Shaker Tables

[John Motzi]

Finally finished a set of 3 shaker tables for the living room. The tall one is 27.5" tall and is to display my one of the beautiful silk flower arrangements by LOML. The other two are used as end tables and are 24" tall. They are based on the "Side Stand" on page 140 in Moser's How to Build Shaker Furniture - but without the drawer and some tweaking of dimensions.

John Motzi
Downingtown, PA

[Jim Becker]

Looks familar, John!!! (I have a walnut version in our home theater room) Yours turned out wonderfully...the tops are special, too. Bravo!

I built mine from the drawings in Moser's Measured Shop Drawings for American Furniture and like you, left out the drawer for the walnut one. The two I built previously of poplar for my nieces as night tables have the drawer. I loved them so much that since I knew I would be building them again, I made a custom jig for the leg tapers that I keep on the wall ready to go for the next one(s)!! ;)

[Richard Wolf]

Nice tables. I love the simplicity of the Shaker style.

Richard

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Excellent work John! I like that figured wood!

[Joe Mioux]

John the tables are great. Simplicity of design lends itself well to the beauty of the wood. BTW, Your wife's silk arrangement is also very nice.

Joe

[Martin Shupe]

Welcome to the "Shaker group at Sawmill Creek"!

Very nice tables, very nice cherry.

What kind of finish did you use? Did you taper the underside of the tabletops?

I have a few projects in work, and I hope to get at least one finished to post later this week.

[Martin Shupe]

So, I show your beautiful tables to my wife, and all she can say is..."Ask him where he got the flower centerpiece!".

So...I tell her you live in PA, but in case you can mail order it..."Where'd you get the flowers?"

Thanks! :D

[John Motzi]

So, I show your beautiful tables to my wife, and all she can say is..."Ask him where he got the flower centerpiece!".So...I tell her you live in PA, but in case you can mail order it..."Where'd you get the flowers?"

Hi Martin,

My wife is a floral designer so she makes arrangements such as these from locally sourced silk flowers. If you are interested in learning more about this or have further flower questions please send me a private mail and we will be happy to respond.

JM

[John Motzi]

...What kind of finish did you use? Did you taper the underside of the tabletops?

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes the underside of the tops are tapered from the full thickness of 3/4" to about 1/2" over 2" .

The finish for the legs and aprons is 3 coats of T&T Varnish Oil with a grey pad rubbing between coats. The tops received 4 coats of the T&T Varnish Oil and then 3 wiped on coats of Waterlox sealer. Again a grey pad rubbing between all coats. Finally the whole piece gets a coat of Briwax, a white pad rubbing and a cloth buffing.

In order to achieve a good color & grain match all of the legs and apron sets were resawn from the same piece of 16/4 cherry approx 12" wide by 48" long. The lumber was sawn into 3 pieces approx 4"x4"X48". The first 18" of each of these were sliced into the apron stock and the remaining stock was quartered to become the legs. The legs have the same orientation to each other in the table as they did in the wood. Each set of four aprons has essentially the same grain.

The tops were all cut from the same piece of 12/4 figured cherry approx 7" wide x 60" long. This yielded three 20" lengths whish were resawn for the 3 boards to make up each top (finished dimension 18 3/4").

Everything was sanded to P400 before finishing.

Thanks for your interest.

John

[Martin Shupe]

I have used T&T BLO, topped with Waterlox Medium Sheen. I am getting ready to finish a table, and my wife says the Shaker Tray finish is a little too shiny (for the table). So...I think on the table I will try rub it out with a white 3M pad and wax, like you did. It seems to be a more "satiny" look in the pictures, is it? Sometimes it is hard to tell from pics.

[Tom Stovell]

Great work on these pieces. The figured wood really adds to the overall look of the tables.

Tom

[John Motzi]

I have used T&T BLO, topped with Waterlox Medium Sheen. I am getting ready to finish a table, and my wife says the Shaker Tray finish is a little too shiny (for the table). So...I think on the table I will try rub it out with a white 3M pad and wax, like you did. It seems to be a more "satiny" look in the pictures, is it? Sometimes it is hard to tell from pics.

Hi Martin,

The tops ate a bit more glossy and not as satiny as the pictures seem to indicate. I have no experience with the satin Waterlox so I am not sure how it compares. It's probably best to make some test samples. The only problem I have with the T&T Varnish oil is that I really need to let it sit for nearly a week between coats. If you have the patience you could probably build up a nice satin finish with just 5-6 coats of that & the wax. Three coats was plenty for the non-horizontal surfaces.

Actually if the table is not going to get heavy use, maybe just try the T&T BLO followed by wax (no Waterlox). That would be a very traditional finish. I believe that is the way Jim Becker finished something recently.

JM

[Jim Becker]

My tables of the same design are finished with BLO and shellac since they are used in the TV room and I felt a little bit of a film finish was a good idea. But Dr. SWMBO's cherry desk, which I made over six years ago, only has several coats of T&T BLO/wax formula and two subsequent waxings after we moved to this property. It looks nearly as good as it did the day it was completed...other than being a bit darker! (In fact, the crappy job I did picking lumber for color is really highlighted now that it's aged a bit!)

[Dan Forman]

Lovely tables John. The curly top is just stunning, and the shape of shaker tables is so elegant. A pair of those are on my to do list, and I only hope they turn out near as well as yours.

Dan

[lou sansone]

nice tables, great figure and color


looks like you all like the T & T stuff..

lou

[Jason Tuinstra]

John, as another member of the "I love all things Shaker" club, let me say you did an outstanding job on these tables. Your use of matched lumber says a lot about your attention to the details. It must be nice having access to 16/4 and 12/4 lumber - figured no less. Moser's book was/is a big inspiration to me as well. Glad to see you're making good use of it. If you don't have it yet, be sure to also get John Kassay's book on Shaker furniture. A bit pricy, but well worth it.

[John Renzetti]

hi John, Great work on those tables. I like the grain patterns on the table tops. I might have missed this in your description but how many steps did you take in the finishing process.
take care,
John