Coffee Table -Day by Day

[Jeff Horton]

Sitting around this morning after moving a drafting table out of my shop to my buddies new office trying to decide what to work on. My lunchbox planner blades are dull. The rebuilt Powermatic needs blades and I have a ton of rough lumber in the shop and nothing to work with.

My wife says, "why don't you make me a coffee table out of the maple you have". OK, show me a photo. An hour latter I have found a plan for something similar and we settled on the size and I am in the shop pulling maple out of the lumber rack. Has to be new record for starting a project by several weeks in my house! They are usually discussed for weeks.

I thought it would be fun to document the project as it goes along. Of course I am putting myself on the spot too! As this this is my first time to attempt anything furniture wise that will really be seen and scrutinized by people.

Started with plan that I am not using. There are lot of hand sketches on there with my dimensions and notes. I am using (for the most part) their drawer slide design though.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/rough_lumber.jpg

Scrounged out the best lumber and discovered some of my Maple was actually Oak in the wrong place in the rack. So there was much less than I thought and had to be careful and pick the best for the top. Lots of shorts for the other parts. Seems to be plenty though. As long as I don't make a major mistake!

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/aprons-cut.jpg

My first step was to cut the aprons (or skirts?) to length. Then sat them aside.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/leg_blanks.jpg

I then cut my legs to (over) size and since I didn't have any thick maple I glued them up and clamped them. I want a 1.5" square.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/face_apron.jpg

I then took all the apron pieces and ripped them to size. Took the face piece, laid out my drawers sizes and then cut it all to size. Once I was happy with that I clamped it together and started on the flush fitting drawer front.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/draw%20fronts.jpg

I then did one of the jobs I enjoy. Since I had cut the drawer faces to fit the openings with no gap I need to trim them down a bit. I got out my trusty #3 Lakeside plane and my block plane and started making shavings. I trimmed the drawer faces till they fit the openings.


http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/glue_ups.jpg

I then glued and clamped the faces together and decided to call it day.

[Lori Kleinberg]

I'm interested. What are the dimensions you are using?
Keep the updates coming with more pics.

[Randy Long]

I would love to see the orignal design notes you started with and the picture your wife picked out.

[Mark Singer]

Jeff, Great start! Keep us updated it looks like a real nic project to follow...I love to see the techniquies others use in building

[brett widenhouse]

Jeff,
It will soon be nail gun time baby!
Start blasting away!!
Just kidding, I enjoyed the start of your project
brett w

[Jim Becker]

Brett, I almost choked on my ice water with your "nail gun time" comment... :eek:

Jeff, great start to the project! I'm looking forward to each installment...through to the "installation"... :D

[Jeff Horton]

It really would make sense to show what I was building wouldn't it? :)

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This is the photo she gave me. We settled on 20"W x 44"L x 19"H. That fits in our Living room fairly well. The top might be a little long. But I allowed a generous overhang so that I could trim off a couple inches if it was to long.

I decided to go with 2 drawers instead of one. One just looks wrong to me. It's just out of balance. I found this console table (http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_improvement/furniture/1273446.html) and like the proportions. I printed these plans out. They are what I a using as a basis for my coffee table. I was a mechanical designer (draftsman) for years so I can visualize what I want in my head easily. So I just make a few basic sketches on the plan, add a few dimensions and do lot of math on the margins.

The only thing I have no clue on yet is how I am going to make the dado/mortise in the legs for the lower shelf. Tossed a couple of ideas around but not sure yet. I could cut them by hand but I am not sure my hand saw skills are up to that. I can chisel the OK I think. :D Gee I love woodworking!

[Jeff Horton]

Jeff,
It will soon be nail gun time baby!
Start blasting away!!

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
My name ain't Norm! No brads in this one!:cool:

[Dave Shively]

Jeff,

I'm sure you will come up with a way to make the dado/mortise in the legs.
I have faith in you, after all you have as I noticed 643 post so you much know
what you are doing. If not..... fake it.:p

Dave

[Charlie Plesums]

The only thing I have no clue on yet is how I am going to make the dado/mortise in the legs for the lower shelf. Tossed a couple of ideas around but not sure yet.
Jeff, I have done a couple by making a breadboard type of end on the shelf under the coffee table, then mortising the breadboard into the legs like a stretcher across the short end. Relatively easy to do, and quite stable. One coffee table on my web site has a narrow shelf, that just comes into the stretcher. The other has a wide shelf, that I cut back around the leg so it only connects to the breadboard stretcher. It looked like an artsy featire, even though I did it that way to make it easier to build, taking into account wood movement. I'm sorry that neither picture shows off this joint very well, but you may be able to see it if you look closely.

[Corey Hallagan]

Looking good Jeff! Thanks for the pics!

Corey

[Jeff Horton]

Day two and total frustration!

I am ready to cut the mortises and tenons to join the legs and aprons. BTW once I unclamped the legs I found one had a void and had to make another. So this one is now my prototype piece.

I try a tenoning jig my FIL gave me. Single blade, take the part out and reverse it for the other side. Doesn't work. I can not get the shoulder square. That also means that the two shoulders are on two different angles and will not pull flush on both sides. I gave up working on it and tossed it under the bench after two hours or messing with it. Might work with it again but to annoyed now.

Tried sawing a tenon by hand. I am just not good enough with the saw yet. Plus I don't have a good shoulder plane to find tune them. So scrapped that idea.

When I built the garage doors I used loose tenons. I thought OK, I will just go with this but ran into another problem. 1/2" bit and 3/4" stock just doesn't leave enough wood. It would split, no doubt!

Next, I made some test cuts with the table saw/miter gage and that seems my best bet. Kind of slow to set it up but once I sneak up on the right width it goes pretty quick on the rest of them. OK go that settled.

Did a test mortise. I drilled out the scrap with a Forstner bit. Then chiseled out the rest. Test fit the two and somehow my apron is angled! sigh! :mad:

OK,I cut another and am more careful. Then I discover that my Delta drill press has some play in the spindle and is allowing the forstner to walk just little bit. Just enough to cause problems. I have the two old Craftsman that I have not restored but they work. I check them and they have much better spindles. Large, rigid and no play. No drill key though. I head to the Ace Hardware and pick one up. Wrong size! So I head back, return it and then on to Lowe's. Guess what, same brands and same sizes. Really frustrated at this point.

Remember my friend that passed away had an old and very large 1/2" drill. It probably use the same chuck. I can borrow the key till I can order one. We search his shop but I guess his son took the drill, we can not find it.

I give up and come home. Sat down in front of the computer and notice a Grizzly chuck I order by mistake and was going to return. Guess what? The key fits! After wasting close to 2 hours I find out I had one all the time. So I will just swap the arbor and keep the chuck so I can use the key. (and order a couple of spares!)

I did manage to get a decent mortise made by paying closer attention to my chiseling. So I THINK I am ready to cut some mortises and fit some tenons to them.

I keep reminding myself that I am paying my dues, learning the skills I want to have. My desire has always been to make furniture and not to compromise on quality. I have the ability, just have to develop the skills. Need to develop some patience too, problem is I want patience now! :)

[Charlie Plesums]

Sorry for your frustration...

For the tenons on the apron, try cutting all four sides of the apron with a very shallow cut by aligning the end against the rip fence, and holding the side of the apron firmly against the miter gauge, or better yet, a cross cut sled. Of course, having contact on both the side and end is an invitation for kickback, so use a spacer between the end and the rip fence, and remove the spacer, or push past the spacer, before you contact the blade. You probably will want to make the cuts on the top and botton of the apron deeper than those on the face. This should give you four perfectly flat shoulders, and it isn't fatal if the shoulder cut is slightly deeper than the tenon. (If this doesn't work quickly and perfectly, your saw isn't set up right...go back to square one and fix the saw first. I have cut hundreds of tenons, and don't have a shoulder plane... this method works).

After you have the shoulders, use the tenon jig to cut the two faces of the tenon. You now have a saw kerf width to play with for blade height, and even have a little play if the apron isn't perfectly vertical. For years I used a home-made tenon jig (not perfect) - see www.plesums.com/wood/tips/tenonjig.html (http://www.plesums.com/wood/tips/tenonjig.html).

The top and bottom of the tenon are harder to cut in the tenon jig, so some people cut them by hand, some on the bandsaw, some struggle and use the jig.

Be sure to use a drill press to do the mortises. The holes that remove the bulk of the wood and guide the chisel have to be absolutely, positively square.

If you do a floating tenon (harder by hand than a regular tenon, IMHO), I would probably choose a 3/8 inch thick tenon in 3/4 inch thick wood, but 1/2 inch would probably not be fatal. You are gluing face grain apron to face grain tenon, which becomes stronger than the wood itself. The 1/8 inch thin wood at the base of the mortise has the strength advantage of being on the outside of the assembly, so contributes much more strength than an 1/8 inch piece by itself would... like an I beam.

[Jeff Horton]

Thanks Charles. Nothing to be sorry for. If it was easy anyone could do it. :)

Basically what you said it what I am (now) doing. Just leaning new tricks as I go. I thought about cutting the shoulders then using the tenon jig for the cheeks for a while. I think I can put on my dado blades and just cut it all at once faster though. Saves a set up.

I drilled some holes on the old Craftsman DP last night and man what a difference in it and the Delta. Bit never tired to walk. The DP is smoother, all the holes lined up perfectly. Amazing difference, I see I need to rehab one of these soon. I though that Delta was a good DP, now I see I was wrong. It's an OK drill press.

BTW, once I got on the Craftsman I discovered my fence I had made was not square. Got to checking my jointer and the fence was slightly out of adjustment. Squared that up and then squared up my fence. That no doubt helped too!

[Charlie Plesums]

I have had better luck with a regular saw blade and the extra cuts, rather than using a dado blade. No saw setup either.

I don't know what kind of tenon jig your FIL has that has blades. The commercial tenon jigs I have seen ride in the miter slot and hold the wood over the regular blade. The one I made rode on the table surface, held in alignment by the rip fence. Although I now have a slot mortiser, and usually make floating tenons, all you need for regular tenons is something to hold the apron vertical and move it straight through the blade. The one on my web site only took a few minutes to build from scrap lumber, and was used for several years - it went with the saw when I sold the saw.

[Jeff Horton]

Just got to spend a couple of hours in the shop today. Work gets in the way.

After all the trial and error mess with the tenons I got them cut today and it was rather painless. Just had to get the lessons out of the way I guess. I ended up cutting them on the table saw with the standard blade. I did find a new woody shoulder plane I had forgotten I had and used it to clean up the shoulders just a bit. A couple of them were just a little bit off from each other. (Another lesson to learn).

Here are the skirt pieces and the roughed out legs waiting on the next step. Cutting the mortises in the legs.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/tennons_done.jpg

I practiced by cutting several mortises on some scrap (such a smart idea!) and hopefully found all (I will be happy with most!) of the bugs ahead of time. The last couple I drilled on the unrestored Craftsman drill press were SOOOO much easier to clean up the ones from the Delta. It's a shame but obviously my old drill press is much better than this newer one. Just reminds me why I like the older machines.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/mortise_practice.jpg



Hopefully tomorrow I will get the mortises cut and dry fit this together.

[Jeff Horton]

Much better day today. Actually made some progress. My stupid web host has lost my account and I am trying to get them to reinstate it. So some of the old photos are not showing.

45033

I drilled out the mortises and cleaned them up with a chisel. Getting decent with a chisel. Mortises cleaned up pretty well. With the mortises cut I could do a dry fit. :) Makes you feel good when it all works!

45032

I then cut out boards to make the table top and the bottom shelf. I glued them up and called it a day. Looking back it doesn't seem like that much work but it did take a large part of the day.

45031

Next step is to notch the legs for the lower shelf. I finally figured out how to cut these out. Once they are fitted to the shelf I will work on putting the taper on the legs. I decided it would be easier to work with square legs than tapered.

Then on to the drawers.

[Mark Singer]

Looks really good! I am enjoying the blow by blow....;)

[Jeff Horton]

Here is another update for you Mark. ;)

I will start with my mistake(s). When I figured the lower shelf size for some reason I made it to small. I either forgot about the tapered legs or I was thinking the tapers were not on the inside of the legs? Either way the shelf would be about an inch to small both ways after I taper the legs. I decided to dry fitted the table together and put the top on to 'eye' ball it before I made a new shelf.

Got the boss down into the Lab and we both agreed that if I took an inch off the aprons in both directions the larger overhangs would look better with the top size we had settled on. That also kept me from having to glue up another shelf. Makes me wonder if my mistake was not the shelf but I somehow added an inch to the aprons. I Guess I should have sketched it out more complete.

Here is the leg with the notch in it. Look close and you can see the line for the taper I wanted to put on there. Doesn't leave much of the notch for the shelf does it?

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/taper1.jpg

I took the scrap leg and went ahead and cut the taper to see how it would look. Here is what was left of the notch.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/taper2.jpg

Somehow I don't think that is going to hold the bottom shelf, even with epoxy I would never trust that joint!. Fortunately after cutting down the aprons the bottom shelf was just large enough to fit.

I measured and marked the legs. Then I measured again and still was concerned that I may have laid something out wrong. Finally decided I just have to cut them.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/dryfit2.jpg

Here is the dry fit. I have one joint that is not quite tight but the rest turned out really well. Must admit I am proud of myself. Of course I spent a long time with the hand planes trimming the shoulders to make everything fit just right.

Now I am ready to cut the tapers on the legs. Then start working on the drawer slides and then I can glue this puppy up! I am going to try to make some blind dovetails and see how they look. I don't think I am ready to make them for the drawers just yet but maybe. I am getting decent with the chisel. Will just have to cut two or three sets and see how confident I feel.

BTW, the van is my sister in laws. My wife offered to let my BIL use the shop to work on it and then told me. :) I don't really mind but ask me first.... I have worked outside under a shade tree for years and having a shop with AC is like heaven! I know how much he appreciates it.

Anyway I admire him. He had to replace the head gaskets and that is a job I could do. But after watching all he has gone through I think I would rather give someone a kidney than work on a new car! Think I will stick to woodworking and minor mechanic work on my cars.

[Corey Hallagan]

It's looking great Jeff! Going to be a beauty!

corey

[Jeff Horton]

Waiting on a phone call or FAX today and it never came so I could finish a job, I ended with lots of shop time today. I started by laying out and cutting the taper on the legs. That went relatively uneventful. Bandsaw and jointer made quick work of the this.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/legs_tapered.jpg

I then started thinking about the drawer slides. I am using wood slides and they need to line up just right. I didn't want to try to line up biscuits on the inside of the aprons and decided that a dado and spline would be the simplest thing I could do.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/drawer_slides.jpg

This was the test fit and I need to use the block plane to the spline. This was one of my better ideas because it is going to be simple to install and align when I start to glue everything together. Took me a while to figure out how I was going to line up these strips. Kept trying to make it harder than it was. ;)

Next big task was cleaning up the top and shelf assembly. As usual my glue up didn't come out as flat as I thought it should. The more I use biscuits the less I like them. Just bought a old Stanly doweling jig and hope I can get better results with it.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/planing_top2.jpg

I sharpened the blades and started to work. Planed all the joints down and smoothed the top and shelf. It came out nice. It's been a few months since I did any serious planing and was surprised that it took me a while to get everything adjusted and planing just right. I guess if you don't do it regular you do loose some of the skill.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/planing_top1.jpg

I was afraid of the end chipping so I clamped on a little scrap piece. If I had run this through the power jointer it would have chipped the corner off. No doubt in my mind!

With that done I made a sample piece of how I wanted to do the edges on the top. I have had this in mind since I started this project. I wanted big over hangs with long tapers leading to a rounded corner.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/edge_detail.jpg

What I wanted just wouldn't work given the space I have. We had to make the table a bit smaller than a standard coffee table. The overhangs ended up too short on the front and back to do what I wanted. I made one to look like I wanted then I did some measuring and made this one to fit the space I habe and I hate it. So I decided to just break the sharp corners and sand a small radius on them. I will save my idea for the next one I make. I will make sure it has larger overhangs on it.

I glued the legs and the side aprons together last thing tonight. I thought it would simpler if I could do some pieces ahead of time. I think trying to glue all the pieces up at one time would require an octopus. I have a feeling I am still going to wish I had one before I am finished putting it all together.

[Jeff Horton]

I am waiting on some glue to dry, once that is done this thing is ready for some finishing! Of course that means some serious sanding and no one likes to sand. I think it's time to break out the scrapers and get serious about learning to use them. I have learned so many other tricks the last couple of months I see no reason not to keep going.

I started by building the two drawers. I really wanted to do dovetails but my skills are just not good enough. Since I REALLY wanted to this one to turn out as good as I could do I decided to go with a Lock Rabbit joint. This was my first one but I like it for drawers. Should be very strong.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/Miter_lock_front.jpg

Front joint

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/Miter_lock_rear.jpg

Rear joint.

Once these were glued up and and dried I set about trimming them to size. My stock was little larger than the faces so I planned them down to fit the table.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/drawer_planing.jpg

I know many people are phobic of hand tools but they still have a lot of practical uses. Like trimming something for a tight fit. I find I screw up a lot less than with something like say a belt sander. Sure it takes me a couple minutes more but I sneak up on the dimension I want. Not blow past.

While I was waiting on the glue to dry on the doors I made the blocks that will hold the table top on.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/top_mounts.jpg

I had cut a dado in the aprons along the top edge. I then cut these little blocks with a tongue that will fit in the dado. I will drill a hole through the blocks, turn the table upside down and locate the base. Then drive the screws into the top. This should pull the top down tight against the aprons leaving no visible gaps. I have a very slight bow in my top. I can easily push it down flush by hand so I think this will work well.

http://www.kudzupatch.com/woodshop/coffee_table/assembled.jpg

This is the table assembled. I have the lost two drawer guides in place. Once they are dry it's time for the final sanding. Then finishing. I want to just leave it natural. I LOVE natural finished maple. But my wife is dead set on staining it. (Yes I have stained maple and know how). Since it is her table she will probably get her way, but I am going to try hard to convince her otherwise!

[Corey Hallagan]

Looking good there Jeff. I have enjoyed the construction of your project and your photos. Looks like your considering a mustard finish :)

corey

[Jeff Horton]

Looks like your considering a mustard finish :)


Yea, takes a while to dye the wood, but it gives maple a nice yellow warm look. :)

Well ... that is Titebond glue in there. I bought a gallon when I was working on the trim in the house. Saw this in the trash one night and decided to give it a try. Makes a really good glue bottle! After you clean out the old mustard that is.

[Dave Shively]

Jeff, Looks like it is coming along nicely. What will be the top coat?

Dave

[Jeff Horton]

Dunno Dave. I am a Shellac kind of guy though. Assuming it hasn't gone bad I have half a gallon in the shop and I like to spray it. If not shellac then probably varnish. The older finishes are in my blood. Had parents that loved to refinish furniture so I learned a lot from them and it stuck.

[lou sansone]

very nice tour of how you are going about building the table. thanks for sharing it with us.

lou

[Jeff Horton]

I am not a happy camper! The customer is not always right, yes even when it is your wife. I know, I am a brave man saying that.

Here is the deal. Coffee table is made of maple. In my opinion Maple should never be stained. While it is possible it's a pain in the rear, might as well just paint it or leave it natural. We have stained maple cabinets and lots of stained maple trim in our house. My wife wanted this stained .. well actually it is dyed, to match the dinning room trim. The stain/dye has sat in the shop unused for at least a year now. No amount of mixing would get the pigments to mix back up and it to look anywhere near the color it was. I should have quit at that point.

I threated to just finish in natural and put this piece up for sale, then build her another one out of cherry and I wish I had. Instead I went ahead and used some stain I had mixed up in the shop. I tried it on the draw faces and it looked pretty good. Once I started to put it on bigger surfaces I remembered why I despise stained maple, every like flaw shows. At ealst with the dye it comes out more consistent and I could hide most problem areas.

I guess it isn't that bad but I don't like it. A second coat of stain helped and it looks better when it's wet, so I know it will look better once I put the finish on it. But I should have stood my ground and gone natural!

OK, enough moaning. I will probably spray it in the morning and post photo tomorow. I guess I will go turn some knobs for it. :mad: No more stained maple for me!

[Russ Massery]

what a bummer.:rolleyes:

[Alan DuBoff]

Doesn't look too bad to me Jeff. Seems like there's some lessons in there for 'ya, isn't that a part of what all this is about? ;)

How about taking your wife out to dinner, and tell her how wonderful she is..., maybe even buy her some roses when the table is done.

[Jeff Horton]

I can't blame my wife but I wish I could. The big lesson is listen to the inner voice. I knew better so it's my fault. I did test this on a small part but I still knew better. Anyway, the LOML looked it over and agreed it lots like ...... well lets just say it's never going to look good.

So, we discussed options and we decided to salvage it we would paint <shudder> the base. I have started stripping the top. I took my #4 plane and started planing the top down past the stain. I will finish it natural.

It's a disapointment but it will still look good in the room it is going into. And it is better than scrapping it. So, just remember to listen to your inner voice!

[Roy Wall]

Chin UP there Jeff! Just a little detour in the road.......

You've done a very nice job with this project - I've learned several things and enjoyed the documentation. Your new finish will look great and thanks for sharing!

[Corey Hallagan]

I know your dissapointed Jeff, but it doesn't look bad to me even thought it's not what you wanted. If you put a nice and gloss finish on it I think it will be even bettter by the time you get thru the multiple coats and steel wool process. Good luck Jeff.

Corey

[Jeff Horton]

I know your dissapointed Jeff, but it doesn't look bad to me ....

Pictures look much better than it is. I think it was still wet when I took those photos. As it dried it went down hill. While I am my own worst critic and a bit of a wanna-be perfectionist, trust me if you could see it you would agree.

Maybe tommorow I will take some more photos. I intended all along to show this regardless how it turned out.

[Jerry Olexa]

Nice work and enjoyed your pics/progress reports...Thanks

[Kevin Blunt]

Lookin good Jeff. Try and post pics as you go along. Thanks for the posting.