Thread: A George I Walnut Side Table

Originally Posted by Peter36

You make it all sound so easy .

Don't confuse time consuming with difficulty – even if you have difficulty finding time.

Originally Posted by Peter36

Roughly how many hours went into the side table .

I don't keep time sheets any more, but I'm guessing I put somewhere in the region of 38-40 hours into the table to date with probably another three or four hours required to finish it. Shaping the legs and making the feather banding consumed a fair amount of time.

Cor, nice legs!

“The final step was to cut the screw pockets and then screw the top in place.”

I assume you may be using a method that was used 300 odd years ago, was there a special tool, or tools designed for this purpose that you are aware of, prior to the electrification of tools?

I ask, as my father in rehabilitation after a bad time during WWII, was placed in a furniture manufacturing facility, and/or, restorer workshop. To be more precise, they used their hands (generally) to get their motor functions working again.

One task he became good at was making screw pockets for tabletop attachment, which became apparent when the government rehabilitation place he was in, was given a contract for around 1,000 tables. It was said he was able to do it faster than their (non-electric) machine, using a handed down technique with simple but specific tool(s) for that kind of job.

I believe he learnt this technique from an old fella, who around 1890 became a furniture maker by trade.

Mick.

It's normally a very quick affair to make the pockets using just a gouge and a chisel. The base lines of the pockets are first scribed to suit the length of screw/thickness of top being used and the screw holes are drilled down from the top of the rails. Three pushes with the gouge makes the scallops and the chisel is used to cut the bottoms of the pockets.

However, as I no longer possess the necessary size/sweep of gouge, I took a few more cuts with a less than ideal gouge to affect the same result. It takes no time at all with the right tools. It looks like I will be making more framed tables etc., so I will likely invest in an appropriate gouge.

Many thanks for that, interesting as always.

Mick.

As always this has been a fascinating journey Mr. Wood!

You say you will be making more tables and therefore aquiring more tools. Do you make many commissioned pieces?

BTW the lemon tree could need a feed of zinc and perhaps some born come early spring. It looks as thogh the rin down there has leached those two elements away from the root zone.

Originally Posted by artme

You say you will be making more tables and therefore aquring more tools.

A tool!

Originally Posted by artme

Do you make many commissioned pieces?

Remuneration alone doesn't motivate me, but I do occasionally make furniture for others if the item piques my interest.

Originally Posted by artme

BTW the lemon tree could need a feed of zinc and perhaps some born come early spring. It looks as thogh the rin down there has leached those two elements away from the root zone.

The lemon tree has been going great guns – so much so that I had it severely pruned to allow me more space to work in the Lemon Studio. I gathered over thirty kilos of lemons from just the prunings. As can be witnessed by the image above, the amount of prunings far exceeded our green bin and we now have to wait a fortnight until we can dispose of another lot of cuttings.

The tree will continue to receive TLC to maintain the colour and fruit it provides.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

I gathered over thirty kilos of lemons from just the prunings.

That's a lot of marmalade or G&Ts or of whatever else you want to do with lemons.

When Mrs. Wood saw the buckets full of lemons, she sped off and returned with another case of her favourite brand of London Dry. I managed to secret enough lemons away to make myself a few jars of lemon curd for my breakfast toast.

I want to bring the brasses up to a fairly high lustre when I finally fit them to this piece of furniture, so this colour merely represents what will be left in the nooks and crannies in imitation of handles that have been regularly polished over the centuries.

Aged and coloured brasses.

Winter is upon us in the antipodes and as fate would have it, the rain is falling gently this morning as I attempt to finish this table. Oil and water don't mix. You probably knew that.

There's no forecast break in the weather for four days and the next candidate awaits, so I must press on and complete this little job. I erected one of those flimsy tubular steel framed sunshades in the back yard to keep the worst of the precipitation off me and the side table as I go about the staining and polishing process.

Originally Posted by Woodwould

There's no forecast break in the weather for four days and the next candidate awaits, so I must press on and complete this little job. I erected one of those flimsy tubular steel framed sunshades in the back yard to keep the worst of the precipitation off me and the side table as I go about the staining and polishing process.

A mini WIP on the staining and polishing would interest all I'm sure .

Originally Posted by Peter36

A mini WIP on the staining and polishing would interest all I'm sure .

I just finished it. All I did was stain it and oil it. The oil will take a few days to go off in this damp weather, but once it does, all I have to do is burnish it, fit the brasses and wax it. That probably won't be until Sunday when there's some sun forecast.

The side table was stained and oiled in a matter of a few hours, but the cool weather slowed the drying time down considerably. We had a spell of sunny weather which heated the Tin Toolbox (my workshop) to an agreeable level and allowed the finish to cure. A few days later and I was able to burnish it, fit the brassware and wax it.

The finished side table.

Drawer fronts.

A router can't match the effect achieved by a scratchstock.

Les culs de bébés…



… face-on…

… and bird's eye view.

A knee…

… and a pad foot.

Awesome work Woodwould. A lovely piece and beautifully finished.