Side Table

[John Samuel]

My son asked for a side table to quite odd dimensions. About 1050 mm high and 1.4-1.5M long. I did warn him about designing a piece of furniture for a specific spot ... that ceases to exist when one moves house, but the client gets what the client wants.

It will use the same basic design and construction as his daughter's chest of drawers. Cabriole legs, but the new piece has aprons to match the legs, so the centre of the cabinet is adequately supported. Sides connected with web frames. Both are NG Rosewood.

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First a sketch ... which receives royal assent. I tried and tried to get the sketch oriented correctly ... but was defeated.

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Next we make the templates. Then the timber for the legs and aprons is dressed. Next we cut and rough sand the legs.
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[John Samuel]

Next the legs are attached to the short aprons. All joinery is floating tenons.

The next shot shows a close up of where a leg joins an apron. Note the shaped piece of scrap cedar used to clamp the three pieces together. The shape of the top of the leg can lead to the clamp wanting to slide off the job. This is overcome by the shaped pieces of cedar which are attached to the legs with hot melt glue (easy to remove once the joint is set).

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Here is the finished component ... legs joined to short apron.

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[John Samuel]

All legs and aprons for the daddy longlegs unit now glued up and rough sanded.

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[John Samuel]

Today the plinth was made. The plinth is made from 70mm wide timber with a routed edge and sits on the legs/aprons as noted in the pic below.

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The side of the cabinet sits on the plinth as noted below. Please note that the grain runs front to back.
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Because the grain for the sides runs front to back rather than up and down, there is no need to worry about seasonal movement ... and I can tenon web frames directly into the sides, making for a very strong unit. Here is one of the web frames in the clamps.
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I use a plinth to thrust the legs out, as noted in the chest of drawers below.

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[John Samuel]

Ready for finish sanding and lacquer.

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For some years I convinced myself that I did not have the skills to make cabriole legs. Eventually, I made one short leg, just as a test piece. The ease with which I made the leg shocked me. First I make a template for the leg shape and size (I copied from an old piece of furniture). Then I cut out the leg on a bandsaw. Then I use the template again to mark up the legs and sand to a square finish using the linisher or Big Boy Sander. When all four legs look symmetrical, I then start rounding off the legs, on the linisher (principally on the wheel). Finally, I hand sand the legs with a block faced with a strip of rubber. These four legs took four or five hours to make.

Having cabriole legs as a possibility increases your design options. By my reckoning, it's a skill worth developing.

[John Samuel]

Because the timber was reasonably close grained I decided not to seal the top of the cabinet with Solarez.

That was a mistake. Got lots of pinholes in the sanding sealer that would have become bubbles if lacquered.

I have no idea why only the horizontal surfaces get these bubbles and pinholes, and only in NG Rosewood, but that's what is happening.

Bugger!

[John Samuel]

Lacquer is on, drawer handles are on. Finally finished!

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I'll leave it for at least a couple of days to give the lacquer a chance to get hard before I move it to my son's home.

[Mr Brush]

Spectacular work :2tsup:. Love the design and proportions of the piece.

[John Samuel]

Spectacular work :2tsup:. Love the design and proportions of the piece.
Thanks, Mr Brush.

Can't claim the proportions as my idea ... they were chosen by my son.

I've nicknamed it the "daddy longlegs" side table.

[John Samuel]

In its final resting place.

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[Mobyturns]

Because the timber was reasonably close grained I decided not to seal the top of the cabinet with Solarez.

That was a mistake. Got lots of pinholes in the sanding sealer that would have become bubbles if lacquered.

I have no idea why only the horizontal surfaces get these bubbles and pinholes, and only in NG Rosewood, but that's what is happening.

Bugger!

Yep, NGR is a PIA like that. I reckon is the most difficult timber that I have used to pore / grain fill.

[John Samuel]

What I don't properly understand, Mobyturns, is why the pinholes and bubbles appear only on horizontal surfaces in NG Rosewood.

[Woody1]

Wow John that is a beautiful piece of furniture. I also like the proportion and Design.

[John Samuel]

Wow John that is a beautiful piece of furniture. I also like the proportion and Design.
And to think I was concerned with the overall height of 1,050 mm when my son asked for that height ... several folk here like the proportions, so it looks like I was worried about nothing.