all the way across when clamped. I also bit the bullet this time and bought professional cut veneer from veneersupplies.com (excellent) so that I had consistent thickness which would help with distributing the clamping pressure evenly across. I also used 1/2" mdf on the top and bottom to also help distribute pressure under the clamps. Last time I used 1/4" hardboard. Finally, I bought some deep throat F clamps so I could clamp further towards the center instead of just around the edges.

These tops came out perfect this time  There isn't a single air bubble or part that isn't glued down. No tearout, nothing. The only issue was I didn't notice how I laid out the veneer in relation to the substrates, so the center of the 4 point match isn't perfectly center in the top.

So here are the new tops all sanded and the completed stands(without finish). I got a lot of practice joining veneers and doing a 4 corner match since I had to redo them a couple times 

I routed a 45 degree bevel on the underside of the top frames as well, not sure how well you can see it from these pics.

Tabletop #1









Tabletop #2



























The drawer handles will be screwed on after the finish but they are these style stainless steel pulls… http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=23330&filter=drawer%20pull

So, after almost 1 1/2 years, I will finally be able to finish these stands  and move on to the bed(I dont plan on that one taking as long)!! Super excited about completing these.

Tomorrow I will start the finishing process. This is the first time finishing a nightstand or anything with drawers. Charles Neil has helped me with some questions I had regarding the overall finish, but I forgot to ask a few so hopefully someone here can help. I plan on using General Finishes Arm-R-Seal Urethane Topcoat for the finish.

1) Do I finish the inside walls of the stand that will be blocked by the drawers? 
2) Do I finish the drawer sides and interior of the drawer? I know I shouldn't finish the bottom edges of the drawer or rails where they slide on though. I believe I'm to wax these instead?

Questions, comments, constructive criticism welcome.


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Cool stands.. The legs really get me. The contrast between them and the panels, as well as the shape of the legs overall is top notch


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Thanks Dan. I really am digging the contrast too and can't wait to see it with a finish applied. I think if I were to redo it though I'd have the rails and blades be maple as well to make the panels and drawers pop more. Oh well.


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## superstretch (Jan 10, 2011)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


What woods are those?


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Cherry and Hard Maple. The dowels for the pinned tenons are also cherry and the top is curly cherry.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


hey eric: nice progress. those tops look spectacular, and i think this figure looks nicer than that of the previous tops you had used!

as far as the finishing goes, when i did my nightstand, i finished the inside walls with a couple coats of my wiping varnish. I figured that i didn't want any moisture gradients warping my panels. I didn't take pains to make the finish look good, just so that there was something there. However, the only part of the drawer that is finished is the front (in and out sides of it) and that was finished prior to drawer assembly. The outside of the drawer sides got a coat of paste wax. the inside got nothing. With these, since neither side gets a finish, the wood movement question is moot. Also, i find that i like the feel of the unfinished wood inside.


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## alba (Jul 31, 2010)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Eric, great blog/tutorial

I missed this first time

They are looking really nice

jamie


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Aaron, thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll just paste wax the drawers like you suggest(besides the fronts of course). For the middle book shelf I'll probably use the same finish on the outside and tops and the interior panel walls with a wiping varnish of some sort. Any recommendations?

And yes, I agree, these tops looks far superior to my previous attempts. Unfortunately I had to pay more for these veneers when I had lots of wood already, but I didn't want to chance it again or spend more countless hours trying to finish it up. well worth it IMO to just buy the veneers this time.

Thank you Jamie.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Eric- those stands are superb. The 4-way match on the tops is mind-boggling beautiful. The gentle curve to the legs was a stroke of genius- definitely brings it beyond store-bought ordinary. They may have taken a lot of time as well as blood, sweat, and tears- but in my opinion it was worth it all. Don't forget to show us the finished pieces. I use Arm-R-Seal on most of my projects. It is great to use and gives a lovely finish. I top it with the Beall Wood Buff System on my small projects, but nothing over it for larger projects.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Thanks Donna. while the stands do have some minor perfections most people wouldn't know. They are enough for me to cringe when I see them but I learned from them and what not to do next time  But these tops are mind blowing, i agree. Can't wait to see what they look like with the finish. I wish the hand cut dovetails were a little better…next time they will be.

The leg design I wish I could take credit for but I can't. The original design was my wifes idea with a curve on the top as well. 









Then Dave Richards(old LJ member) suggested I just do the bottom curve only and I'm glad I followed that advice. It looks far better and I'll be incorporating it into the rest of the bedroom set.

I'll be applying renaissance wax after the finish to the tops as well for extra protection.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


You made a good choice there, Eric. I sympathize with the problem of having every small defect jump out at you until that is all you can see. I have learned though that after a while your eye will lose its focus on defects and you will just see the whole- as everyone else does already. At least I'm hoping that will happen to me as I finish up the Dragonfly Harp. There are some filled areas that look pretty bad and I'm even thinking about trying to disguise them with some light staining. That would probably make them stand out even more though- so I will probably fuhgeddaboudit and see how it looks when finished.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


for wiping varnish i just use a mix of poly, BLO, and mineral spirits - i'd say 1/3 each, but i tend to go a bit light on the BLO. I'm not familiar with arm-r-seal - is it poly?


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Aaron, yes its a urethane resin that Charles Neil recommended it as an easy quick finish that dries pretty clear.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10928&filter=arm%20r%20seal

Odd, I heard I shouldn't use BLO on the interior walls because of the odor. Is it not as bad when mixed 1/3 of each?

Donna, I'm sure the harp will turn out wonderful.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Aaron, I found this for a wiping varnish mix using the Arm R Seal urethane  http://www.woodsmith.com/files/issues/169/make-your-own-wiping-varnish.pdf


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


Nice looking nightstands, Eric.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


i heard that too and totally forgot it when i did the finishing  it must be the small amount i use, but there's no residual odor that i can detect. when using it like a wiping varnish it's also not really the same as a traditional BLO-only finish, which really soaks in there!

anyway, there's no secret to BLO, it's like making your own italian dressing: mix whatever proportions you want. The brand of poly shouldn't matter too much, they just might use different amounts of solvent in there, so adjust the mineral spirits to taste, basically.

the other thing is, there's no reason to go out and buy BLO if you don't already have it - like that article says, a wiping varnish can be had with only the poly. I guess a wiping varnish is more about how you apply the finish than about what exactly it's made of


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


just noticed that arm-r-seal says it's "wipe on." That could mean they've already thinned it out appropriately. If that's the case, the directions will say something about applying it, letting it sit a few minutes (probably 5-30), then wiping off. it not, then it's not a real wiping varnish and they're just confusing things… hope that's not confusing.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


It does say to wipe out the excess but it doesn't say anything about waiting after applying to wipe.

Finishing is all new to me, I actually had to look up what a varnish technically is  So after reading up on it, I'd agree that the poly is one. I actually do have BLO lying around as well.


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## AaronK (Nov 30, 2008)

Eric_S said:


> *Update on the stands, redoing the tops(again) and final sanding*
> 
> Hey everyone, it's good to be back. Had to take some time off due to work and life getting in the way as always and also some time to think about how I wanted to tackle the tops. In my last blog, i tried fixing my tearout mistakes with inlays. Well that didn't go to well either and the tops looked far worse in some places. I wasn't happy with such obvious mistakes being so visible so I scrapped the old tops however I will be saving them to use on smaller boxes or jewelry box tops. I figured the fastest way to fix my mistakes was to just redo them completely.
> 
> ...


hmm… i wish someone who knew more about arm-r-seal could chime in. in any event, adding more thinner to the poly won't really hurt - it'll just mean that you need more coats (and time!) to build a thicker finish.


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