Jeff’s Honduran Mahogany End Tables

I am a new woodworker with about two projects under my belt (including this one). AND–this was my first “real” finishing project and so I bought Marc’s Simple Varnish Finish DVD to learn the technique. It was very helpful and the results came out great. Thank you! I did have trouble with the oil/varnish/slurry technique for the pore filling and after about 8 days that it hadn’t dried, I wiped it off with mineral spirits and started over without the pore fill. I’ll need to try that again sometime.

We have a couch that is higher and deeper than normal..so we needed some custom tables to fit. The legs were glued from four pieces that were notched and rounded before assembly. I think this leg was in a magazine that I picked up a couple years ago talking about bed frames, so hat tip to them for the inspiration on the leg design. I used about 100 zip ties to “clamp” them together. Then I dovetailed the skirts to the legs, which was tougher than I thought it would be. The sliding dovetail stops about an inch from the bottom of the skirts and then I cut off the tail about that high and slid them into place. The top was glued from two very wide pieces and I like the way the grain interacts with the light. The project was my own design and a lot of fun to build.