Harlequin side table

[stav]

I agree with Tapper. You have a real knack for mid century furniture. That happens to be one of my favorite furniture styles. This table is coming along really nicely.

[Derek Cohen]

A frustrating Sunday: I began installing the horizontal divider/drawer blade, and my spatial confusion (or lack of concentration) kicked in. In went the divider ... upside down! Well, fortunately it jammed half-way and could not be glued in ...

Knocking it out, however, caused the rear section of the panel (it is made of three boards) to break off. It was glued back again, but the panel needed to dry before starting again, and so I lost my Sunday afternoon. This table is destined for the Perth Wood Show at the start of August, and I am already battling with time as weekends are generally all that are available for woodworking.

Fortunately, I had this afternoon (Monday) off from my practice, and had a couple of hours to try and catch up a little.

The glue dried, and the panel was fine. It was sanded to 240 grit, and then installed. Ditto the side dividers. All went smoothly ... all lined up and everything is square. Clearly I have been a good boy




The reason why the table is termed "Harlequin" is that the drawers will be a mix of different timbers: Black Walnut (x3), Figured Hard Maple (x2) (both from the USA), and Tasmanian Blue Gum (x3) (which is local, of course).

The drawer fronts all curve, and I spent the last part of the afternoon cutting out the Walnut blanks. This will will give you an idea of the effect ..



Unless someone is interested in a walk through in dovetailing on the curve (which I have posted here previously), the next images will be the completed table.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[stav]

Your walk throughs are always great and I wouldn't mind seeing one you already described (it takes me a few times to get it). Considering your timeline, you might want to just keep moving.  

The table is looking great.  I can't wait to see the finished product.

[FrankAtl]

Very impressive Derek! Looking forward to seeing the finished piece.

[Derek Cohen]

I was planning to next post with the completed Harlequin Side table, however it has been two steps forward and one back. Selecting the drawer fronts .. well, I've cut and recut them a few times, and only now satisfied with the result. It is no small deal each time since a drawer front has to be fitted into a recess that is shaped like a parallelogram. And if the fit is not good enough ... well, a few would-be drawer fronts were discarded.

What parts are needed? Well, the drawer sides are 1/4" thick - too thin for grooves, so there will be slips to support the drawer bottom.

The drawer sides are Tasmanian Oak, which I use frequently, as it is a light wood that allows the drawer fronts to be shown to their best, and it is available quarter sawn. The drawer back will also be Tassie Oak.

The drawer bottoms are solid wood and 1/4" thick. Rather than use Tasmanian Oak, I thought I would add a little life with Tasmanian Blue Gum. It is quite similar is texture and tone (although the photos here do not show this), but has more figure.

Enough here for 8 drawers ...



Drawer sides and drawer fronts ...



Great sander ... Mirka Ceros ...



These will be the drawer bottoms. The board in the centre is the Hard Maple case back ...



Do you think anyone will notice that the drawer bottoms run sequentially?




The making of the drawer slips may have some interest. I used Tasmanian Blue Gum (because it links to the drawer bottoms). This is quite interlocked and any planing with a plough to form either grooves or beads would be expected to end unhappily, with much tearout. I have posted this tip before: add a 15 degree backbevel to all plough blades to create a high 60 degree cutting angle.

The 3/16" beads were ploughed with the Veritas Combination Plane ...



Brilliant finish ...



... and a 1/8" groove for the rebate in the drawer bottom was ploughed by the Veritas Small Plow ...



Again, tearout free ...





This is a mock up of the intersection of the drawer front (back), drawer side into drawer slip and against a drawer side ...



Note that the drawer front is straight/flat at this stage but, once dovetailed, they will be shaped to curve along the bow front of the case.

These are the timbers I have chosen for the drawer fronts. This is what gives the side table the harlequin name. Three timbers: Black Walnut, a pink Jarrah, and figured Hard Maple. Keep in mind that there is no finish at this stage ...





Next time hopefully with everything completed.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tapper]

Coming along nicely - love the look of that Jarrah!

Doug

[mdhills]

Great sander ... Mirka Ceros ...

I don't recall seeing you often mention sanding.  Is it just because this wood is difficult to get a good finish on with hand planes, or do you routinely sand for your final finish?

There must be a term for the compulsion woodworkers have to share this type of detail with their loved ones...
Matt

[Derek Cohen]

Matt, when panels are this thin (1/4"), it makes more sense to sand than to plane. Horses for courses.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[hbmcc]

This is a longish break. Not much different In the Woodshop. Hope everything is OK at the Cohen house.....

[cputnam]

This is a longish break. Not much different In the Woodshop. Hope everything is OK at the Cohen house.....

+1