Dining Table and Chairs - Project of the Week
This week’s project comes from John. Let’s see what he has to show us:
“I visit your website almost daily with the intention of furthering my woodworking knowledge and being entertained. You have yet to disappoint me. Attached are a few pictures for your Project of the Week. I just completed this dining table and chair set which replaced a far more traditional piece of furniture that no longer meets our current decor taste.”
“Thirty-five years ago my wife fell in love with a Thomasville dining set. But times have changed and so has my wife’s taste in furniture. So out with the old, in with the new. The new table measures 68 x 44 which is the size of it’s predecessor. The table base and breadboard are walnut, although since I eventually ebonized it, the wood could be almost anything. The top is 1” MDF veneered with quarter sawn raw wood cherry. The inspiration for the finish came from some high-end audio speaker cabinets. The first step was to add the black stripes. This was done by applying black dye to some grain patterns and immediately wiping away as much as I could. I then sanded it to leave a faint amount on the top. I mixed General Finishes Cranberry and Golden Oak stains in a 5:1 ratio for the basic color. This was followed by spraying 4 coats of General Finishes Top Performance glossy polyurethane followed by two coats of satin.”
“Since I had never made a chair before, I needed some help. I purchased Jeff Miller’s Chair making & Design and essentially copied one of his basic designs. The wood I chose was poplar since it would be ebonized and is cheap. The joints are mortise and loose tenons except for the side rails which are angled tenons. The angled tenons were the most challenging part of the construction. The finish is black dye followed by a black stain because I like a very black black and dye goes places that stain doesn’t. This was followed by three coats of gloss poly and two coats of satin. I have to credit my wife for making the seat cushions. This was her first upholstery attempt, and I think she did great.”
“The dining set now sits proudly in our dining room along with some of the other projects I have done. The corner display and floor standing clock have been around for about a year and nicely complement the table and chairs. Thanks, Marc. And keep on whisperin”.
Gadget Station/Desk - Project of the Week
This week’s project is submitted by Chris. Let’s check it out and see what he has to say:
“I’ve been watching your videos for the last few months, and find them very enjoyable. I watched Part 1 of the gadget station last night, and what you’re working on is very much like a project I built for myself earlier in the spring.”
“Back in the old days, Stickley built a desk called the #706. It’s a small secretary-type desk, and the top of it is basically a gadget station with a drop down door for a laptop (like your first station, but this one has a better way for supporting the door). For somebody who wants a gadget station but also needs a small desk for a laptop, it’s perfect. That’s what I use mine for.”
“The desk itself was built entirely with hand tools…vintage panel and back saws, hand planes (most vintage, but a few new Lie-Nielsen and Veritas planes), and chisels (short chisels are Ashley Isles, long chisels are mostly vintage). The top and bottom shelf are attached to the sides using hand cut wedged through-mortises. The back is ship lapped pine boards. The door utilized haunched mortise-and-tenon joinery with floating solid panels. I will admit to using a random orbit sander to get the inside of the door perfectly level though, but I did get it pretty close with just hand planes. :) I finished the desk with shellac….something like 18 coats padded on.”
“It’s built with clear pine…I’m a total hand tool person so quartersawn oak was not going to happen (original Stickleys in QS oak looks AMAZING though). One pic is when it was brand new and one is with the adjustable shelving system I built for it. Devices that need charging sit in the middle (iPod, cellphone, etc.), and the side shelving is wide enough to accommodate CD/DVD storage. When not in use, the laptop stands on edge and leans back against the shelves….it tilts backwards slightly so it won’t fall out.”
“You’ll see that the door’s pivot location is about 1/4 from the bottom, so the shelf in the desk actually supports the door when it’s open (better than using mechanical supports). Overall, I’m really happy with it….maybe somebody else watching the videos might find the design to their liking as well, or maybe this will give you a little inspiration or something.”
Cantilevered End Table - Bonus Project of the Week
This week’s project is submitted by Bryan. Let’s check out what he has to say:
“This is my first piece of ‘fine’ furniture, which has helped to develop my passion for woodworking. I built this piece as part of a Furniture Design class in the architecture school during my undergrad, even though I was a finance major. The piece is made of red oak and walnut and the table tops stand at 12” and 24” respectively. I started out with all rough lumber, 5/4 red oak, and 8/4 walnut. I milled the oak with the thickness planer down to 1” thick by 3” wide for the larger side, and 1” thick by 2” wide for the smaller side. Once I had these measurements, I used the table saw to cut all of my angles for both the longer pieces and smaller ‘head’ and ‘foot’ pieces. At this point I had cut all of my oak pieces and it was time for glue up. I did this in sections. First I glued up the 3” section by combining two long pieces with the appropriate ‘head’ and ‘foot’ pieces. Once all of these smaller sections were done, I glued them together until I eventually had one long row of alternating blank sections and long sections 17” wide. I then built a jig to hold this entire piece at the appropriate angle in order to route out the section for the walnut/glass, which took a nice long 2” router bit a while to hog out. Once this step was done, I was able to put the last two outside boards to make the ends look more finished. I cut the walnut to size, drilled the holes for the dowels, cut the angle on the walnut and glued it into place, along with the red oak dowels. I used a ½ piece of wood as a spacer for the glass. I did the a similar process for the 2” smaller side, except I didn’t glue the alternating boards on the bottom section until after I meshed the two together. Once together, I glued in the missing pieces, securing the two sections forever. The last step was inserting the 17”Wx23”Lx1/2”D glass into the top section and the 17”Wx11”Lx1/2”D glass into the bottom section.”
“It is finished with about 3 coats of Danish Oil sanded down to about 400 grit and has a poly spray topcoat. Overall this is a very strong piece, and has no problem holding the glass, even with me leaning on it, as the table will tip over before the joint would ever fail. There are definitely things I would consider doing different though, but that’s the challenge for my next piece. Enjoy my cantilevered end table and thanks for all of the inspiration. As always, I look forward to the next video!
Bedroom Suite - Project of the Week
Filed under: Armoires, Beds, Chest of Drawers, Project of the Week
This week’s project comes from Chad. Let’s see what he has to say:
“Back in 1999, my wife wanted a “nice bedroom suite.” I happily looked into it for her, and was shocked at the cost of a full bedroom suite. Anywhere from $3,000 to $4,500. And surely none of them were actually solid wood. I had just started my hobby of woodworking, and so I asked my wife if she was willing “to have a piece made one at a time.” She said she would be. I designed the first piece, the armoire, and then asked her what type of wood she wanted….she said knotty pine. “Sweet,” I thought, “that is the cheapest wood in the world.” First I made the armoire, then we moved. I then made the dresser and a few months later, I made the end tables. All of this within about 2 years. (hey, I was in the Army, and I was busy defending my country.)”
“Anyhow, I never made the bed because I had bought a nice and inexpensive wrought iron bed, picked up at a garage sale. Earlier this year though, I decided it was about time to “finish” the bedroom suite. I designed the bed to be very simple, but with the same raised panel styling I had used in the other pieces. It took me many nights and weekends, but in the end, I think it turned out pretty good. All of the lumber was purchased at Lowe’s or Home Depot. Each piece had three staining layers of Minwax Golden Oak. With three layers of polyurethane, semi-gloss.”
“Needless to say, my wife is very pleased, and I am happy to have the whole suite completed. As a side note, my wife told me a few years ago that the only reason she agreed to let me build the suite way back when was because, as she says, “I didn’t really think you could do it, so I said yes so that I didn’t hurt your feelings.” I guess it’s easy to please someone with low expectations!”
Spice Racks - Project of the Week
This week’s project was submitted by Rick. Let’s see what he has to say:
“Here are two spice racks that I recently finished. I had previously built two of these about fifteen years ago. They were much simpler, made of pine, no drawers and put together with hand nailed finish nails and no glue. My wife’s sister asked me if I would make her another one since she had to abandon hers after their last move and I had to leave mine many years ago. They are made as sisters to one another as the main wood of one is the highlight of the other and vice versa. One is made of wenge, shedau, with highlights of bubinga. The other is made of bubinga, canary, with highlights of wenge. They are finished with 5 coats of gloss wipe-on poly and satin shellac for the inside of the drawers. Both are designed to sit above a stove resting behind and on the control panel (The drawers sit directly on top the control board). This is the first project that I have ever done using only wood joints and glue without the use of mechanical fasteners. Marc, thanks for letting me share my project with you and your fans and again thanks for the help. I don’t know if you have ever used shedau, but if you do, wear a mask…it smells like you’re cutting dog poo!!!”
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