| Burl-Veneer Occasional Table -- Table Legs |
From "Wood Works"
episode WWK-206 |
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In this project, host David Marks demonstrates the steps in the construction of a walnut occasional table with a burl-veneer top. The walnut table with rosewood accents features a spectacular veneer cut from walnut burl cut into a 4-way book-matched pattern. This small but intricate piece of furniture features tapered solid-walnut legs elegantly trimmed with Honduran rosewood beading. The tabletop is framed in rosewood and sits on a decorative apron.
The Table Legs The table legs are tapered on all four sides -- from 1-5/8-inch square at the top (figure A) down to 7/8-inch square at the bottom. Rosewood beading is added to each leg at both the top and bottom (figure B).
Materials: Walnut stock
Honduran rosewood stock
Jointer
Power planer
Table saw; cross-cut sled; tapering jig
Band saw
Multi-router
Wood glue
Clamps
Chalk; carpenter's pencil
Masking tape
Safety glasses or goggles
Note: Cut sizes may vary. For exact measurements, please contact David Marks through his Web site -- information below under Resources. Safety Alert: Always wear safety goggles or safety glasses when working with wood, saws, drills, routers, etc.
Steps:
- To create the legs, begin by milling some walnut stock to 1-5/8-inch square, and cut it to length at 19 inches (figure C).
- Kerfs for the decorative beading are cut on the legs while the stock is still square -- before they are tapered.
- The kerfs are cut on the table saw using a cross-cut sled and a stop-block set to ensure the accuracy of cuts from leg to leg. The first cuts are made at the top of each leg. The kerfs are cut 1/8-inch deep and 1/8-inch wide -- the same width as the saw blade (figure D).
- Batch cut the kerfs by simply rotating the stock to make the same cut on all four sides of the leg (figure E).
- To cut the kerfs on the lower part of the legs, adjust the stop-block so the cuts are made exactly 2 inches from the bottom of the leg (figure F). To accommodate the taper of the leg, raise the saw-blade to 1/2-inch (figure G).
- Cut the kerfs as before -- batch cutting on all four sides of each leg (figure H).
- With all of the kerfs cut, work can begin making the joinery. Loose mortise and tenon joinery is used to attach the legs to the apron. The mortises cut in the legs are 2-3/8-inch long by 1/4-inch wide by 3/4-inch deep (figure I). Two mortises are cut in each leg. Before cutting the mortises, examine the grain pattern on your leg stock closely and determine which sides of each leg you'll want facing out. Select the most appealing grain pattern for the sides facing out.
- On the sides that will face inward, cut the two mortises in the top of each leg using the multi-router (figure J). Since the placement and cuts for the two mortises are identical, simply rotate the stock to cut the pair of mortises on each leg.
- Once the mortises have been cut, the legs can be taper-cut using the table saw and a tapering jig (figure K). The tapering jig will allow the legs to be tapered to 3/8-inch on all four sides of each leg.
- To avoid cutting into the area of the mortises and where the beading will be placed, the leg stock is inserted into the jig, and the cuts are made so that the taper starts just below the top kerfs (figure L).
- Make the first two taper cuts on each leg. To avoid confusion, always rotate the leg in the same direction after each cut, and mark the legs with chalk as you go.
- Once two faces have been tapered on each leg, a 3/8-inch spacer is inserted into the jig. The spacer makes up for the portion of the stock that has just been cut away as the third and fourth faces are taper-cut (figure M).
- Once tapering is complete on all four pieces of leg-stock, use a hand-scraper to smooth away the blade marks made by the taper cuts (figure N).
- The next step is to add the decorative beading on the legs. The beading is made from Honduran rosewood that has been milled into strips that are 1/8-inch thick. The beading strips, as well as the strips that will accent the apron (figure O ) is cut from these pieces of stock.
- With the band-saw fence set 1/4-inch from the blade, cut narrow strips of beading (figure P) to fit into the slots that were cut into the leg.
- Re-adjust the fence to 7/8-inch to cut the accent strips for the apron from the same stock.
- Once the rosewood strips for the beading and apron accent have been cut, the strips for the beading must be miter-cut so that they'll form a neat square around the legs. To save time, four beading strips are cut and taped together, then batch-cut on the table-saw using a miter-block (figure Q). For the longer beading at the top of the legs, set the stop-block to cut the pieces to 1-7/8 inch long.
- Next, still using the stop-block as a guide, cut miters in the rosewood for the pieces of the beading at the bottom of the leg. Cut each of these pieces to 1-1/4 inches long (figure R).
- With all of the pieces for the beading mitered and cut to length (figure S ), carefully glue the beading into the kerfs in the legs using yellow wood glue. Apply a small among of glue into the kerfs before inserting the beading. Also, dip the edges of each miter in a small amount of glue so that the mitered corners are glued securely to one another.
- Press the strips carefully into place (figure T), line them up by hand and apply a thin strip of masking tape to hold the pieces secure (figure U) until the glue hardens.
Sponsored Resource
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RESOURCES :
Fine Woodworking
A magazine devoted to high-quality craftsmanship in woodworking.
The Taunton Press Inc.
Website: www.taunton.com
The Small Wood Shop (The Best of Fine Woodworking)
Author: Helen Albert (Editor)
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 1561580619
Woodworking Techniques: Best Methods for Building Furniture from Fine Woodworking
Author: Editors of Fine Woodworking magazine
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 1561583456
Mastering Woodworking Machines (Fine Woodworking Book)
Author: Mark Duginske
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 0942391985
David Marks Website
David Marks, DIY's Wood Works host, is a master woodworker. For more information on cut sizes and project details, please contact him via his Website at www.djmarks.com
The Complete Woodworker's Companion
Author: Roger Holmes
Publisher: Watson-Guptill
ISBN: 0823008665
The Complete Book of Wood Joinery
Author: Robert J. Decristoforo
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Co.
ISBN: 0806999500
Popular Woodworking
F & W Publications, Inc.
Website: www.popularwoodworking.com
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