Mahogany nightstands project begins

[David Schmaus]

Now that I have my shop somewhat useable and have spent the summer "collecting" wood I think its time for my first piece of furniture.

The fiance says, "hey, I read that we should have matching nightstands in the bedroom. You know, Feng shui. But hey... I'm down with it. Sounds like a good project.

So I scour the internet for night stand ideas, find a few from retail furniture stores and a few hand made. Setup a slide show and say, "pick what you like about each one.. So we get to the Pottery Barn one and she says, "there!, I like that one." Not suprised...

Here is the picture from Pottery Barn
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Well we modified the design a bit and made the dimensions fit our room.

The final with be 18x18x24 with a 19x19 top out of Mahogany I picked up on CL this summer.

Here is my attempt at Sketchup

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I want to document the build just in case I need help... :)

[David Schmaus]

I decided to spend a few hours today and get the ball rolling. I am building two nightstands

Here is one of the pieces of Mahogany that I will be using for the legs. (1 7/8 x 1 7/8 x 23 x 8)
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After cutting, jointing and planing I looked at the pieces and realized I somehow screwed up.. The faces were parallel but the front and sides were not 90 degrees. (Hence, 1 7/8 and not 2")

I decided this might be a good time to learn how to use this No 6 Stanley I picked up on ebay.. I was really nervous because truthfully I kind of know the theory on using the plane but have not actually done it.. Well, all I can say is, "Wow, I can feel me sliding down the slippery slope on hand tools"

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So know I cut the legs to final length, number each one and set aside.

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[David Schmaus]

Next I need to make 1x1x16 stretchers for the top part of the night stand. I need eight for each stand.

I decided to try my jointer/planer again. This time they came out fine

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Ok, breaks over. Back to work....

[Ed Hazel]

Nice tutorial

How do you like the jointer/planer?

[John Keeton]

David, this is going to be an interesting build! Looking forward to seeing it progress.

[David Schmaus]

Nice tutorial

How do you like the jointer/planer?


I really like the space it saves...

I don't care for the finish they use on the wings at all. It creates a lot of friction. I can't get a really slick surface even with wax.

The jointer fence can flex if you put a lot of pressure against it. I'm not sure if it will ever be a problem but we will see. If I had the room I would have separates with a 20" planer..

Would I buy it again? Yes.. Just to get rid of the loud noise of my old lumchbox planer!

[gary Zimmel]

Thanks for taking the time to post a build David.
Looking good.
Please keep us up to date.

[John Thompson]

Good luck with the build. I like the way you modified it. See ya when you get finished.

[David Schmaus]

Well I setup my Jet mortiser this afternoon and started cuting the mortises.. I will have to spend the evening with a chisel cleaning it up.

I setup a stop block and depth stop which worked pretty well
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They don't come out real clean.

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but clean up ok with a sharp chisel

[David Schmaus]

I was able to spend a couple hours this afternoon finishing the mortises and started on the tenons.

Here is the setup for the tenons for the top stretcher. I setup a stop on the fence and used the miter that came with the saw (first time) I setup a dado and nibbled away on both sides until it fit nice. Locked it down and cut all of them.

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I chamfered the edges of the mortise so the stretcher would sit flush. The one thing I did that I wish I didn't was to make the mortise deeper than the length of the tenons. My thinking was it wouldn't matter and it would keep the tenons from bottoming out. I just think it looks sloppy and probably weakens the joint. Live and learn

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The next part was to cut the mortise for the bottom stretcher. I used the same tablesaw setup except needed to cut for four shoulders. They ended up fitting really nice without a lot of chisel work.

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Here is a picture with the front assembled.
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I have learned a few things. First, Mahogany is a really soft wood and dents easily. Second, its hard to read the grain and figure out which is the face of a board. Lastly, it seems that I have two kinds of mahogany. If you look the legs are a little different than the stretchers. The stretchers are darker, a little heavier and have a little white flek in the grain.. Any ideas?

[David Schmaus]

I have a question about the bottom shelf. I was thinking I would notch the legs for the shelf to slide into. Is that going to present any problems that anyone can think of?
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[David Schmaus]

Ok, just one more question... (today :)) The stretchers are 1x1s . I was thinking about using solid 1/2" mahogany panels and putting a 1/2" groove in the stretchers and legs. Will that work.. I assume I will let the panel float..

This is a picture of the leg and stretcher with a 1/2" groove for the panel to slide into.

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[Peter Aeschliman]

I have a question about the bottom shelf. I was thinking I would notch the legs for the shelf to slide into. Is that going to present any problems that anyone can think of?
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Apologies if you mentioned this already, but what will the bottom shelf be made of? Solid or plywood?

I assume it's solid wood since I don't see any edge banding in your diagram. If it's solid, then make sure to account for expansion and contraction, which means that you should make your notches deeper than you need them and you shouldn't use glue- it should float like a solid panel in a cabinet door. The problem there is that you'll have gaps showing in the legs where they accept the shelf...

For that reason, if I were doing this, I would use plywood. You still wouldn't need to glue them, but you could have a tight tolerance with the notch. You could use 1/2" strips of solid stock to edge band the plywood where the core of the plywood would otherwise show.

Just my $.02

[David Schmaus]

Apologies if you mentioned this already, but what will the bottom shelf be made of? Solid or plywood?

I assume it's solid wood since I don't see any edge banding in your diagram. If it's solid, then make sure to account for expansion and contraction, which means that you should make your notches deeper than you need them and you shouldn't use glue- it should float like a solid panel in a cabinet door. The problem there is that you'll have gaps showing in the legs where they accept the shelf...

For that reason, if I were doing this, I would use plywood. You still wouldn't need to glue them, but you could have a tight tolerance with the notch. You could use 1/2" strips of solid stock to edge band the plywood where the core of the plywood would otherwise show.

Just my $.02

My plans were solid wood but you know, I'm not opposed to using plywood with edge banding. I have not edge banded anything before so this would be a good opportunity to. I could use a quarter sheet of 3/4". I like it..

[Peter Aeschliman]

I think that's the way to go.

I tackled something similar when I made a coffee table a while back. Another option is to make the edge banding pieces act like another set of stretchers. You could make them slightly thicker than the plywood (say 1" if you're using 3/4" ply) and cut another set of mortise/tenon joints. The new stretchers would need a groove cut in them to accept the plywood, which would create some gluing surface for the plywood to attach to these stretchers.

Not sure if I'm articulating this well.

See drawing #1. If you don't want the edge banding (maybe not the right term) to be thicker than the ply, you could go with 3/4" banding with a 3/8" wide groove and an opposite rabbet in the plywood (see drawing #2).

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h255/peteraeschliman/untitled-2.jpg

[Justin M Rovang]

Depending on how much you're set on the style of having a gap beween the bottom rails and the stretchers - you could rest the shelf on the stretcher and fasten with buttons underneath;

[Matt Evans]

The notch should be fine for the shelf. Someone mentioned attaching the shelf to the stretcher, which would be more sturdy, but if you are set on the design, the notch alone ought to work.

As for the 1/2" panel, I tend to use solid wood whenever possible, and never have any problems as long as I follow good construction technique, i.e. leave the panel floating, allow for expansion, finish edges before assembly, etc. Since you already mentioned those, I would think you should be fine.

And now, about the Mahogany. . .

I can't tell 100%, but it looks as though you might have Sapele, or African Mahogany. There is a LOT of color variation in this wood, and tearout is one of the defining characteristics. I have a few pieces of it that include heartwood and sapwood, and the color change is dramatic, going from a red to a white with red flecks in the space of about an inch.

If you do have Sapele, My recommendation is to get to a finish ready surface BEFORE you glue up if you can. The parts that you hand planed look good, but the other pieces still have the "ripple" pattern from your jointer/planer. Getting to that point before glue up saves a lot of awkward head scratching "oh crap" moments. (Of course, if you are going to sand it, this won't be nearly the problem I have with it, since I rarely use sandpaper anymore.)

[John Keeton]

David, another thought on the shelf would be to have two stretchers running front to back, and mortised into the legs like the others. In the stretcher, you could have a long mortise to carry the shelf with a corresponding long tenon and grain running side to side.

The shelf tenon could be simply pinned in the middle from underneath with a small dowel pin, or glued in the center only. The mortise would need to have some play in it for movement, but the shelf tenon would be shouldered to hide any movement. The shelf would be slightly less wide (front to back) than the legs to hide any movement.

Many antique occasional tables were constructed this way. In fact, I am using that design feature on a table I am building. The shelf looks like this -
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=130334&thumb=1&d=1255783169 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=130334&d=1255783169)

The stretchers are the only "construction elements" and the shelf need only support weight with a downward force as the upper portion of the table will avoid spread.

Just a thought.

[David Schmaus]

The notch should be fine for the shelf. Someone mentioned attaching the shelf to the stretcher, which would be more sturdy, but if you are set on the design, the notch alone ought to work.

As for the 1/2" panel, I tend to use solid wood whenever possible, and never have any problems as long as I follow good construction technique, i.e. leave the panel floating, allow for expansion, finish edges before assembly, etc. Since you already mentioned those, I would think you should be fine.

And now, about the Mahogany. . .

I can't tell 100%, but it looks as though you might have Sapele, or African Mahogany. There is a LOT of color variation in this wood, and tearout is one of the defining characteristics. I have a few pieces of it that include heartwood and sapwood, and the color change is dramatic, going from a red to a white with red flecks in the space of about an inch.

If you do have Sapele, My recommendation is to get to a finish ready surface BEFORE you glue up if you can. The parts that you hand planed look good, but the other pieces still have the "ripple" pattern from your jointer/planer. Getting to that point before glue up saves a lot of awkward head scratching "oh crap" moments. (Of course, if you are going to sand it, this won't be nearly the problem I have with it, since I rarely use sandpaper anymore.)

I have decided to go with solid wood. The mahogany did come from two different boards. I would say the darker of the two is twice as heavy and probably twice as hard. Either way, I am going to finish before assembly. I think I am going to follow Rob Millards "aging 200 years" where he uses lime and dyes to darken.

Thank you for your help!

[David Schmaus]

David, another thought on the shelf would be to have two stretchers running front to back, and mortised into the legs like the others. In the stretcher, you could have a long mortise to carry the shelf with a corresponding long tenon and grain running side to side.

The shelf tenon could be simply pinned in the middle from underneath with a small dowel pin, or glued in the center only. The mortise would need to have some play in it for movement, but the shelf tenon would be shouldered to hide any movement. The shelf would be slightly less wide (front to back) than the legs to hide any movement.

Many antique occasional tables were constructed this way. In fact, I am using that design feature on a table I am building. The shelf looks like this -
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=130334&thumb=1&d=1255783169 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=130334&d=1255783169)

The stretchers are the only "construction elements" and the shelf need only support weight with a downward force as the upper portion of the table will avoid spread.

Just a thought.


John and Justin,

First, thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it.. I am going to simplify the design and go with what I believe John is saying.

Somethink like this...

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[John Keeton]

David, I think what you have shown is actually Peter's suggestion - and, a good one. My thought was very similar, but instead of the dado/rabbet along the stretcher, I would use a mortise. On the shelf, I would cut a simple long tenon with shoulders. That way, no joinery shows. The shelf could be a little less thick than the stretchers, and would hide any variance in the M&T, and could be less in width, as well, as you have shown.

[David Schmaus]

David, I think what you have shown is actually Peter's suggestion - and, a good one. My thought was very similar, but instead of the dado/rabbet along the stretcher, I would use a mortise. On the shelf, I would cut a simple long tenon with shoulders. That way, no joinery shows. The shelf could be a little less thick than the stretchers, and would hide any variance in the M&T, and could be less in width, as well, as you have shown.


close?

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[John Keeton]

That would work. But, if you are going to run the dado full length, I would make the shelf wider and notch (haunch) the shelf so that it overlaps the leg to hide the movement. The actual length of the tenon will need to be less than the distance between the legs to allow for movement.

My thought was to have a stopped mortise on both ends of the stretcher, and the shelf could be more narrow than the distance between the legs.

[David Schmaus]

Just a little update on nightstands.

Let me just say, "I swear next time I will have every detail worked out before I cut a piece of wood my Lord!!!"

What I should of done for each side is build each side first. Make the panel the same width as the tongue for each rail then just dado from the top of the leg down, square the end with a chisel and slide the whole side panel assembly in. Of course, I know that now...

A couple of pics!