Rosewood Shaker Tables - Gift

[Alan Turner]

I made a pair of shaker style tables for my step daughter and her husband to celebrate the renovation of their second floor, and master bedroom. These will be living in a Boston ex-suburb - Whitingsville, MA.

The legs and apron are Bolivian Rosewood; the tops and beading are of lacewood. The beading is 1/16". Drawer parts are hard maple. 18" by 18" by 26"h. All of the Rosewood was from a single 8/4 board.

My wife delivered them this weekend, and they were well received.

I left an unfortunate maker’s mark – an error – which is of little consequence, except to me.

I have been making too much shaker stuff of late; need to get back to the curves of handwork. But, rosewood is a tough cookie on planes, chisels, shaves, etc. I am embarassed to say that I actually put a ROS on these guys. Although it doesn't look like it, the grain on the rosewood is difficult.

Thanks for looking.

Alan

[Chris Padilla]

Gorgeous, Alan! The ROS worked! ;)

[Tyler Howell]

Too Nice Alan Too Nice.;)

[Waymon Campbell]

Beautiful work Alan. Care to share the finish and topcoat you used?

[Herb Blair]

great Work!

[Mark Singer]

Alan,
Beautful work! Beautiful wood! Are those half blind dovetails or is there a drawer fascia. It appears to be a different color wood. Wonderful simple design. Great finish...is it oil or shellac?

[David Eisan]

Nice tables!

What type of Rosewood? Where did you get it? How much per BF?

What are the chances of getting a close up of the beading around the drawer front?

Thanks for posting,

David.

[Dick Parr]

Nice looking tables Alan.

[Todd Burch]

Alan, those tables look very nice. From the lighting, I can see that the finish is quite smooth and not built up to take away from the project - just a nice, smooth satin finish.

The taper on the legs is very graceful too.

Why are the ends (end grain) of the pins (of the 1/2 blind dovetail joinery) so much darker than the red endgrain of the drawer front? (as shown in the middle picture) You must have done something different there... Humm... Did you seal that part of the endgrain, or perhaps attach a thin piece to the endgrain that is long grain?

Also, the top looks a tad bit thicker than 3/4". How thick is it?

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Embarrassed because you used a sander? Not when they turn out like that!

KC

[Jim Becker]

Awesome...

[Wes Bischel]

Alan,

Wow, those are outstanding. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway - it really takes the hands of a master to make something so simple, stand out as so elegant.

Wes

[Thomas Prondzinski]

Alan
Beautiful work!!!!!!

Tom

[Bill Grumbine]

Very nice Alan! If I recall you were working on them when I was visiting, right? And I know it must have pained you, but those ROS tools work real nice, don't they? :p

Just as an aside, I'm warming up for that cherry burl. I've got to do a few practice pieces first. :eek:

Bill

[Brad Schmid]

Very beautiful Alan! Few things compare to the beauty of a well built piece of Shaker style. Thanks for sharing.
Brad

[Pete Lamberty]

Great looking tables Alan. Could you tell us what finish you used. Beautiful job!

[Jason Tuinstra]

Wow, Alan... The first time I've been on in a long time and look at what I'm treated with, shaker furniture! Great job on those tables. The dovetails look great! I'm sure the combination of that rosewood and lacewood look even better in person. Great job!

[Dave Anderson NH]

Nicely made and proportioned tables Alan. As for "cheating" with the ROS-- So What. It's not like the Neanderthal Secret Police are going to come and repossess your hand planes.;) On the other hand, as Chief of the Secret Police, I could probably drive down and confiscate them. I'll bet the lacewood top was fun to smoothe too.

[Alan Turner]

Thanks to all for the kind words. The shakers would have not approved the woods used, but the design is classic shaker. All were kind enough not to mention the plain error, and I appreciate the sensitivity of the members here. Answers and smart remarks follow.

Dave,
You are most welcome to visit, but I do search the luggage and pockets of visiting neanders before permitting them to exit.
I cheated even more than the ROS on the Lacewood top. After the glue up, I reflattened the tops in the drum sander. Interestingly, my drum sander, even though quite wide, is the treadle style. A crew of 6 is required for good speed. My HNT Gordon will work on the lacewood, but it is out of tune, and I didn’t want to take the time to refettle it. Please don’t revoke my neander ticket.

Bill,
Thanks, but get off the board and get to work!!! Yes, you did see the beginnings of them in the shop. Don’t tell Dave that I used a slot mortiser instead of my mortising chisels for the apron joinery. I did not use loose tenons. I square the ends of the mortise instead of rounding the tenons. Chopping in rosewood wreaks havoc on an edge tool. My chisels for the DT’s looked like toothing plane irons after even this modest chopping.

Todd,
The taper on the legs is from 1.25 at top, to .75 at bottom. The top is right about .75, give or take. The drawer is cockbeaded, so the bead is as deep as the lap on the 1/2 blind DT’s, so all you see from the side is the bead and pins; no end grain of the lap.

David,
The Rosewood is a Bolivian Rosewood. It is the least expensive of the rosewoods, at about $15 per foot. It was part of an estate purchase this past Spring. I have a bunch of it, but don’t think it is esp. rare. If you were local, I could part with some of it. If you are interested, let me know. I have too much. My wife is parking inthe driveway as the 2 car garage is filled with wood. Half is dimensioned, like the RW, the other half is wonderful slabs.
Another drawer pix is attached. I didn’t take one of this detail especially, but on my web site there are pix of this detail, but with a larger radius, in ebony, on several tables.

Mark,
Yes, half blind DT’s, of course. I have never made a drawer without, that I recall, at least in the last 10 or so years. Making drawers is one of my favorite furn. tasks. A smooth running drawer gives great pleasure to me as a maker. On these drawers is used a drawer slip instead of a groove on the drawer sides bec. the sides are only 5/16" thick.

To all: The finish:
I wiped a coat of 2# shellac, super blonde dewaxed, brushed sanded with 320, and wiped another quick coat of shellac. This seals the wood, esp. the lacewood, and thus lessens the number of top coats required. I then used Waterlox Original, which is my current favorite oil varnish mixture. It has a fairly high solids content, a nice sheen, and is repairable. It is moisture and heat resistant, at least sufficient for the morning coffee. Finished it with a quick rubout of dark wax with 4/0 Liberon steel wool, with the grain. Buff and go. Clear wax on the drawer and runners.
I did not use Waterlox on the drawer; only the shellac (smell free). I did use Waterlox on the bottom of the top, same # of coats as on top, and then put a quick sealer coat of shellac on the bottom of the top for odor prevention, although with an open bottom this would not likely be a serious problem.

Alan

[Kurt Loup]

Alan,

Great job on the tables. I like your wood selection. I just finished one (except for the pull that's on order) in walnut that looks just like them. I still have a ways to go, quality wise, but I'm learning.

Kurt

http://www.loup-garou.net/drawer2.jpg

http://www.loup-garou.net/drawerfront.jpg

[Alan Turner]

Kurt,
I guess bookmatched walnut veneer isn't quite shaker either, but it still is a nice looking table. My knob is from Horton, wrought iron I think. What are you using? Sometimes when I am veneering a drawer front, I will use the same species as the base for the veneer, which fools people a bit, but also is what one sort of expects to see when one opens a drawer. On the other hand, in the 18th Cen. they handled this issue with full width cockbeads on the top and bottom, and thinner ones on the sides, covering only the lap part fo the DT joint. Thus, when the drawer is opened, one sees the color of wood one expects.
Walnut is a nice wood to work with. Cuts like butter. My present project - on going and long term - is of mahogany, and it is a real pleasure after all of the tropicals of late. Sure does make a difference.
Alan

[Greg Tatum]

WOW!!!
Greg

[Kurt Loup]

Alan,

I'm not sure if this is the exact pull, but I ordered this one or one very similar from Whitechapel. I thought about a pewter or black pull like yours, but in the end I ordered the above. I'll see how it looks when it comes in. I'm still not certain what style I like best. Of course the Shakers would have used a simple pull. By the way, I also used drawer slips.

Kurt

http://www.whitechapel-ltd.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/lg/18psv3.jpg