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Thread: Shaker End Table, first "finished piece"

  1. #1

    Shaker End Table, first "finished piece"

    Finally finished this. Hard maple all around, based on the LN video on how to build it.

    I have mostly done shop projects, and this is the very first piece I made that I consider good for actual use outside of the shop. It's nothing fancy, but I learned a lot building it!

    5550907B-0DF1-479A-AAD0-C706AE91CB4B.jpg54586E79-F106-4FF9-9A62-8D9B0C760C83.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Philly, PA
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    168
    Very nice. Gracefully tapered legs, half-blind dovetails, attractive grain.
    It would be a quality piece no matter if your first or fiftieth finished piece.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    SW Florida
    Posts
    139
    Very nicely done and there's no way to tell that's your first piece...great job!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    South West Ontario
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    1,502
    Augusto, congrat’s on your first piece to leave the shop! I’ve made several of those, the wood needed to make a very useful piece of furniture makes that a must build piece.
    Never seen the video you mention but I used a classic Shaker design book. I do notice a few things, the drawer front bottom pin is missing. The top seems overly large, might just be the photo angle of course. Did you do the child proof drawer pull out protector?
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by William Fretwell View Post
    Augusto, congrat’s on your first piece to leave the shop! I’ve made several of those, the wood needed to make a very useful piece of furniture makes that a must build piece.
    Never seen the video you mention but I used a classic Shaker design book. I do notice a few things, the drawer front bottom pin is missing. The top seems overly large, might just be the photo angle of course. Did you do the child proof drawer pull out protector?
    Thanks, William.

    The video from LN (for purchase) is here: https://www.lie-nielsen.com/products/shaker-side-table

    The table is built precisely to the dimensions in that video. The top is 18" square and has about a 1.5" overhang with respect to the frame. You are correct, the bottom pin is missing, but this was on purpose, as per the video (apparently, it's not an uncommon technique). But to be fair, I thought later that I'd rather build the drawer with the bottom pin, too... looks more elegant to my eye. There is a very similar old Pop Woodworking article also by C. Scharwz that builds the same table, and that one has a photo with the drawer with the full set of pins, but the article actually points to an even more basic drawer construction.: https://www.popularwoodworking.com/w...T2004-Seg2.pdf


    The drawer runs on wooden runners and has also a top rail that prevents it from sagging as it comes out. But I did not add any pull out protector mechanism to it... my kids know better by now :-)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,696
    This style of table is a favorite of mine...very adaptable, too. You can do simple aprons, a single drawer, a double drawer, a drawer with a lower shelf, etc. Same design; multiple variations!

    Great job on your tables! They really look good.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Kanter View Post
    Very nice. Gracefully tapered legs, half-blind dovetails, attractive grain.
    It would be a quality piece no matter if your first or fiftieth finished piece.
    Thank you, Ron!

    Quote Originally Posted by David Lageman View Post
    Very nicely done and there's no way to tell that's your first piece...great job!
    Thanks, David!

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    This style of table is a favorite of mine...very adaptable, too. You can do simple aprons, a single drawer, a double drawer, a drawer with a lower shelf, etc. Same design; multiple variations!

    Great job on your tables! They really look good.
    Thanks, Jim! And you are correct, it's very adaptable. With all the work from home situation, I am planning on building a desk for my 'home office' along similar those lines. I have my eyes in something that looks more like this:
    Desk.png

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    South West Ontario
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    1,502
    Then it is just the lens/photo angle. Mine are 18” square also with 2” overhang. It’s one of those pieces you really grow to appreciate!
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,696
    The cherry desk I built for Professor Dr. SWMBO in 1997 (my first project, actually) uses this same general design, although that one would be considered a little more "chunky" than I have done over the years because it was built with 5/4 material. I know better now. LOL You'll have a very nice desk by following the same formula and just adapting to the stresses that a desk will face that an end table might not. I use the same general design for hall tables/sofa tables, whether they are rectangular or use natural edges.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Crozet, VA
    Posts
    645
    I wish my first piece looked that good ... it was a fairly hideous red oak nightstand, which has long since been dismantled and repurposed into various shop projects. Well done.
    There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.” - Dave Barry

  11. #11
    Very nice job. Clean and neat. I could think of dozens of practical uses for that piece.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Kansas City
    Posts
    2,654
    A good-looking table. That was my first furniture project as well.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Clarks Summit PA
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    1,733
    Augusto, well done! Yes, it is just the camera angle that makes the overhang appear greater than it is. And I find it a pain to get the bottom dovetail to cover the groove on the front of the drawer, so sometimes I will do the half-dovetail and no pin approach you used.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Cashiers NC
    Posts
    603
    very nice job. A piece you can be proud of.
    Charlie Jones

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    3,222
    Congrats, Augusto! Always a proud moment when the first home worthy piece is completed. Well done.

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