A Shaker table for Mother's Day

[Derek Cohen]

The Shaker-style table is complete, just in time for Mother’s Day.

Lynndy wanted a table for her sewing machine. It needed to be high enough to sit at using a diningroom chair, large enough for the sewing machine, and compact enough to fit into a corner of a small spare room. The Shakers actually designed a sewing table, however I don’t think that they had in mind the use of a machine with it! :)

The overall dimensions are 30” high, 33” wide and 19” deep.

The wood is Jarrah, all of it salvaged from roof trusses and old floor boards, all very well seasoned, dry and almost brittle, which made it a challenge to handplane and turn on the lathe. The wood also was filled with holes where gum had dried and fallen out. I filled a few with black-tinted epoxy, but left most alone.

The finish is Organoil hard burnishing oil and wax, both buffed. It has left a soft, natural feel and look.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Final2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Final3.jpg

Before the top was oiled the colour match of the boards appeared better than this. The outer boards are a very attractive fiddleback Jarrah, which is difficult to see here ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Final-top1.jpg

The ends are pinned breadboards ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Final-topandlegs2.jpg

Here is a look at the detail around the pommel ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Final-topandlegs3.jpg

And the turned legs (which do taper at the top and bottom) ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Final-legs1.jpg

I mentioned earlier that the wood was all salvage. From the outside all looks nice and clean, but when you look underneath and inside you will see that the boards are all different thicknesses – I used what I could the best way possible …

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Underside1.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Underside4.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Final-inside1.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Shaker%20table%20for%20Lynndy/Final1.jpg

Thanks for looking ..

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nicely done Derek!

I like the rich color of the wood.

[Andrew Gibson]

Looks great! Should go aver very well as a mothers day gift.

[Jim Rimmer]

Great looking table.

[Harlan Barnhart]

Has this been done before? Building shaker furniture with Jarrah? Sure looks nice.

[Dennis OBrien]

Beautiful color. That would fit real nice in our house - so I won't show it to my wife:o

Dennis

[Leigh Betsch]

Gotta like that!

[Baxter Smith]

Very nice looking table!

[Don C Peterson]

Nicely done. The small details (like the bead on the aprons) and the overall simplicity of the design come together to make a very appealing piece.

[James Owen]

Derek,

Very nice table! Nice way to recycle old wood, too!

[Jim Shaver, Oakville Ont]

:eek: round pins:confused::confused:

LOL:rolleyes: Just kidding my friend:D


The table is excellent....the bead edge is a nice touch;)

[Don Orr]

As someone who lives in Shaker country, they would indeed be well pleased with the use of salvaged wood, simple functional design and lack of un-needed ornamentation. Very well done all around.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks for all the kind words my friends.

Lynndy was very pleased - hardly suprised though! Still, she did not see the finished piece until I took the pictures (not as good as usual as I had a crappy camera - my good Canon was nicked on a recent homeward flight boarding in Cape Town .. beware!).

Jim .. in the end I went with round pegs as I was advised by too many others that square pegs were incorrect - they look great though on your table!

We had a great day with friends visiting for a Mother's Day brunch. Hope yours was good as well.

Regards from Perth

Derek