Flush and Nesting Redwood Tables

I've decided to present these pieces a little differently. Two clients asked me for tables made of salvaged watertower redwood, and both clients were curious about the process of how the wood goes from salvaged planks to finished tables. And since I documented the process a little more thoroughly for and because the clients mentioned how much they enjoyed seeing the tables come together, I thought I would share them with you in the same manner.

My girlfriend accompanied me to pick up the redwood and was surprised by it's rough state. Having seen the picklebarrel table, also made of redwood, she was surpirsed that this wood could be transformed in such a way. I realized that this is one of the pleasures of working with salvaged wood. It looks so rough, but you know what lies beneath. Moreover, roughness, which makes it at first seem unattractive, is actually the very thing that I think makes it so pretty. It's wonderful to run these rough boards through the planer and take off just a bit of that once rough patina so that you are left with beautiful streaks of black and other patterns contrasting with the still vibrant wood below.

Flush Table

For the Flush Table, I picked out the wood that seemed to go together nicely, but you don't really know what the wood will look like until you take the patina off.

After the order of the wood was selected I glued and clamped the pieces together.

I set this aside and began work on the base. I, unfortunately, did not take very good pictures of the legs being constructed and then mortised and tenoned for the width of the table; however, here is a sequence of pictures that shows the length of the table being joined and reinforced.

With base complete, I fit the top and make any last adjustments before sanding and finishing.

And here are some pictures with the table finished. The clamps were there to hold it in place before the base was attached to the top.

This table will glow with a bit of candle light.

Nesting Tables

The nesting table was very fun to create and has one of my favorite design details of the furniture I've made. The clients for these tables were a couple and one of them was a musician. They were looking for way to maximize and beautify their space and improve his music station. So, we decided to go with a very simple design, similar to some metal nesting tables. My favorite detail came when I started thinking about how to reinforce such a simple table. There needed to be support in the corners, where the legs meet the top. I thought of adding square blocking, and then it occurred to me that since it was going to be used for music, I could strengthen the table and add a subtle reference to music. I would add three splines, like the three black keys that are grouped together on the piano.

But I jump the gun. The tops for both of these tables are continuous, so if you put them side-by-side, everything will match-up.

I jumped the gun again. Here are the legs and tops joined with a simple butt joint.

To reinforce this butt joint, I setup a sled for the table saw at 45 degrees that allowed me to cut the grooves for the splines. This was quite a spectical, and I wish I had asked someone to take pictures of me with the whole tables going over the table saw. Here are some pictures of the splines after the grooves were cut.

Here is a picture of the tables pulled out just before I finished them.

Without stain, the wood takes on beautiful, rich colors when oil is applied to them.

Here another picture of the tables completed with a wax finish.

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Side Tables

Patterned after the model #562 taboret shown in the L.&J.G. Stickley catalog of 1914, the original of this table now sells for $1,600 at auction.

As with all white oak Arts & Crafts pieces, wood figure is important to make a simple design stand out. Choose the best figure for the top and the panel pieces. If the stretchers and legs are also well-figured, so much the better.

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After cutting the legs to size, mark the best faces for showing off the grain. Then cut 3/8" x 2-5/8" x 1"-deep mortises in the legs for the stretchers, and 3/8" x 1-1/8" x 1"-deep mortises for the aprons. These mortises are centered on the width of the legs and located as shown in the diagram. I used a benchtop mortiser for this step, but you could also use a plunge router with an up-spiral bit to cut them. Now change the bit (either mortiser or router bit) to a 1/4" bit and mark and cut the 1/4" x 5-3/8" x 1/2"-deep mortises for the panels in the aprons and stretchers.

With the mortises complete, head for the table saw and get ready to cut tenons.

I use a rip blade to form my tenons. I cut the cheeks first, then define the shoulders, so there isn’t a chance of the shoulders being accidentally notched by the saw blade during the cheek cut. By cutting the shoulder last, any “notching” will happen against the tenon cheek.

When making the shoulder cut on the table saw, it’s easiest to use the rip fence to define the 1"-tenon length. If you use the fence to the right of the blade, and the miter gauge to the left of the blade you will trap the fall-off piece between the blade and fence, causing it to shoot back from the blade. Instead, set the fence for 13" to the right of the blade and use the miter gauge to the right of the blade as well. This way you can cut both tenoned ends with a single setup, and the waste will fall harmlessly to the left of the blade. If you’re paying careful attention, you will realize 1" tenons are going to bump into one another in the mortises. After cutting the tenon shoulders, reset the fence and the blade angle to cut 45° miters on the ends of the tenons.

Don’t leave the saw yet. You still need to form the 1/4" x 5-1/4" x 1/2" tenons on both ends of the panels. You might have noticed that the tenons are 1/8" less wide than the mortise dimensions. This is no mistake. When the side panels are positioned between the stretchers and aprons, the shoulders of the panel tenons will fit snug against the stretchers and rails. If the mortises in the legs were the exact width of the tenons, and off by even a little bit, they would force a gap between the panels and the two rails. The 1/8" extra space on the panel tenons is to allow for wood movement.

Next, mark the 1" curve on the bottom edge of each stretcher and cut the shape...

The Best Woodworking Plans Are Found Here

Tables

In our living room, we keep a mahogany table that I vaguely knew one of my ancestors had built. After I began my internship at this magazine, I became more interested in that table. I asked my paternal grandmother about the table, and she told me that my great-great-grandfather, Carl Edward Wulff, built it at his furniture shop in downtown Cincinnati about 1870. She even had a photograph of his shop dated 1878. In the picture you can see the simple sign that says “Furniture.” With this proof, I knew that woodworking was definitely in my blood. Having the family tradition in mind, I set about building a slightly simplified facsimile. In fact, the joinery in this project is so simple that almost any beginner can do it.

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Start with the Basics
After cutting all your rough stock to length, surface your wood down to 3/4" thick (except for the legs). The original 19th-century table’s top was only one board. You can still find mahogany in these widths, but I couldn’t. To obtain the appropriate width, I had to glue up two boards for both the leaves and the tabletop. I used three biscuits at each joint to keep the boards aligned during glue-up. Also, if you can’t get 2-1/4"-thick stock for the legs, ask for turning blanks at the lumber store instead; you might just get lucky.

Mortises, Tenons and Tapers

The first step is to make mortise-and-tenon joints where the aprons join the legs. I made the tenons using a dado stack on the table saw. Cut the shoulders as shown in the photo on the next page. Make the tenons 3/8" thick, 1" long and 3-1/4" wide. After cutting your tenons, cut a groove in the aprons for the tabletop fasteners, which will attach the top to the table’s base. Make this slot by cutting a kerf in the aprons that’s 7/16" down from the top edge. For a nice detail, I routed a bead on the bottom edge of the aprons.

The mortises on all the legs are made 1-7/16" from the inside for the short aprons and 7/16" from the inside for the long aprons as shown in the diagram below. Cut your mortises on the legs; I used a mortiser, but you can use a chisel or Forstner bit.

The original table had turned legs, but in order to simplify things, I tapered the legs. Tapering jigs for the table saw can be tricky, so I used a band saw to cut the tapers about 1/16" shy of my line and then cleaned up the cut on the jointer. The taper should start 1" below where the aprons end and result in a leg that tapers to one-half the original thickness. Remember: taper only the sides that have mortises.

Install the Hinges

After tapering, sand the legs and aprons. Start with #100-grit sandpaper, move up to #150 grit, then finish with #220 grit. Next, glue up the legs and aprons and clamp. After gluing up the base, turn your attention to the top.

Install the hinges that connect ...

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Coffee Tables

Most coffee tables are ill-equipped to handle the stresses of modern-day life. Company is coming, and your living room is strewn with books, woodworking catalogs and your spouse’s catalogs. Most coffee tables offer you only a puny shelf to help you tidy up in a hurry. This coffee table does double-duty by giving you a shelf for books and two drawers that are big enough to handle all but the biggest magazines and catalogs. And oh yes, you can serve coffee on it, too.

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Construction is simple but sturdy. You build the bottom case that holds the drawers out of plywood and biscuits. Then you screw the solid maple legs onto the case and cover all the plywood edges with moulding and veneer tape. Finally, you screw the top to the legs using figure-eight fasteners and build some quick drawers. And this project won’t cost you a heck of a lot, either. You need about one-third of a sheet of maple plywood (birch will do just fine, too), about four board feet of 8/4 maple and about 10 board feet of 5/4 maple. You’ll also need a little Baltic birch ply and a small amount of 1/4" ply for the drawer bottoms.

Start at the Top
When you’re at the lumberyard, be sure to pick through the racks of soft maple for this project. Soft maple (Acer rubrum) is a little cheaper than hard maple (Acer saccharum) and is more likely to have some curl or other figure. After you plane your maple down to 1" thickness, get ready to glue up your top. I like to cut a few biscuit slots in the mating edges of the top pieces. This doesn’t add to the strength of this long-grain joint, but it sure helps keep your boards in line when gluing up your panels. Clamp up your top and set it aside for the glue to dry.

Simple and Sweet Lower Case

The case that holds the drawers goes together really fast. Cut out the parts you need according to the Schedule of Materials. Then cut the biscuit slots to attach the sides, back and divider between the top and bottom pieces. Take some care when locating the center divider to save yourself a headache when making the drawers. See the step photo on the right for the trick to cutting biscuit slots in the middle of a panel.

Now put glue and biscuits in all the biscuit slots and clamp up the lower case. When the glue is dry, sand the case to 150 grit and turn your attention to the legs. To make attaching the legs to the case easier, go ahead and cut some clearance holes in the case’s sides where the case will be joined to the back legs. This is easier to do from the outside before the legs go on.

Eight Screws and You’ve Got a Table

Here’s how to attach the legs: Mark on the leg where the case should meet the leg. Clamp the leg into place on the lower case and then drill pilot holes and clearance holes for #8 screws (I used a bit that drills both holes simultaneously). The holes s...

The Best Woodworking Plans Are Found Here

Coffee Tables

Most coffee tables are ill-equipped to handle the stresses of modern-day life. Company is coming, and your living room is strewn with books, woodworking catalogs and your spouse’s catalogs. Most coffee tables offer you only a puny shelf to help you tidy up in a hurry. This coffee table does double-duty by giving you a shelf for books and two drawers that are big enough to handle all but the biggest magazines and catalogs. And oh yes, you can serve coffee on it, too.

Construction is simple but sturdy. You build the bottom case that holds the drawers out of plywood and biscuits. Then you screw the solid maple legs onto the case and cover all the plywood edges with moulding and veneer tape. Finally, you screw the top to the legs using figure-eight fasteners and build some quick drawers. And this project won’t cost you a heck of a lot, either. You need about one-third of a sheet of maple plywood (birch will do just fine, too), about four board feet of 8/4 maple and about 10 board feet of 5/4 maple. You’ll also need a little Baltic birch ply and a small amount of 1/4" ply for the drawer bottoms.

Start at the Top
When you’re at the lumberyard, be sure to pick through the racks of soft maple for this project. Soft maple (Acer rubrum) is a little cheaper than hard maple (Acer saccharum) and is more likely to have some curl or other figure. After you plane your maple down to 1" thickness, get ready to glue up your top. I like to cut a few biscuit slots in the mating edges of the top pieces. This doesn’t add to the strength of this long-grain joint, but it sure helps keep your boards in line when gluing up your panels. Clamp up your top and set it aside for the glue to dry.

Simple and Sweet Lower Case

The case that holds the drawers goes together really fast. Cut out the parts you need according to the Schedule of Materials. Then cut the biscuit slots to attach the sides, back and divider between the top and bottom pieces. Take some care when locating the center divider to save yourself a headache when making the drawers. See the step photo on the right for the trick to cutting biscuit slots in the middle of a panel.

Now put glue and biscuits in all the biscuit slots and clamp up the lower case. When the glue is dry, sand the case to 150 grit and turn your attention to the legs. To make attaching the legs to the case easier, go ahead and cut some clearance holes in the case’s sides where the case will be joined to the back legs. This is easier to do from the outside before the legs go on.

Eight Screws and You’ve Got a Table

Here’s how to attach the legs: Mark on the leg where the case should meet the leg. Clamp the leg into place on the lower case and then drill pilot holes and clearance holes for #8 screws (I used a bit that drills both holes simultaneously). The holes s...

The Best Woodworking Plans Are Found Here

Tables

In our living room, we keep a mahogany table that I vaguely knew one of my ancestors had built. After I began my internship at this magazine, I became more interested in that table. I asked my paternal grandmother about the table, and she told me that my great-great-grandfather, Carl Edward Wulff, built it at his furniture shop in downtown Cincinnati about 1870. She even had a photograph of his shop dated 1878. In the picture you can see the simple sign that says “Furniture.” With this proof, I knew that woodworking was definitely in my blood. Having the family tradition in mind, I set about building a slightly simplified facsimile. In fact, the joinery in this project is so simple that almost any beginner can do it.

Start with the Basics
After cutting all your rough stock to length, surface your wood down to 3/4" thick (except for the legs). The original 19th-century table’s top was only one board. You can still find mahogany in these widths, but I couldn’t. To obtain the appropriate width, I had to glue up two boards for both the leaves and the tabletop. I used three biscuits at each joint to keep the boards aligned during glue-up. Also, if you can’t get 2-1/4"-thick stock for the legs, ask for turning blanks at the lumber store instead; you might just get lucky.

Mortises, Tenons and Tapers

The first step is to make mortise-and-tenon joints where the aprons join the legs. I made the tenons using a dado stack on the table saw. Cut the shoulders as shown in the photo on the next page. Make the tenons 3/8" thick, 1" long and 3-1/4" wide. After cutting your tenons, cut a groove in the aprons for the tabletop fasteners, which will attach the top to the table’s base. Make this slot by cutting a kerf in the aprons that’s 7/16" down from the top edge. For a nice detail, I routed a bead on the bottom edge of the aprons.

The mortises on all the legs are made 1-7/16" from the inside for the short aprons and 7/16" from the inside for the long aprons as shown in the diagram below. Cut your mortises on the legs; I used a mortiser, but you can use a chisel or Forstner bit.

The original table had turned legs, but in order to simplify things, I tapered the legs. Tapering jigs for the table saw can be tricky, so I used a band saw to cut the tapers about 1/16" shy of my line and then cleaned up the cut on the jointer. The taper should start 1" below where the aprons end and result in a leg that tapers to one-half the original thickness. Remember: taper only the sides that have mortises.

Install the Hinges

After tapering, sand the legs and aprons. Start with #100-grit sandpaper, move up to #150 grit, then finish with #220 grit. Next, glue up the legs and aprons and clamp. After gluing up the base, turn your attention to the top.

Install the hinges that connect ...

The Best Woodworking Plans Are Found Here

Side Tables

Patterned after the model #562 taboret shown in the L.&J.G. Stickley catalog of 1914, the original of this table now sells for $1,600 at auction.

As with all white oak Arts & Crafts pieces, wood figure is important to make a simple design stand out. Choose the best figure for the top and the panel pieces. If the stretchers and legs are also well-figured, so much the better.

After cutting the legs to size, mark the best faces for showing off the grain. Then cut 3/8" x 2-5/8" x 1"-deep mortises in the legs for the stretchers, and 3/8" x 1-1/8" x 1"-deep mortises for the aprons. These mortises are centered on the width of the legs and located as shown in the diagram. I used a benchtop mortiser for this step, but you could also use a plunge router with an up-spiral bit to cut them. Now change the bit (either mortiser or router bit) to a 1/4" bit and mark and cut the 1/4" x 5-3/8" x 1/2"-deep mortises for the panels in the aprons and stretchers.

With the mortises complete, head for the table saw and get ready to cut tenons.

I use a rip blade to form my tenons. I cut the cheeks first, then define the shoulders, so there isn’t a chance of the shoulders being accidentally notched by the saw blade during the cheek cut. By cutting the shoulder last, any “notching” will happen against the tenon cheek.

When making the shoulder cut on the table saw, it’s easiest to use the rip fence to define the 1"-tenon length. If you use the fence to the right of the blade, and the miter gauge to the left of the blade you will trap the fall-off piece between the blade and fence, causing it to shoot back from the blade. Instead, set the fence for 13" to the right of the blade and use the miter gauge to the right of the blade as well. This way you can cut both tenoned ends with a single setup, and the waste will fall harmlessly to the left of the blade. If you’re paying careful attention, you will realize 1" tenons are going to bump into one another in the mortises. After cutting the tenon shoulders, reset the fence and the blade angle to cut 45° miters on the ends of the tenons.

Don’t leave the saw yet. You still need to form the 1/4" x 5-1/4" x 1/2" tenons on both ends of the panels. You might have noticed that the tenons are 1/8" less wide than the mortise dimensions. This is no mistake. When the side panels are positioned between the stretchers and aprons, the shoulders of the panel tenons will fit snug against the stretchers and rails. If the mortises in the legs were the exact width of the tenons, and off by even a little bit, they would force a gap between the panels and the two rails. The 1/8" extra space on the panel tenons is to allow for wood movement.

Next, mark the 1" curve on the bottom edge of each stretcher and cut the shape...

The Best Woodworking Plans Are Found Here