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View Full Version : Shaker style one-drawer table



Roger Myers
12-28-2012, 7:29 PM
A required project at school is to draw the plans for a one drawer shaker table and then to build it... There are some fairly tight parameters that are in place to make sure that students learn the appropriate skills and that the project is within the skill set of all students in the first semester. Top and drawer face can be maple, walnut or cherry, and balance of components must be poplar. Finish is shellac on primary woods and milk paint for remainder. I chose to build in walnut and use black milk paint.
No matter your level of experience at the outset of this project there is something to be learned at each and every day and at every stag of the process. Suffice to say this is the tightest joinery and best fitting drawer I have ever made!249337

Terry Beadle
12-29-2012, 11:56 AM
Great job !

Class will out....really good.

Mark Valsi
12-29-2012, 11:59 AM
Would be fantastic in some nice woods, I dont' like painted "quality" furniture. What school ??
Very nice job on the project, but for the paint . . .

Sam Murdoch
12-29-2012, 12:02 PM
I like it very much just as built and finished. Nicely done.

Shawn Pixley
12-29-2012, 12:58 PM
Nice work! Shaker is not my cup of tea, but your work is very nice.

Roger Myers
12-29-2012, 6:07 PM
Would be fantastic in some nice woods, I dont' like painted "quality" furniture. What school ??
Very nice job on the project, but for the paint . . .
North Bennet Street School...
Painted is not my first choice either, but they have valid reasons for doing this on this project. Intent is to focus on the joinery...on future projects, wood choices are pretty much unlimited...within reason. .
Roger

Jim Becker
12-29-2012, 11:22 PM
One of my favorite projects, Roger! These tables are classic and offer so many skill building operations if you choose. I tend to build them all-walnut or all-cherry, but the two (slightly modified with a shelf down below the drawer) in our master bedroom as side tables are curly maple tops and drawer fronts with purpleheart structure. I do like your version with the black milk-paint and walnut. Nice!

Roger Myers
12-30-2012, 11:18 AM
One of my favorite projects, Roger! These tables are classic and offer so many skill building operations if you choose. I tend to build them all-walnut or all-cherry, but the two (slightly modified with a shelf down below the drawer) in our master bedroom as side tables are curly maple tops and drawer fronts with purpleheart structure. I do like your version with the black milk-paint and walnut. Nice!
Thanks Jim... I also have built them generally in all cherry or walnut, and also curly maple, but those were not options in this situation. Given that I focused on making the best of the situation and did a two board glue up for the top, which had some nice figure (almost impossible to find the glue line :) ) and went with black milk paint. I've used milk paint on a few other more utilitarian projects and it can be nice... in this case, black, followed by two applications of Watco, followed by buffing and paste wax. Top and drawer front as well as all inside surfaces were an ultra blond shellac... many coats on the top.... - didn't go for a full French polish, but it was applied as such and is very close, seemed it would have been overkill given the painted structure. Wanted an ebony knob for the drawer, but that was nixed... had to be walnut, cherry, or maple, or painted poplar, so I went with walnut and ebonized it.
While I have built tables like this in the past and have a fair degree of experience, my approach has been to go in and try everything new... drawer fitting was done very different than my past practices, and I have to say..I am converted to the new (to me) method.

Roger

Gordon Eyre
12-30-2012, 11:38 AM
Roger,I think you have done a beautiful job on this table. I like the black with the walnut and think it looks quite classy. Nice job on the drawer.

Jim Becker
12-30-2012, 8:55 PM
Don't you just love it when you have to glue up a top for width and have material that lends itself to "disappearing glue lines"?!

The walnut no-drawer version that's in our media room as an end-table has a shellac finish...and the color is wonderful. I really could see combining that with black milk paint...and i might just do that since I actually have another blank for a top already glued up and hiding somewhere in my my shop. :) Such a good idea, Roger!

Charles Brown
12-31-2012, 9:28 AM
A required project at school is to draw the plans for a one drawer shaker table and then to build it... There are some fairly tight parameters that are in place to make sure that students learn the appropriate skills and that the project is within the skill set of all students in the first semester. Top and drawer face can be maple, walnut or cherry, and balance of components must be poplar. Finish is shellac on primary woods and milk paint for remainder. I chose to build in walnut and use black milk paint.
No matter your level of experience at the outset of this project there is something to be learned at each and every day and at every stag of the process. Suffice to say this is the tightest joinery and best fitting drawer I have ever made!249337

Roger--I'm curious as to the curriculum presented at the NBSS. Do they follow any textbooks or is it all auditory instruction? I know they tout the Sloyd system but I'm really interested in how they go about presenting the material/instruction/ideas to the students (who to my understanding have a vast range of prior experiences).

It's a lovely table, too. Any particular reason as to why the top rails are flush with the legs? Most versions you see set back from the face of the leg about an eighth of an inch.

Roger Chandler
12-31-2012, 9:57 PM
Nice! I have built a couple of those myself .....mine were made from pine........they are a nice project to learn skills, tapering legs, dovetail drawers, etc.

Roger Myers
01-01-2013, 12:00 AM
Roger--I'm curious as to the curriculum presented at the NBSS. Do they follow any textbooks or is it all auditory instruction? I know they tout the Sloyd system but I'm really interested in how they go about presenting the material/instruction/ideas to the students (who to my understanding have a vast range of prior experiences).

It's a lovely table, too. Any particular reason as to why the top rails are flush with the legs? Most versions you see set back from the face of the leg about an eighth of an inch.

Charles,
No textbooks, although there are handouts that have evolved over the years. It does follow a Sloyd type system as each skill developed is reinforced through subsequent tasks/projects. The basic curriculum has not changed significantly in many many years... One of the reasons I applied to NBSS was the proven curriculum and the results it delivers. I know many NBSS graduates very well and spoke to many before I applied.
It is a fairly structured curriculum during your first two semesters and much less structured for the remaining two.
No matter your level of experience (and there is significant diversity in this regard), everyone follows the same program... Everybody begins by tuning up a 1" chisel, and then a number 4 hand plane, and then preparing a rough sawn poplar blank to some very exacting criteria using just those two tools. Along the way, much of the first semester consists of drafting...first a series of drafts of woodworking joints...teaching both drafting and the joints, and then a number of full size drawings, including drafting the shaker table. All projects you undertake must be drafted and approved.
There are some other small first semester projects that reinforce basic skills, such as fitting a number of different lap joints and dovetail practice boards; making a box for an oilstone (all with hand tools), making a mallet, and so on. Following all the drafting and the shaker table comes the toolbox project, again to some fairly stringent criteria. This must be drafted and a project proposl/plan submitted.
The faculty is first rate...and there are also some weekly presentations on various subjects.
After the toolbox, thenthe graduation requirements consist of making a Chippendale chair, a table, and a case piece...again, all drafted and project proposals submitted. Some students may struggle to complete these three projects while others may complete 10 or more... Some of this may be due to prior experience, some to willingness to learn, and much to drive and desire.
I will say again, that no matter your level of experience, if you go into a program like this with an open mind and a willingness to learn, you will learn something new every day!
As to the rails being flush with the legs, lets just say that there is no place to hide errors in this design. A joint is either closed or it isn't. With set back rails, you can get away with more. It also requires that tenons be located precisely or the rail won't be flush.

Roger (who is enjoying his break, but itching to get back to school).