Project: Purple Heart and Figured Maple Night Stands (Finished)

[Jim Becker]

Loverly.

Ok....

How are the shelves attached to the legs?

Top secret. LOL

Seriously, a little glue (I masked off before finishing) and some #7 trim-head square drive screws driven and countersunk at an angle into the legs. Low tech. Nothing fancy. I didn't have time.

[Jim Summers]

Wonderful pieces.

Gotta agree with Alan though, the tops look great.

[Greg Heppeard]

Great looking night stands. Bet she loved them!

[Calvin Hobbs]

Nice little tables, Jim. I enjoyed the write-up.

I have never built any furniture with either of these woods, and have been waiting for the right piece to build from curly maple. Thanks again, Cal.

[John-Paul Murphy]

nice Jim, well done. Tthe combination of woods look very good togeather.

[Jim Becker]

I have never built any furniture with either of these woods, and have been waiting for the right piece to build from curly maple.

Cal, definitely explore working with the curly maple. It's a grand opportunity to have some fun with figure. This is my second piece; the first being a candle stand last year that was dyed and oiled to bring out the figure while staying in a similar "color value" toward the cherry I generally work with. Creeker Dave Malen has some wonderful pieces in his home made from this stuff and I have always found them inspiring.



For these night stands, I decided to stay "natural" for contrast with the darker carcass material...something I hadn't done before, either.

As to the purpleheart. Interesting wood. Hard and dense. Splintery, but not as nasty as the wenge that I recently said I'd never work with again. I would not have chosen it for these nightstands if it hadn't been on my lumber rack, frankly...I really enjoy working with "domestic" and "local" wood, but I have to say that they turned out with a very pleasing look. It also sets the scene that our master bedroom is going to be furnished a bit in an eclectic style. Interestingly, that means I have some nice opportunity to experiment. And since I have a little more of that purpleheart available, I may leverage it accordingly to tie another piece to the nightstands.

[JayStPeter]

Those look great Jim. Nice job. I like those two woods together.
The other design details worked also. The odd sized drawers work out well. The shelf sits higher than most similar tables I've seen, but it looks good and should prevent too much junk from collecting there. The edge treatment on the top really finishes it nice.

Jay

[Bill Wyko]

Nice Jim. There comming along great. I'm looking forward to seeing the completed set. Your work is always an inspiration.

[Jim Becker]

Nice Jim. There comming along great. I'm looking forward to seeing the completed set. Your work is always an inspiration.

Bill...they are complete outside of pulls. Thanks for your kind comments.

[David Tiell]

Jim,
Beautiful work there! Thanks for taking the time to document and explain everything you did. Hopefully I can put some of your techniques to use on some of my own projects.

Dave

[James Sweeney]

Jim, I really admire the time you are putting in by sharing all the progress pics with us. It's hard enough finding the time to create a project, but going a step further and helping all us by documenting along the way, well that is just incredible. I really appreciate this effort. It really helps a person like me that learns very visually. I am amazed at how much this site, and people like you have helped my woodworking.

[Jim Tobias]

Jim,
The tables are great!! I really do like the design and materials. The purpleheart and maple are such a great contrasting pair when used together.
I really like the drawer design, just different enough to giev the tables a little something extra.
As other s have said, I also admire your patience and willingness to take all of the pictures required to post your project. It is a great step by step "how to" on doing the project.
Thanks and again, a beautiful pair of bedroom tables. I look forward to seeing what else the purpleheart shows up in.

Jim

[Paul Girouard]

Jim do you think that Purple color will hold ? All the P.Heart I've used , mostly for accent trim pieces, has turned more gary-ish in color . Still pleasing , just not a "bright" as I had hoped. Same way with the little Paduak I've used , that bright orange color faded away to a gray-ish color.

All of those had just a Maloof's Poly / Oil finish.

I may try a water borne varnish on the next pieces I use , I think it's the UV light that does it, like Cherry and Jatoba , heck I guess most woods , Fir does the same thing , except with those last 3 the "changed to" color is the desired one.

I noticed you used BLO (boiled Linseed Oil ) I take it that's a Creekers favorite as I see it bantered about here a lot, I'll go back and look at your earlier post as to what you topped the BLO off with , I know you mentioned it but I can't scroll back that far from this place.

So does the stuff you used as top coat have a lot of UV protection in it? I guess that's my question.

[Paul Girouard]

I think I found it , I've never used it , I see it has no UV protection or no "X" in the box for it.

I guess you'll see how it holds the color in time.

1000 Ultima Spray Lacquer (USL)3000 Ultra Seal Shellac9000 Oxford Hybrid PolyUrethane Super Clear8800 EmTech Sealer8000 EmTech Pre-Catalyzed VarnishU9300 EmTech PolycarbonateBasic Waterbase Ctg.XXXHigh Performance Ctg.XXXSelf-SealerXXXTop CoatXXXX3 Gallon - Price Per Gallon$39.60$34.20$58.50$59.40$45.90$59.402 Pail - Price per Pail$166.50$148.50$265.00$274.50$207.00$274.50% Solids30%25%30%40%32%32%Acrylic (Lacquer) ResinXPolyester & Acrylic R.XViscosity Zahn #230-351740403535Alkyd EmulsionXXPolyUrethane Ester ResinXPolycarbonate ResinXAmber ToneXWater White Non-YellowingXXXXXTrans-Tint can be addedXXXXXExterior Use AlsoXXUV ProtectionXXXXBest Water and Chemical ResistanceXXXXSpray ApplyXXXXXXBrush ApplyXXXFull Gloss, 90%XXXXXSemi-Gloss, 65%XXXXSatin, 35%XXXXFlat, 10%XXXXBlack & White MatteHaps FreeYESYESYESYESYESYES


Edited to add:






Well that didn't C&P very well

Link to chart : http://www.finishsystems.com/targetcoatings.html

[Don Bullock]

Jim, those are beautiful!! I love the contrast and the figure in the tops and drawers is excellent. I'm sure that you will enjoy these for many years.

Wow, I can't believe that they're finished so soon. For someone who is as busy as you are, you sure get it done in the shop. While you've been working on these I've just been deciding on the grain match up on two table tops I'm designing and a few other "small'' Christmas present projects I made.