Thread: Making a Reading Table - Part One

Looking good Woodwould, Excellent work

Very fine, Mr Woodwould! So, the recess houses the tilting stays, while the top is flush (or slighlty overhangs) the box carcase? While I'm asking questions, will there be a drawer for each end, and dummy moulding on the side(s) (as possibly appears in your photos of other similar tables)?

Originally Posted by Blue-deviled

So, the recess houses the tilting stays, while the top is flush (or slighlty overhangs) the box carcase?

Yes, the dust board is thinner than the top frame, so it provides a recess for the 'horse' to collapse into when not in use. Some allowance may be necessary later on for the hinges. The reading slope will overhang the carcase (and yet-to-be-attached mouldings) by about 5/8".

Originally Posted by Blue-deviled

While I'm asking questions, will there be a drawer for each end, and dummy moulding on the side(s) (as possibly appears in your photos of other similar tables)?

I'm leaving the drawers until last as I'm still not decided whether there will be one or two! The sides will be unadorned. The faux panel on that table I posted previously is uncharacteristic and my table is somewhat earlier in date than that style anyway.

No doubt about you WW! the little things (and big things ) I learn every time you do a project have certainly occupied some space in my thoughts.

Your forming of the two halves for the hollow reminds me of one of the very first "projects' I had to make in high school woodwork. It was a desk pencil holder done with plane, saw and gouge. Had it for years but, like so much, it has simply vanished.

That certainly is beautifully grained timber.

A 1/2 in. scotia moulding was stuck and applied round the top of the box carcase and a 1/4 in. astragal was stuck and applied round its base.

The completed box carcase.

There are two approaches to dovetailing the legs to the pillar. The first leaves the cylindrical base of the pillar in tact and the legs are dovetailed and coped to fit the radius of the pillar.

Coped leg joints.

The second method is to cut three flat facets into the base of the pillar, each the same width as the legs. The dovetail sockets are then cut into these facets.

Faceted leg joints (and iron triangle).

Either technique is appropriate for this period, but of the few pillar and claw leg joints I have had to repair, I'm fairly certain coped examples would out number the faceted ones which may or may not be significant; I can't say. However, there are several pillar and claw tables in my home which I made with coped leg joints and I don't ever want that to be interpreted by anyone as my preferred method or the only technique I employed.

Incidentally, iron braces (or triangles as they were then known) are not necessarily evidence of a repair; London cabinetmakers, at least, offered them as an option on new tables:

A triangle on a pillar-and-claw table - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - £.0 0s. 2d.
Letting in a triangle plate, the sides not exceeding four inches long - - £.0 0s. 2d.
[1]

A reader asked me to provide a break down of the procedure of attaching the legs to the pillar, so here it is: I laid out the three centre lines (120° apart) for the legs' dovetail sockets and off-set the lines by half the width of the legs. I scribed a line from the intersection of one of each pair of these lines where it meets the circumference of the pillar across to their opposite line and pared off the waste, thus creating the facets.

Facet cut into the pillar base.

The depths of the dovetails were marked off the faces of the facets with a marking gauge and then using a sliding bevel, I set out the dovetails onto the end of the pillar. The dovetail sockets were first sawn down as far as possible, and then chisels and mallet took over to complete the joints.

Finished dovetailed sockets.

The same dimensions were laid out on the legs and the dovetails were then sawn and trimmed to shape.

Finished dovetail on top end of leg.

I dry-assembled the pillar and legs and scribed the radius of the stop collar onto the tops of the legs. The legs were then withdrawn and trimmed. The colour difference between pillar and legs in the image below is of no consequence; both the pillar halves and legs were cut from the same plank of Walnut. The apparent dissimilarity is due to the pillar being burnished on the lathe with a handful of shavings and it therefore reflects more of its true colour. The legs have only been sanded to 120-grit at this stage, so they absorb a greater amount of light. When wet however, the colour is fairly uniform across pillar and legs.

The pillar and claws together.

Elm won the day for the block. I cut twin mortices through the block and tapered its ends so it will be less obtrusive when the table is complete.

The under side of the Elm block.

I fettled the column to be a nice fit inside the pillar. It drops slowly on a cushion of air into the pillar and is impossible to withdraw swiftly due to the vacuum created, but makes a pleasing 'pop' when it is gradually pulled out. I will probably plane a little more off each of the column's canted corners to allow the air an easier passage, otherwise raising the table will be a right royal pain!

A locating hole (into which the locking screw engages) was drilled in the top of the column so the table can be picked up by the carcase without it coming away from the pillar. Two subsequent holes were drilled at 2 in. intervals down the column. I made two saw cuts in each of the tennons before gluing the column into the block. A wedge was hammered into each cut, splaying the edges of the tennons and locking the column securely into the block.

Finished block and column.

I eventually settled on Apple for the locking screw. The wing is fairly typical of the decoration on wooden and brass screws used on furniture and architectural joinery throughout the Georgian period.

Apple locking screw.

[1] The London Society of Cabinet-makers, The Cabinet-makers' London Book of Prices, 1803, p. 266.

Thanks for the detail there Woodwould. Sometimes my eyes glaze over when I read copy, and try as I might to take in all the detail, the shots like go a long way to explain with more clarity.

Did you turn the apple locking screw yourself?

Originally Posted by Waldo

Thanks for the detail there Woodwould. Sometimes my eyes glaze over when I read copy, and try as I might to take in all the detail, the shots like go a long way to explain with more clarity.

I'm pleased you get something from all my babble.

Originally Posted by Waldo

Did you turn the apple locking screw yourself?

Of course! There's nothing to it really and Apple is lovely dense stuff to turn. During my research, I came across a reference to a woodturner's trade card that included Apple, Box and Plum "screws and nutts", but I must have forgotten to jot it down and now I can't find the damned thing again.

Looks Good Ww , did you make the apple screw yourself? Well done

Originally Posted by chowcini

Looks Good Ww , did you make the apple screw yourself? Well done

Yes I did (see the post imediately above yours).

WW looking good I also like the Apple screw did you cut the thread yourself and what method did you use?

I used a jig and a laminate trimmer to cut the thread in the screw.

As we have come to expect, more splendid detail Mr. Wood.

My sister-in -law has a bed made from "fruit wood". It is quite old and she has no idea of what fruit wood it is made, but icertainly looks like apple.

You make it all sound so easy WW - but I know it's not! Just out of curiosity, how long did it take you to cut the dovetails in the bottom of the pillar - if I spent a week on each one, they still wouldn't look as precise as yours

I think some people are intimidated by older period furniture, but imagine the same dovetails in the leg of, say a work bench. There's nothing difficult about it: You lay out the dovetails, saw close to the lines, and then chisel and pare away the waste. Only two tools are required and involve two of the most basic skills.

From laying out to finishing the last dovetail took, I'm guessing, 30-45 minutes.