Jim Shaver, Oakville Ont
03-08-2003, 6:16 PM
Hello,
I thought I’d share with you a project I completed last year, a cherry/poplar Shaker style sofa table. This is a project that many of you have seen before on BP, but with Bill's "Should I Paint It" post I was asked to repost what i could of the original BP post. Many of the pictures are not included here, but I have posted one in the section with Bill's question.
While I’m not sure if Shakers actually made sofa tables I have seen examples of library tables in this design, so I tried to remain consistent with my design to it’s origins.
This table is my course project that I have built at Sheridan College, Oakville campus, the course is on Table Making and Design, Rob Diemert is the instructor.
The table is constructed from poplar with all structural elements also being poplar. I turned the legs myself from a design that I found consistent with Shaker designs from 184-1870. The drawers with through dove tailed, hand cut and fitted with a ¼” maple drawer bottom. The drawer guides and kickers were made with poplar and mortice and tennoned into the front and rear apron.
I used a milk paint finish on the poplar, something that I was inspired by when I visited John McGaw’s web site and had seen his use of painted poplar and cherry. John sent me a very helpful email that got me interested in combining the painted wood with cherry. The milk paint is from a Canadian source, Homestead paints and is called Niagara green.
The milk paint process was simple, first I raised the grain on the poplar by wiping a wet sponge on the surfaces and sanding with a 3M pad. I then applied a first coat of milk paint and gave it 2 hours to dry, even though it felt dry in 30 minutes. I then sanded it lightly with a 3M pad, wiped it clean and applied a second coat and let it dry over night. I then applied a wipe on coat of boiled linseed oil and let it set for two days. The BLO gave the paint an even tone and set the colour. I then applied over the course of a few days two wipe on ploy/mix coats. I then rubbed down the topcoats with 0000 steel wool and wax.
The tabletop and the drawer fronts are cherry, the drawer fronts are from a single piece of curly cherry. I drawer pulls from some curly soft maple and tennoned them into the drawer fronts. The drawer fronts were then glued to the fitted poplar drawers.
The finish for the cherry was very simple, two applications of boiled linseed oil, rubbed out followed by two coats of a homemade poly wipe and then rubbed out with 0000 steel wool and wax. The top is held to the base using ash buttons. I also bevelled the top on the bottom side with hand planes, my low angle block plane and low angle jack for the cross grain cut and my 607 Bedrock for the long grain. I also did the same on my drawer fronts, I wanted it to have the hand tool look, and it came out great!
All in all this was another project that was about doing things I have never done before, milk paint, hand cut dove tailed drawers, hand planing the drawers for a nice fit, table buttons, working with poplar as a primary wood, drawer runners and kickers.
I found several sources of information most helpful, books such as Shaker Legacy by Chris Becksvoort, The Design book from Taunton press and excellent guidance from Sheridan College teacher Rob Diemert.
It’s a fun project, simple yet very functional for us in its new place at home,
I thought I’d share with you a project I completed last year, a cherry/poplar Shaker style sofa table. This is a project that many of you have seen before on BP, but with Bill's "Should I Paint It" post I was asked to repost what i could of the original BP post. Many of the pictures are not included here, but I have posted one in the section with Bill's question.
While I’m not sure if Shakers actually made sofa tables I have seen examples of library tables in this design, so I tried to remain consistent with my design to it’s origins.
This table is my course project that I have built at Sheridan College, Oakville campus, the course is on Table Making and Design, Rob Diemert is the instructor.
The table is constructed from poplar with all structural elements also being poplar. I turned the legs myself from a design that I found consistent with Shaker designs from 184-1870. The drawers with through dove tailed, hand cut and fitted with a ¼” maple drawer bottom. The drawer guides and kickers were made with poplar and mortice and tennoned into the front and rear apron.
I used a milk paint finish on the poplar, something that I was inspired by when I visited John McGaw’s web site and had seen his use of painted poplar and cherry. John sent me a very helpful email that got me interested in combining the painted wood with cherry. The milk paint is from a Canadian source, Homestead paints and is called Niagara green.
The milk paint process was simple, first I raised the grain on the poplar by wiping a wet sponge on the surfaces and sanding with a 3M pad. I then applied a first coat of milk paint and gave it 2 hours to dry, even though it felt dry in 30 minutes. I then sanded it lightly with a 3M pad, wiped it clean and applied a second coat and let it dry over night. I then applied a wipe on coat of boiled linseed oil and let it set for two days. The BLO gave the paint an even tone and set the colour. I then applied over the course of a few days two wipe on ploy/mix coats. I then rubbed down the topcoats with 0000 steel wool and wax.
The tabletop and the drawer fronts are cherry, the drawer fronts are from a single piece of curly cherry. I drawer pulls from some curly soft maple and tennoned them into the drawer fronts. The drawer fronts were then glued to the fitted poplar drawers.
The finish for the cherry was very simple, two applications of boiled linseed oil, rubbed out followed by two coats of a homemade poly wipe and then rubbed out with 0000 steel wool and wax. The top is held to the base using ash buttons. I also bevelled the top on the bottom side with hand planes, my low angle block plane and low angle jack for the cross grain cut and my 607 Bedrock for the long grain. I also did the same on my drawer fronts, I wanted it to have the hand tool look, and it came out great!
All in all this was another project that was about doing things I have never done before, milk paint, hand cut dove tailed drawers, hand planing the drawers for a nice fit, table buttons, working with poplar as a primary wood, drawer runners and kickers.
I found several sources of information most helpful, books such as Shaker Legacy by Chris Becksvoort, The Design book from Taunton press and excellent guidance from Sheridan College teacher Rob Diemert.
It’s a fun project, simple yet very functional for us in its new place at home,