Stackable end tables *UPDATED WITH NEW PICS*

[Bas]

Joe was right. You don't need no steekin' plans. Just cut some wood

I'm making the tables out of some QS Sycamore. It's a great wood to work with. Cuts easily, light, and no splintering. The only tough part is that the highly figured sections are prone to tearout. Man I wish I had a drum sander for that. I glued up some boards for the legs, managed to get them 1 3/4" thick. I think I'll actually use 8/4 stock in the future though, 4/4 stock is cheaper to start with but you waste a lot of material in the process.

Here are all the legs and aprons, all ready, largely due to Wayne's (Canuck) help last Saturday. Things go much quicker when you work in tandem moving stock from jointer to planer to table saw.


The joinery will be done via dowels. My mortising plans got sidetracked due to a canceled tool order, so Wayne decided I was in a vulnerable enough state to expose me to the Dowelmax. That is a pretty amazing tool. Fast, accurate, flexible, and all you need is a drill. A lot less noisy than a router, and very safe. Despite the price, I think I'm sold on it.

This is the first time I'm using tapered legs, time to put Joe's World Famous Tapering Jig to the test. Leg all ready to go:


Cut complete!

I can't think of a better way of tapering legs. Unless you're like Krenov and can taper them freehand on the jointer

Here is a dryfit of the tables, one with tapered legs and one with straight legs. The taper is very subtle, going from 1 3/4" to 1 1/2", but it makes a big impact.


Glued up panels for the top:


Here is one temporarily placed on one of the tables. The panels are roughly 2'x2' right now, but I plan to trim them to 22" x 2"". Ish. I'll start large and keep trimming until I'm happy.



I need to make sure I figure out how to attach the top. It will be with screws, the question is whether I'll use shop-made blocks or z-clips. Either way, I need to remember to route a dado before the glueup! (<-- note to self)

Next up is rounding over all the pieces, sanding and assembling the frames.

 

[flatheadfisher]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Looking good! I am amazed by the different look on the tapered legs. Nice!

 

[DaveO]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

You're making something :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

Looks like some good progress so far. Ain't that QS Sycamore beautiful wood :icon_thum


Dave

 

[erasmussen]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Wow Bas making something

The tapered legs looks real sharp :icon_thum

 

[Sealeveler]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Good progress,I didn't think tapered legs made that much difference but there is alot.Way to go THE BAZ.:icon_thumTony

 

[TracyP]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Looking Good Bas!!

 

[sediener]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

You're making something :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

Looks like some good progress so far. Ain't that QS Sycamore beautiful wood :icon_thum


Dave

Looks good Bas, now how are you going to use these in the shop?? :gar-La;

 

[WoodWrangler]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

That looks great. The side by side of the legs really shows how much better the taper makes it look. Nice work thus far!

 

[Joe Scharle]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Looking good, Bas. Good photo sequence BTW.

 

[MikeL]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Great job Bas! :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

Where did you score that wood?

 

[Canuck]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

I believe that you nailed the right taper there, Bas!!:eusa_danc:eusa_danc:eusa_danc
Sure sure does lighten up the look.

Now the fun part (sanding), eh? Don't forget to route that slot for your z-clips, before you start stuffing the glue and dowels.:wsmile:

At this rate, you will be applying finish by the weekend.:icon_thum:icon_thum

Lookin' good.

Wayne

 

[Trent Mason]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Looking great Bas! :eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap That's one handy dandy tapering jig. :icon_thum

 

[Bas]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Where did you score that wood?

No surprises here...from Jeff, lumber run last summer.

 

[Dutchman]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Looking good Bas. Doweling is a very good attachment method for your aprons to legs. I am surprised more people don't use them more often, there a lot stronger that people give them credit for.

No stinking plans huh,.... that usually means more wood and more time for me.

 

[RandyJ]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Nice job on the tables, Bas! I agree with the taper looking best. Thanks for the blow-by-blow.

 

[CrealBilly]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Nice work Bas, seems quarter sawn sycamore and tables just go together. I agree with the others tapered legs really lend to a acute sense of correctness - they just look like they belong on that style of table.

As for the tear out, I've found if you turn the board end for end and take lighter passes on the planer it helps a lot. It's all that interlocked grain, sometimes a sycamore board just wants to be tickled. With QS stock, take a look at the way the grain is running on the board edges, that will help you determine which way to feed it into the planer.

 

[FredP]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

lookin good BAS!:icon_thum or is it "the bas"? glad you finally decided to fly without the net!:icon_cheers sometimes you use some extra wood doing that but it is the best way to learn in my humble opinion.

 

[toolferone]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Looking great! If you forget to cut the slot, you can use a slot cutter in t he router or a biscut jointer. DAMHIKT.

 

[MrAudio815]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

I need to make sure I figure out how to attach the top. It will be with screws, the question is whether I'll use shop-made blocks or z-clips. Either way, I need to remember to route a dado before the glueup! (<-- note to self)

Bas.
I don't need it. I just want it.

Bas very important to remember to route a dado before glue up, the table I made I for got to do that and was going to use the z-clips. So I have actually just did nothing. The table top is made of 1 1/4" maple and is 2' 6" X 4' 6" and doesn't move. I'll finish it someday.

Sincerely,

 

[CrealBilly]

Re: Stackable end tables *IN PROGRESS*

Bas just my two cents worth... I know this may sound stupid but on higher priced solid wood furniture the manufacturer puts in white oak or ash cleats. It's like a 7/8" square strip that's screwed to the inside top of all four aprons and then screwed to the top. The holes are a little bit over sized to allow for movement. If you choose to go this route don't gorilla torque the screws, snug them up then back off about an 1/8 of a turn, that's plenty tight enough.

On cheaper furniture like veneer over chip board they use those funky little steel brackets and on real cheap funture the brackets are brown plastic. I wished I had a dollar for every peice of funiture I had to repair by having to relocate those silly brackets, because the top came loose during shipment.

Now if the top came loose on a peice with cleats, like I mentoined above - it was almost always the result of structural damage, like the case was dropped on it corner or something - fixing that is when the fun begins.

Thanks