Walnut table

[Don C Peterson]

My first "commission" was for some friends to build a custom table. Here are a few pics of the table in progress and the final result.

The two aprons were so long that they had a tendency to bow a little bit, so I cut the cross members and dovetailed them into place. The dovetails were all hand cut.

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The table is really long (6 ft) so the shelf support needed an extra foot in the middle to prevent sagging. I was very pleased with how well that large dovetail came together.
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The bottom shelf support is attached to the cross pieces via a through wedged mortise and tenon. The wedges are the only pieces that are not Walnut. They are Hard Maple.
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Assembled with the finish underway... The finish is Tung Oil base finished with several coats of wax.
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[Jim Becker]

That's a really nice piece, Don. Great looking walnut, too!

[Don C Peterson]

Here it is in it's "natural habitat":

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Don...nice work. Very handsome!
-Jeff :)

[Don C Peterson]

Thanks, I thought about putting this in Neanderthal Haven, because all the board flattening, M/T, and dovetails are done using hand planes, saws and chisels. I do use a table saw, band saw, and a thickness planer though...

[lou sansone]

great looking table. walnut is just a wonderful wood to work with.

lou

[Todd Burch]

Good looking joinery Don! Great job!

So, how much did you net? ;)

Todd

[Don Bullock]

Don, that table looks great. Nice craftsmanship.

[Don C Peterson]

Good looking joinery Don! Great job!

So, how much did you net? ;)

Todd

I don't know yet. This is the first piece I've ever made for anyone else, and I have no delusions of being a professional (serious hobbiest is more like it) so I told them to pay me whatever they think it's worth after materials.

I just delivered it today so I guess I'll find out soon.

[John Michaels]

Very nicely done. I really love working with walnut. Did you cut the curve for the long apron with a bandsaw?

[Josh Youngman]

Very nice. I am also interested in the curves for the aprons. Did you cut these with the bandsaw or make templates and flush trim? How did you arrive at the curves for the side and front aprons?

[David Duke]

great looking table. walnut is just a wonderful wood to work with.

lou

I agree with everyone else, great looking table and as Lou said walnut is wonderful to work with.

[Roy Wall]

Don,

Beautiful table........the curve work and porportions look great!

NICE WORK!!!

[Don C Peterson]

Thanks everyone for your kind words. And yes Walnut is wonderful to work with. After working primarily with Ash and Oak, Walnut is much nicer to work, particularly with hand planes.


Very nice. I am also interested in the curves for the aprons. Did you cut these with the bandsaw or make templates and flush trim? How did you arrive at the curves for the side and front aprons?

I drew up the plans using Sketchup so I could visualize how the finished product would look. I knew that I wanted to curve the aprons but they are so long that I didn't want to sacrafice strength so the curve was very shallow. In the middle the rise is only 1", the aprons are 4" at the ends. I made a template by cutting a long strip of Ash that I clamped to the bench over the MDF and then drew the line.

I cut the curves out on a bandsaw, but I didn't use the template with a trim router bit. I couldn't ever seem to get the template exactly symetrical, so I got it close, transfered the lines to the Walnut, made the cut on the bandsaw and then proceeded to finish the final shape of the curves with rasps. I clamped the two aprons together and shaped them until they were nearly identical, then I flipped on of them around and shaped them again. I followed that procedure, making smaller and smaller adjustments until the two aprons were nearly identical regardless of which way they were flipped.

That process was the most difficult and nerve wracking part of the whole project.

The side aprons were done much the same way, initially I thought that I'd make the curve proportional to the long aprons, but it was imperceptable, so I just picked 1/2", and it looked about right...

[John Fry]

That's a very attractive table Don.

A job well done.

[Ralph Okonieski]

Very well done ! The design is very pleasing.

[Matt P]

Great table.
How do you cut the dovetail "slots" in the middle of the apron like that without a router?

tx,
Matt

[Bill Wyko]

Very nice style, craftsmanship and finish. Great job.:D

[Charles Wiggins]

I like the detail created by the wedge ends vs. the walnut.

[Don C Peterson]

Great table.
How do you cut the dovetail "slots" in the middle of the apron like that without a router?

tx,
Matt

Very carefully!

The tails were cut using the tablesaw. I just started by laying out dados the size of the narrowest point of the dovetail. After I chopped them out, I then used a chisel to "undercut" the sides of the dados, turning them into sliding dovetails. It really didn't take very long to do...maybe about 5 minutes per, or something like that. I don't have a dovetail plane, but I'm sure that it would have been easier, faster, and more accurate if I had one.

Even though I have a router, I opted not to use it for this because it was taking longer to setup and fiddle around with than it took me to just do the work with chisels. That, and I've never had a chisel jump around out of control and chew up a nearly finished project;) I find that the closer I am to finishing a piece, the more I rely on hand tools.