Project w/ Pics Cherry entry table

[Jack A.]

Started on a new project this weekend. It will be a small entry table in cherry.

First some measuring, mathing, and sketching to get the basic design figured out.

Followed up by a mockup to ensure it fits in the space as intended.

I already had a decent store of 4/4 cherry, but I needed some 8/4 for the legs. The Lumber District now has Saturday hours (yay!) so I ran over there, grabbed a board and started cutting. Here we have the rough blanks for the legs and some pieces for the top. One of the pieces I cut for the top had a bit too much curve to flatten w/out losing too much thickness. So I cut another section from the same board. That curved piece will be the rear skirt.

I wanted to give the leg blanks some time to acclimate before final milling, so this weekend I focused on the top. At this point the top is pretty much done except for final sanding.

 

[red]

Your cherry top looks very nice. I love working with cherry.

Red

 

[mdbuntyn]

If your HF bar clamps flex more than you like, fill the channel with a strip of wood (I used pine in most of mine).

 

[Jack A.]

If your HF bar clamps flex more than you like, fill the channel with a strip of wood (I used pine in most of mine).

Yeah, I bought them specifically to try giving them the Paul Sellers treatment. I just haven't gotten around to it so far. My biggest gripe about them so far is that on some of them the screw doesn't operate smoothly; it's very stiff and hard to turn in spots.

 

[Jack A.]

I haven't had a lot of shop time the last couple weeks, but I did find time to finish milling and cutting the legs to size. Then I cut the profiles.

Leg blanks milled to final size.

When cutting the profile on the first leg, I did both curved sides on the bandsaw first, then attempted to finish them on the router. This didn't work out so great because one cut would be into the grain. So I ran out and got a pattern bit to solve that problem. For the rest of them I cut and finished one whole side first, then cut and finished the second side. That was definitely easier.

All 4 legs with profiles

 

[Jack A.]

I got all the skirt pieces cut and everything sanded to 150.

The shooting board and my right arm got quite a workout finessing all the skirt pieces to the final size.

 

[demondeacon]

Nice work and pretty cherry. How are you attaching the top? I dont see any z-clips or buttons.

 

[Jack A.]

Ultimately I'll be using buttons to attach the top. The legs will be removable so at some point in the near future I'll need to cut the diagonals and create the jig to attach them to the skirt boards. I'll probably at least get the diagonals cut before deciding where to place the slots that the buttons will fit into.

 

[Jack A.]

Skirt assembly jig.

Corner pieces cut.

Crazy jig to drill attachment screw pockets in corner pieces.

Attachment screw pockets in corner pieces.

 

[Rwe2156]

Nice work.

On those clamps, I've found the collars will sometimes bind, making them hard to tighten. I give them a rap to free them, but I did take one apart and file over the inside edges which solved the issue.

 

[HITCH-]

Looking good

 

[mkepke]

Jack - the reason for the ‘skirt assembly jig’ has me a little confused.

What method did you use to attach the skirt to the legs?

And are the two related?

-Mark

 

[Jack A.]

I wanted the legs to be removable, like most modern tables. So the legs will be bolted through the corner brackets, not glued to the skirt pieces.

The skirt jig will ensure that the skirt pieces remain perfectly square in all directions while they're being glued together. The short pieces of square stock in each corner are placeholders for where the legs go. They're 1.5" square while the legs are 1.75" square, giving a 0.25" set-back to the skirt. It'll make a lot more sense when I get farther along. LOL

 

[Jack A.]

Cobbled together some clamp extenders to hold the skirt diagonals in place and got the skirt glued up.

I test fit the legs to check that they're parallel and square. Everything looking good there, which is a big relief.

Made the buttons for top attachment last night.

 

[Jack A.]

Friday night I cut the slots in the skirt for the buttons. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention at one point when moving between slots and the router bit contacted the side unexpectedly, pulling the skirt out of my hands and adding a couple extra, unwanted slots.

I was originally just going to leave them because they wouldn't normally be visible. But it bothered me so much overnight that the next day I had to make patches for the two largest gouges.

The rest of the weekend was much less exciting. Just lots and lots of sanding.

 

[mkepke]

Re: unwanted slots: thanks for sharing. been there, done that.

The router is an amazing tool, but if things go sideways, it happens really fast.

-Mark

 

[Jack A.]

Boy did it ever. LOL

 

[Canuck]

One of the main reasons I have held onto my old biscuit joiner to cut slots in aprons and add Z-clips to secure table tops.

 

[Jack A.]

Finally finished this.

 

[demondeacon]

Nice job. Nice clean lines and looks great.