Shaker style end table (part 2)

[Scott DelPorte]

This spring I posted some pictures of an small shaker style end table I made out of pine as a prototype for ones I was going to later build out of cherry. This is one of the cherry ones. I learned a lot from the prototype and changed a few things with how I did the drawer slides to better allow for seasonal movement. Otherwise its pretty much the same except not Home Depot wood and used Waterlox on instead of Poly. The top is from one board, the front/back/sides from another, and the legs from a third, so there is some difference in the coloring. I like the contrast, but I am going to do the next one all from one board.

320475 320476 320477 320478

[Mel Fulks]

Well matched beautiful wood and graceful design, that will be a real pleasure to use. Looks like the top has enough overhang on the back to reach the wall which is a nice refinement too.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Lovely! Shaker style and cherry: what more could I want?

Which Waterlox product did you use? How did you apply it?

[Scott DelPorte]

Used the "Original High Gloss" mixed 50/50 with mineral spirits. Wiped it on with those blue paper towels.

[Bryan Hunt]

Nice table. How did you join the sides to the legs and still allow for wood movement?

[Jim Sevey]

Beautiful! My favorite wood in my favorite style. Nicely done.

[Michelle Rich]

I like the variation of color, as it shows me it's real, not some crap from a factory that has been homogenized. The cherry is gorgeous. It would look fabulous in my living room :-) with it's cherry/curlymaple shaker cousins I have crafted. :-)

[Brian Holcombe]

Nice work Scott!

[Mark Stutz]

Beautiful grain on the top. Give it a year or two and most of the color variation will have vanished.

[Scott DelPorte]

How did you join the sides to the legs and still allow for wood movement?

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

Bryan, the sides and back attach to the legs with sliding dovetails. The boards are 7 1/4 inches wide in the cross grain direction, so I only glued the top 3 inches, and allowed some room for the dovetail to move in the slot for the bottom 4 1/4 inches. Since this is a copy more or less of a museum piece, I wonder how the original was built.

The boards are also closer to quarter sawn at the top (where its fixed) than at the bottom, so I am hoping that might help. The drawer slides are attached to the legs rather than the sides, so if the sides move around, they wont interfere with way the drawer is mounted with respect to the opening.

Heres a picture of the insides while it was being assembled.
320502

[Brian Holcombe]

Very nice! That will last many many generations.

[Jim Becker]

That...is gorgeous!

[Christopher Charles]

Thank you for treating a beautiful board so well!

C

[David Cramer]

Well done, an heirloom for sure!

David

[Bruce Page]

I don't know how I missed this! It is simply beautiful!

[Allen Jordan]

That came out really nice. The waterlox finish looks amazing... how did you apply it and how many coats?

[Scott DelPorte]

My first time using Waterlox, so I got a lot of tips from SMC. I used the Original High Gloss Finish and wiped it on with the blue paper towels. It was thinned 50/50 with mineral spirits. I honestly lost count of the number of coats. Maybe 10 on the body and 15 on the top? Sanded it lightly with micro-mesh between each of the last few coats. One thing I found (that I think was mentioned on here) was that the finish worked best if it had a full day to dry between coats. For surface prep, all the surfaces were planed with a smoother, and not sanded.

[Brett Robson]

Great job! While it looks awesome now, it'll really look spectacular in a few months after the cherry has darkened!

[John TenEyck]

I really like the contrast from the three boards you used, better than had it all come from one. It will age but I think the relative difference in color will remain. Beautiful design and workmanship, definitely a case of less is more.

John