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Shaker End Tables

author-gravatar nomolosca Jan 19, 2020

I'm the best man in a good friend's wedding. So, I made the couple a pair of Shaker end tables as a gift. They're made from stock that I had on-hand. The tops, drawer fronts, and drawer pulls are cherry. The bases and drawer sides are a Frankenstein's monster of Douglas fir, common pine, and poplar.

I don't have a lathe, so I carved the pulls with a chisel.

The drawers are dovetailed. The rest of the joinery is mortise and tenons. I cut the mortises with a router and the tenons by hand. There was one tenon that I cut too loose, so I glued a plane shaving to it and that took the fit to perfect.

The finish is black paint and wipe-on poly.

#shakertables

Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables
Photo of Shaker End Tables

4 comments

They look great, thank you for sharing! I am about to start working on something similar in terms of joinery, and look in general. The part i am least comfortable with is painting. I would love for it to look good, and be durable. Any tips? 

Love the contrast with the painted base and the cherry. Thanks for sharing!

@sic  said:

They look great, thank you for sharing! I am about to start working on something similar in terms of joinery, and look in general. The part i am least comfortable with is painting. I would love for it to look good, and be durable. Any tips? 

I'm no paint expert. I used some latex paint that we already had in the house. So, my recommendation would be to mix the paint, dip the brush into the paint, and then brush the paint onto the wood. I tried to do thin coats. I think I ended up doing three coats.

@Sean  said:

Love the contrast with the painted base and the cherry. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

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