Two Drawer Shaker Side Table

[Martin Shupe]

Here is another Shaker table, which I talked about in a design thread, here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=18380

I had many wonderful suggestions, some which I was not able to follow on this table, but will use in my next table.

Finishing is my worst nightmare, and while I like Waterlox a lot, I think I refinished this top so many times that it got a little too thick and shiny. I will wait a few months for it to fully cure, then attempt a rub out to dull the sheen a bit.

The first pic shows the table with Dixie, my Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever shop dog. The drawer fronts are from the same piece of curly cherry lumber.

[Martin Shupe]

The second pic shows the guts of the table. Notice the rails are now oriented horizontally. I like this look much better.

The top rail is dovetailed into the legs, while the lower two rails have double tennons, as taught by Kelly Mehler. I just realized I forgot to put a screw into the top rail, through each dovetail and into the leg. Kelly does this to increase the strength of the top rail/leg joint, so that it won't fail when you pick up the table by the top.

You can also see the Kelly Mehler style cove cuts in the inside drawer fronts, and knobs made after instruction by Bill Grumbine.

[Martin Shupe]

The third pic shows the drawer sides with hand cut dovetails. The brand on the far side of the drawers was blatently stolen from Jason Tuinstra (thanks Jason; I'm not worthy). Again, the finish is a little too shiny for my taste. The sides are actually done with BLO, followed by a coat of Bullseye shellac to keep the drawers from stinking after the BLO has dried a long time.

[Martin Shupe]

Here's the final shot showing the bookmatched cherry top. About 16 by 24, with bullnosed edge treatment. The front edge only overhangs the base by about 3/4 inch to allow better access to the top drawer, but the sides have about a two inch overhang, because I liked it that way.

[John M. Cioffi]

Martin,

Another great job. You give Shaker a whole new meaning. Beautiful piece.How are the drawers installed? On runners or do they just slide in? How did you keep them from tipping,when fully opened?
Thanks for sharing.
John

[Keel McDonald]

Once again, Martin, spectacular piece. I still love that Shaker style!

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

That's a fine looking table. :D

KC

[Mark Singer]

Martin,
Very fine work and details! A pleasure to experience!

[Don Boys]

Martin,

I think the table is great. Nice work! Now tell me about the dog.

Don Boys

[Alain Tellier]

Wow that is a neat side table. I definitely love the dovetailed rails look and the bookmatched cherry top. Nice finish and a great job!

[Roy Wall]

Martin,

The craftsmanship on both tables is superb.......Excellent!!!

You say your slow......but you've got to feel good about these wonderful projects!!!

One question - why the cove on the upper inside of each drawer front?

[John Schreiber]

Very nice. No part stands out from any other, my eye is drawn into the whole piece and feels comfortable. That's what I love about Shaker furniture.

What's the purpose of the "Kelly Mehler style cove cuts"?

[Corey Hallagan]

Beautiful work Martin!

Corey

[John Renzetti]

Great job on the table, Martin. I agree that finishing that cherry can be a real pain sometimes.
How are the friendly skies treating you.
take care,
John

[Jason Tuinstra]

Martin, I see that you do have a brand. Good for you!!! There's no such thing as stealing here. The brand is perfect for you. I'm glad you got it. It just adds another touch of something to the piece.

Another great looking table here. You make Shaker style shine for what it is. Simple designs filled with good attention to construction details - the dovetails again really stand out along with your wood selection.

BTW, say thanks to your wife for finally putting her foot down! :p My wife has to do that for me as well when I'm not motivated to build, say a Lego table that I promised someone but don't care about compared to the Shaker style entertainment center that I really, really, really want to start building. A purely hypothetical example of course ;)

Keep up the good work ;)

[Warren White]

martin,
I just responded to another more recent posting you did and then found this one. Ditto what I said on the first, and I echo all of the comments here. You are really turning out some heirlooms.

Great job! I really appreciate your dedication to the Shaker style.

Best wishes,
Warren

[Jim Becker]

Ah....thanks for posting this one! This is really close to what I want to make for our master bedroom. We both need two drawers to "survive".

Great job on this one, too, Martin! Outstanding work...as expected from you! :)

[Martin Shupe]

Martin,

Another great job. You give Shaker a whole new meaning. Beautiful piece.How are the drawers installed? On runners or do they just slide in? How did you keep them from tipping,when fully opened?
Thanks for sharing.
John

Hi John, please check out this post, that I made under another thread. The pics are of my single drawer table, but the concept is the same.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=45464

I do not use metal guides unless I am making shop cabinets, so the drawers are on wooden rails. The rail above keeps the drawer from tilting, but you need to install a drawer stop to keep from pulling the drawer all the way out and spilling the contents on the floor (DAMHIKT).

Don, the dog is a fairly unknown breed. I saw one on a train once in Calgary, and had to ask 3 times what breed it was to make sure I remembered. I wanted a lab, my wife wanted a long haired dachshund, so we compromised. She is a great dog, only a year and a half old, she still has lots and lots of energy. She is good with kids, sits, stays, lays down, rolls over, shakes with both paws, but prefers tug of war to actually "giving" her retrieve back. I have wanted to take her hunting, but missed out on dove season due to work. The kids love her and so do we.

Roy and John S.: the cove is purely decorative. Kelly says it "lightens the look" of the drawer front. I told about how to make it here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=45434

Scroll down to the post where I answer questions.

Jim, you can see on this one I used horizontal drawer guides and I like the look much better.

Jason, the next iteration will have a shallower top drawer, as you suggested in the design thread a long time ago.

Keel, Kirk, Mark, Alain, John R., Corey, Jason, Warren, and Jim. Your kind remarks are sincerely appreciated. There are so many talented woodworkers on this board with skills far superior to mine, so your kind words encourage me to keep at it and slowly improve my skills so that one day I may be worthy of your praise.

[John Timberlake]

Great job. Similar to tables I am going to make for son to with the bed I am currently working on. Keep up the good work.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Jason, the next iteration will have a shallower top drawer, as you suggested in the design thread a long time ago.


Oops. Sorry Martin. I didn't mean to repeat myself. I didn't remember saying that. At least I'm consistent :p :)