Federal end table build

[chris carter]

We have a hideous end table left over from my wife’s college years that needs to go, especially since it’s in eyesight of our 1890’s dining room table. So I decided to build a federal style end table. Because it needed to be painted black to fit the decor in the room, I just made it from poplar and then painted it black. It was painful, but I justified it having seen examples of federal antique end tables with original black paint. This is my first time making a table of the fine furniture variety. I used a thickness planner for some of the more monotonous thicknessing, but everything else was all hand tools.

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I turned the legs on my pole lathe. The joinery was cut first before turning. I accidentally cut the dovetails for the top of the front legs which was stupid and had to plug them before I could turn the legs. It worked out fine in the end, but it was a lesson learned.

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My main pieces. You can see where I plugged the dovetail sockets so I had to repeat chopping them out (easier the second time). The ¼” bead was made with a scratch stock.

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The knob was also turned on the lathe. It has a 5/8 shaft which was wedged in the front of the drawer.

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With the drawer fitted.

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The top is secured with little clips.

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The full assembly. The top has a subtle rounding of the edges.

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The whole thing was painted with black lacquer. Because it will be used on a daily basis and will see plenty of wine I decided to put some poly on it. I suck at brushing anything, so I made a wipe-on poly and this required using a dewaxed shellac between the paint and WOP. I need to let it fully cure and then I’ll knock down any remaining dust nibs. But I couldn’t resist seeing it in its natural environment so I very carefully set in the drawer after a day of drying. Then the drawer carefully came out and it went back in the basement to finish curing.

I made a few mistakes on this project, but nothing that wasn’t fixable so it was a good learning experience. This was kind of a practice run for a study desk for my son (he's 7) that I'll be making from cherry.

[lowell holmes]

How about a picture of the lathe.

I'm impressed with your work.

[brian zawatsky]

Really nice work, Chris.

[Mel Fulks]

Nice job,and the pole lathe is always an intresting factor. I suggest looking at some pics of dumb waiters that would be of same period as the dining room, and they cut down on trips back to the kitchen.

[chris carter]

How about a picture of the lathe.

I'm impressed with your work.

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Here's a little video my wife shot. I've done the beads and now I'm roughing out the taper. I'm guessing from the rubbing sound that I was rolling the gouge right up to the bottom beads and then at the end I'm probably reaching for the skew to get it clean right at the bead.

[Kris Cook]

Nice job on the table.

[Stew Denton]

Chris,

Very nice job!

Stew

[Kevin Hampshire]

Chris, Very nice table and lathe!

BTW, on high use tables like this, I have the glass shop custom cut a sheet for the top. Very inexpensive and unobtrusive.

Impervious to red wine, kids toys, magic markers etc. If/when the glass gets damaged, easy and inexpensive to replace. Most importantly, table can be fully enjoyed without hurting the table or my feelings!