Side Table "Teasers"

I finished the side tables a little while ago but finally took a couple quick crappy shots of them for your viewing non-pleasure heh. I will be trying more "serious" photography when all the tables are done.
I'm pretty happy with the end product. I might tweak some of the reveals a little bit but nothing major. Also the thing about making furniture to go with furniture is that there are often no absolute standards to go by. These will be a bit tall for low sitting sofas but will fit the taller ones fine and in my opinion the side table is just about perfect to match a "proper" chair. By the way I did NOT make that chair. It belongs to the dinning set in the house.


Shedua and White Oak. I see this one fitting into a more "executive" setting possible with lower lighting.


Kwila and Narra. This one I like to think of a more casual and brighter setting. I do hope that the Kwila darkens more than the Narra as it was my intention to have a bit stronger contrast. Though when the sun hits the Narra panel it really pops and ads to the contrast.


Finishing up getting new stock to size, cross cut, square and all to start some mortising on 3 Pedestals. I decided to not build a fourth which would have been Narra, because it requires so much sanding. Also I would like to get this whole table family done sooner than later as I have said I'm waiting to finish to head out to the galleries. So none of this really has a chance to get sold or grab any public's attention until all the planed tables are done. In addition I have a wall hung cabinet in mind I would love to finish before Summer as there is a show or two I might like to enter.
Anyway fewer tables to build = finishing sooner. If anyone wants a table of Narra I would gladly do it, but I will hold off for now.

I may not be making as many updates as the Pedestals go on because they are really "exactly" the same as the side tables with different dimensions. We'll see ;)

Wrapping tables up

So many glue ups! It took some time but the bases and the frames are all glued up.
I glued the frames first so that while I was waiting for the base glue ups to set I could...


Fit the panels in the frames. I have been waiting for this for a long time ha. Logistically it's the trickiest joint of the piece as it is loaded from the top and I want to get a tight fit all the way around the panels. They went pretty well though.
After the bases were set I planed off the last remaining "breath" of the aprons over the tops of the legs.


Then moved on to finishing the panels and the parts of the frames that hadn't been finished yet.
For the for the frames I used some Clapman's wax on top of Shellac, the same as the base. For the panels I wanted to add more protection because this is the main surface that will be used. I tried some floor wax but didn't like the out come... it was too shiny. I opted for a paste wax from Liberon which seemed to produce the finish I was looking for.
The bottoms of the panels are taped off for the glue up to come.


This is just that. It would be easier with a vacuum press or something. I think that went I get to the coffee table I'll try to borrow one.
In between some of these steps I also cleaned up the brass brackets and did the drilling for all the little #4 screws. Basically I'm just waiting on these panel glue ups, one at a time. Then I'll have some side tables yay... I certainly hope all goes according to plan!