Pair of cherry end tables

[Bruce Lowekamp]

I realized earlier this year that the only major projects that had come out of my woodshop for the last few years had been beds (all the same design with white paint over poplar) for the three girls, and that I missed building real furniture. So I decided to make a set of end tables for our family room. I mostly followed the "Craftsman End Table" from Woodsmith 127, but scaled it down a bit and removed the spindles from the sides b/c I thought the lower shelves could be a good place to put a charging station and take tablets in/out from the side. I used dominoes for the joinery.

I was originally going to do a bookmatched top, but I found a board with some interesting figure on it that I liked even better so made the two tops and one drawer front with that board.

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I applied BLO to the cherry and then used two coats of EM6000 gloss pre-assembly and two coats of SG after. The top has two coats of EM1000 sealer, one coat of gloss and two coats of SG. (I was a bit unsure I had sanded all of the wild grain smooth on the tops and wanted them to be a bit smoother than the rest, anyway.)

I guess it's the blotchy nature of cherry, but I did find after I applied the finish that a few boards that I thought were evenly colored had some almost grayish areas in them, though it's honestly more noticeably in the 5K light of my shop than in the actual family room. Otherwise, I was pretty happy with how everything turned out, and even the hand-fitting I had to do to make sure the lower shelf was let into the legs properly came out fairly well, though that was the most fiddly part of the project.

Bruce

[Charlie Jones]

Nice work. I like the simplicity of the design. They should serve your family many years.

[Mark Rainey]

Well done Bruce - the cherry grain is dramatic!

[Bill Carey]

Must be end table pairs Saturday! Very nice job Bruce - love the finish. I just started a cherry project and may have to "borrow" your finish routine. And that grain is wonderful.

[George Bokros]

Very nice work. The grain is stunning. Design changes are right on, simple is beautiful.

[Lee Schierer]

I really like the grain on the tops. Nicely finished.

[matt romanowski]

Those look great!

[Bruce Lowekamp]

Thanks for all the feedback, I appreciate it.

may have to "borrow" your finish routine. And that grain is wonderful.

Bill, only note I would add is Jeff says EM6000 over BLO is fine, just damp wipe with a 50/50 water/alcohol mix after waiting at least 3 days for it to cure. I think it's best to raise and sand the grain before applying the BLO to minimize the amount of grain raising the second wipe does, even though raising the grain isn't something I would usually think of before applying an oil.

Bruce

[John TenEyck]

Very nice work Bruce.

Every time I've tried BLO on cherry it brings out the blotch. A sprayed coat of Sealcoat shellac brings out the grain just as well IMO and doesn't blotch. If I want more color I spray Transtint dye instead.

John

[David Eisenhauer]

Very nice result Bruce. Definitely a keeper for the family. And I like Target Coatings stuff also. So nice to work with.