End Table - Finally Finished!
Bob Rozaieski in Eastern PA
>I finally finished one of the end tables I have been working on for the past few months. This was my first big furniture project since high school. The wood is African mahogany & soft maple for the drawer interior and bottom. I would say 80% of the table was built using only hand tools. I rough cut all of the stock with my Disston #7 and Atkins rip. The 12/4 x 13" stock for the legs was the toughest, for obvious reasons. Joinery is hand chopped/cut mortise and tenon. About 25% of the lumber was surfaced and thicknessed with hand planes and the rest was done with jointer and planer. The leg shapes were also roughed out on the band saw but finished with spokeshaves and sanding. Other than that all of the work was done with hand tools. This was my first experience raising panels by hand (bottom bevel on the table top and drawer bottom) and these were also my first hand cut half blind dovetails. All in all I like the way it turned out. And I loved doing most of it with only hand tools. There is great satisfaction being able to produce something without the use of machines. I still need to work on the finish a bit but other than that it's done. Now to finish the other one. And then.....
