Thread: A Ming era table with uncommon joinery

Thanks, Ray. It's really just one d**n thing after another but all of it fun for me. Except sanding. I hate sanding.

Last little bit of woodworking while finish dries was to make and fit the little shachi sen (tapered wedges) that with the yatoi sen will hold the top to the legs. The trick with these little wedges is that they are tapered parallelograms and come in left and right forms. Fortunately they don't have to fit perfectly. Close enough is good enough. I have them gently pushed in here just to make sure I have all eight I need and they are in the right orientations.

I hope to glue the stretchers to the legs tomorrow and then assemble everything else the next day.
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leg corner joint - 1.jpeg

Done, except for a few cosmetic tweaks and a couple more coats of oil on the top.

Assembly - 18.jpeg

Assembly - 20.jpeg

Assembly - 21.jpeg

I left the fancy/weird joinery wedges proud for now since this is the humid season here and I might need to tighten them after our next dry season.

Assembly - 22.jpeg

Thanks for this thread GR, it's been educational and has produced a result that is a pleasure to look at.

Of course we expect more threads of equally impressive work from you now .

Excellent - and well worth the pain.
Thank you for sharing this whole process.
I have enjoyed the journey enormously.
Congratulations again on a fine result
Tom

Fantastic result, a piece to be admired both for its aesthetics and also your skills x10

Many thanks for the kind comments. I do have some other finished work with uncommon joinery that i could post and more projects planned. Taking a break for now.

Here is one last detail: a foot!

Assembly - 1 (1).jpeg

A brilliant result GRadice. And here I am barely putting together run of the mill dovetails! Yours is craftsmanship to aspire to.

Any chance of a full frontal shot of the completed table?

Originally Posted by Alkahestic

Any chance of a full frontal shot of the completed table?

Thanks for the kind words. I'm having the table photographed professionally next week. I'll make sure there are several views and I'll share the glamour shots when I have them.

Originally Posted by Alkahestic

Any chance of a full frontal shot of the completed table?

Here you go. I've never before had a piece shot by a pro. It was a fun way to spend an hour, watching him move lights around and change angles and backgrounds and such.

89119738-170C-456F-9E83-88068DA96624.jpg39589F83-F771-4E1F-8E12-0A4109309CE8.jpgE241934E-639E-4C1D-9064-F3298E0A6D3F.jpg

An update if I can be permitted a modest notice. Encouraged by your comments and after living with it for a year I decided it really was a nice table and took the chance to submit pictures to Fine Woodworking magazine. It was accepted and appears in the current print issue. Also available online. My 15 minutes of fame, I guess.

Ming-Style Table - FineWoodworking

Originally Posted by GRadice

An update if I can be permitted a modest notice. Encouraged by your comments and after living with it for a year I decided it really was a nice table and took the chance to submit pictures to Fine Woodworking magazine. It was accepted and appears in the current print issue. Also available online. My 15 minutes of fame, I guess.

Ming-Style Table - FineWoodworking

And you deserve every one of those minutes ... and perhaps a few more.

Well done!