Federal-Style Mahogany Tapered Legs

This was an interesting commission for eight Federal-style mahogany tapered legs with holly inlay for two small side tables. The work was very exacting and provided little room for error.

I decided to make a prototype first and have it approved before I started in on the legs. There was so much work involved that I wanted to be sure my customer, another builder, knew exactly what he was getting and what level of quality. It wouldn’t do to have the legs cost more than the entire table.

I used a small laminate trimmer with a purpose built sub-base to cut the grooves for the holly inlay. The legs were inlaid on both sides and the front.

I warmed up by completing the sides of each leg before attempting the fronts.

Here you see all the legs with the side inlay done and all the fronts cut. The legs were tapered on 3 sides but not the front so each leg was marked at the top to prevent a mistake from happening.

A friend of mine had some fan medallions which fit the leg perfectly. If I had to make them myself it would have doubled the cost of the legs. The fan medallions were traced onto the leg and the mortices cut using a router. I cleaned up the edges of the mortice by hand to ensure a perfect fit before gluing in the fan.

I decided to position the bell flowers by drilling and gluing in the dots between them first. I thought this would ensure each leg would be the same and also help me to keep the flowers from drifting or becoming off-centered.

Here are the legs with the medallions in place, the checkered inlay, the holly inlay and the dots. When I was making the original prototype I experimented with the checkered inlay and how it would fit around the corners. Having the black portions meet at the corners worked best.

I carefully marked and then routed out the cavities for all the flowers. Then I began gluing in the center petals.

The last of the petals being fitted and glued into place. The petals were then scraped and sanded lightly.

Here are the legs all cleaned up with the pedals shaded. They were not finish sanded because they were now leaving my shop to be morticed and become part of two small side tables.

Living Room Furniture

Here is a commission for a hall table and two side tables for a couch. There were also two arm covers for a second couch which would be used to rest one’s drinks on. I was following a design and finish from other pieces in the home but the main difference being that I would be substituting a wooden structure on the tables for a metal tubular structure used on some other pieces. I was also applying a hand-rubbed finish instead of a commercial spray finish.

Here I am breaking out all the veneer for and preparing to make up panels for pressing.

Some of the panels drying after I remove the veneer tape.

I decided to make the long hall table hollow because I was afraid no one (especially me) would be able to lift it. Here is the top section being glued up.

I milled up strips to fill the inside of the table and started with the center section.

The end sections were hard to clamp so I did one end at a time using weights and gravity.

Next I added the under-side panels.

Then the side and bottom edging was glued in place.

Here is the table fully constructed ready for sanding and clean up. Below the table on the bench are the panels for the side tables.

This is the glue up for the bottom panels of the side tables. The box was then glued to the underside of the top.

Here are the side tables’ upside-down and the couch arm covers. I was concerned about matching the finish even though I had provided the customer with a sample. So I stayed one step ahead with the covers and dropped them off early just so I could be sure about the color. I find everyone sees color differently and especially sheen so with a black finish I wanted to be sure.

Here are the table frames and stretchers ready to be glued up.

Here are the tables with the drawers fitted and the shelves about to be installed.

The finish in process.

Everything ready for wrapping and delivery. Measuring early on helped ensure everything fit through the front door. This made the delivery and installation go very quickly.

Carved Mariner Box

Another theme-carved valuables box. This time the carving was based on the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge. Butternut was used in the construction. See the completed project here.

The design always starts with a drawing. I used images from Gustave Dore’s famous drawings and composed the panels by combining and re-arranging the different images. I ended up changing one end panel well into the process because it was simply too busy for the end of the box.

I try always do a clay model to work out the placement of the figures and the eventual depth of the carvings. If I skip this stage for whatever reason and go directly to the carving I almost always suffer for it.

Gluing up the panels and corner blocks.

All the box pieces are cut to size before the joinery is cut and the carving can begin.

I decided to have the corner figures hold a book so another clay model was needed. Unfortunately the grain direction of the block would make the carving of the fingers somewhat difficult.

The corner figures were carved in mirror image to one another. It was necessary to always keep checking that the carvings were similar.

The assembled box ready to carve.

Routing excess material between the figures down to a common reference level.

Beginning the carving with the clay model close at hand and a patched together drawing from the original book for inspiration.

One of the steps in the multi-step process of gluing up the bottom of the box.

The completed bottom for the box.

Carefully gluing the box to the base.

Next the corner blocks were added.

I like to give the box a wash coat of diluted finish which stiffens the soft fibers of the butternut. Then I can add in the final small details.

There is nothing like turning the box over to get another view point for cleaning up the carving.

The hinge is cut in and the lid is added before the final finishing.

A Bedroom Suite of Tables

A commission for five tables in what has recently come to be called mid-century modern furniture. The customer wanted walnut for the tables and a natural finish. The box type construction lead to a combination of veneer and solids.

I was able to use the last of an old walnut flitch I had in the shop on the outsides of the carcasses. The material was laid out so the grain ran continuously around the corners. The customer wanted to use an existing knot as the defining feature on the tables. Unfortunately the actual knot was missing so I had to punch a series of similar looking knots to fill all the holes.

Here you see all the panels pressed up and ready for tape removal.

The panels have all been cut to size and the solids milled up.

The corners of the carcasses were mitred but I left a small square corner so that a strip of solids could be glued in to protect the edge.

The two 30” tables are all glued up with the edging applied and the 60” table is being glued up.

The 60” table all glued up with the edging added and the 72” table is being glued up.

Gluing up all the drawer sides.

Drawer boxes are glued up and being sanded.

Gluing the solid edging on the drawer fronts.

Turning the tapered legs on my lathe. There were three different lengths of legs.

Sanding the legs with the dust collector in place.

At this point the customer came back to the shop to determine the angle for the legs. The tape outline on the bench sets the bottom parameter.

Because the legs were tapered I decided to cut a full mortice for the aprons to sit in. I built a jig for the lathe to guide a router.

The legs with the initial mortice.

The first glue up of aprons and legs.

Trying to optimize space for the other sets of glue ups.

The first table being glued up. The leg assembly was surprisingly strong for being so light.

The larger tables had internal stretchers to help prevent movement.

Flushing the top of the structure on the shaper using a sanding disk. The corner glue blocks had been added by this point.

Mounting the drawer slides and fitting the drawer boxes.

Positioning the drawer fronts.

Cleaning up the bases prior to staining.

Staining and finishing.

The finished product with the handles installed.

All the drawers wrapped and ready to go.

All the tables wrapped with blankets and the legs shrink-wrapped about to be loaded into the truck. The care taken in wrapping and delivery mean an easy install on-site.

Fireplace Mantle

I was offered a commission to build a small fire place mantle. The millwork in the room had been done by another woodworker so I was limited to the style and material. Fortunately the furniture was all done in walnut in a simple style with nice clean lines.

After the initial sight survey I found some material that would match the rest of the furniture.  I decided to secure the mantle to the wall using threaded rod so I cut a strip of MDF to mark the holes in the wall and then duplicate those holes in the back of the mantle.

The mantle after gluing up. The MDF strip is shown behind.

I found a nice design to carve into the front edge of the mantle. I wanted to add some decoration to the mantle without clashing with the other furniture pieces. I excavated around the carving with a router.

The completed piece resting on two of the three threaded rods which would eventually tie the mantle to the wall. I used this set-up to allow me to finish all of the unit at one time. The underside of the mantle was eventually lined with a heat resistant material.

Here is a closer look at the finished carving.