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Thread: Federal Table Build

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Houston
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    243

    Federal Table Build

    Finally got the courage to post a build thread. Don't be too hard on me.

    My mom has a music box and wanted a stand for it. This isn't the stand. Just the music box sitting on a saw bench.
    1A Music Box That Needs a Stand.jpg

    She also has a Federal style sideboard, and I thought I would try that style, even though the music box is probably from a hundred years later.

    I started out with a single board of walnut, which I believe was 8/4 and about 9 feet long.
    1 The Original Board.jpg

    I tried to use mostly hand tools on this project, although I did use the jointer/planer for dimensioning and the bandsaw for veneer.

    3 Leg with Mortises.jpg3B Cutting the Tenons.jpg7A Top Apron.jpg5 Chamfering the Edges of the Top.jpg
    6 Dry Fitting the Frame.jpg8 Dry Fitting with Top.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
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    Houston
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    I had never done a tapered leg, but it was much easier with the hand plane than I expected.
    10 Tapering the Legs.jpg
    I initially intended to buy pre-fab edge banding, but I saw some nice pieces of tiger maple at Clark's Hardwoods that I couldn't pass up. Had a lot left over afterwards for future projects.

    11 Tiger Maple for Edge Banding.jpg12 Edge Banding Samples.jpg13 Edge Banding in Process.jpg

    14 Cuff Banding.jpg

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
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    Everything except the veneered drawer front went smoothly.

    16 Fitting the Drawer.jpg17 Veneer for Drawer Front.jpg18 Marking the Veneer.jpg20 Ready for Finish.jpg

    The finish on the table itself came out okay. Someone recommended garnet shellac, which provided a nice reddish tint.
    20A Ready for the Drawer.jpg


    However ... the first attempt at the drawer front came out absolutely terrible. I didn't pore fill the crotch walnut, which had a bunch of rough areas around the edges, and tried to build it up with about 10 coats of garnet shellac, which turned to to be a total mess.

    21 Drawer Front Looks Awful.jpg

    Then I decided to take it down to bare wood and start over, but as I was sanding the edges it started to look like an actual antique, with more reddish color in the middle and mostly brownish walnut toward the edges. So I left it.
    22 Finishing the Drawer Front.JPG

    I didn't take the best photo of the finished project, but it turned out better than I had expected.

    Finished Table 1.jpg

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
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    Florida
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    1,950
    I think it looks excellent. Very nice. I’m sure it will be cherished and loved.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    North Alabama
    Posts
    548
    Fantastic work. Thanks for letting us enjoy it too.
    Chuck Taylor

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
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    I love federal style, and the table turned out very nice. Great job on the bandings and veneer. The challenge with any colored finish is what might happen to banding and stringing. The garnet didn’t seem to effect the maple, or did you somehow mask that off?
    Nice job!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Houston
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    Thanks, guys.

    I did end up with some areas on the banding that were too red and were inconsistent. I lightly sanded just the banding afterwards to get it consistent and lighter and then put clear shellac over the entire thing.

    Your question did remind me about what happened to the drawer front.

    The veneer was from a different board and started out looking brownish green and also had some pores or holes. After way too many coats of garnet shellac to try and get rid of the green and fill the holes, the stringing just about disappeared, so I was trying to sand and scrape some shellac off of the edges of the drawer front to make the stringing lighter again. Once I did that, the crotch figure in the center of the veneer was still brownish red but transitioned to a brown/green/yellow tint toward the edges, and the stringing showed up again. At that point, rather than trying to match the veneer to the rest of the table, I left it as is. Looks less like a mistake and more like a means to highlight the figure and make it stand out.

  8. #8
    That is magnificent!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    N. Idaho
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    Thanks for sharing Todd. Your table is a remarkable match and complement to the music box in terms of both composition and execution! well done!

    Best,
    Chris
    "You can observe a lot just by watching."
    --Yogi Berra

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Issaquah, Washington
    Posts
    1,320
    I am envious of your work and may actually dislike you. great job!

  11. #11
    Class and elegance. that's how I see it.

  12. #12
    That's lovely! Well done!
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Carlsbad, CA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Christopher Charles View Post
    Thanks for sharing Todd. Your table is a remarkable match and complement to the music box in terms of both composition and execution! well done!

    Best,
    Chris
    +1 well done! Thanks for sharing- great pics!
    Best, Mike

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