Bombarde16 Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Inherited a white oak side table. I'm guessing it dates from the 70's or so. It was built well enough: Integral tenons and solidly attached joinery. Quartered sycamore for the back of the drawer and solid walnut for the kickers. Probably a shop project by somebody using up scraps, just like we all do. But the finish had taken a beating. Sanded the top and have been building a new pile of shellac layer by layer. Should be cured enough for soapy water and an orbital sander in a bit. While I've got it in the shop, I figured I might try to jazz things up a bit. It was free...what've I got to lose? The legs were straight tapers on two sides; I've run stopped chamfers down the corners. (Lamb's tongues on top, round terminations below giving a poor man's spade foot.) Now I'm trying to come up with something to replace the round drawer pulls. The base will be painted white (top stays natural) and I've got some bits of walnut that are saying "turn me." Chucked up a few bits of 2x4 and made a first draft of a three part pull. Only turned one of the posts on the side, but it's enough to suggest where version 1.2 will need to go. Filtered in black and white not for drama, but to keep my focus on lines and shapes. (Remember, top natural, base painted, drawer pulls in walnut, so seeing the color right now would just be distracting.) Promising, but I'm already thinking that this is too chubby. Likewise, I'm not happy with the shape of the post. (It was getting late and inspiration was fading.) My stash of walnut glowers from the rack and can almost be heard giving voice to its displeasure. "You're not seriously going to make us into that, are you? C'mon, man, you can do better." Mocked by a pile of lumber, I call it a day and will see what I think of this in the morning. Tomorrow, I'll likely be toasting marshmallows with the first attempt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted October 6, 2017 Report Share Posted October 6, 2017 Doesn't look like you will have any problem making the old table have a new life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombarde16 Posted October 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2017 Getting warmer. Post can be a bit smaller and perhaps concave on the sides. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted October 7, 2017 Report Share Posted October 7, 2017 Taller post or thinner spindle to improve the clearance for fingers . Maybe just a bit of both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombarde16 Posted October 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2017 Thinner post. The top doesn't hang over too far and it looked odd to have the pulls forward of the edge of the top. Actual finger clearance probably isn't in the cards and I'm OK with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Bombarde16 Posted October 25, 2017 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 To wrap this one up, here's the final result. Handles turned in walnut, top scraped flush and wet-sanded to a matte finish. Base painted with semi-gloss latex. It's an improvement over how I found it and it certainly serves to as a place to drop wallets and keys near the garage door. Lessons learned: The drawer pulls are a first draft. This house will need a new kitchen some time next year or the year after, and custom handles are one way that I could make that job special. I like how these look, but the design is way too intricate and time-consuming to fathom an entire kitchen full of these things. (Or maybe I'm just slow and need more practice turning.) I'm still not a fan of legs tapered on two sides. The legs splay out just enough to be noticed as being off but aren't off enough to look right. Four-sided tapers for me, thank you very much. Cutting chamfers and carving lamb's tongues is a lot easier before a piece is assembled. Terminating the chamfers four inches off the floor is a trick I saw on an old piano bench somewhere. Kind of gives a poor man's imitation of a spade foot. Zinsser's spray primer is powerful mojo. The paint on the base is likewise a test run. This house will also need a mile of crown and chair rail, so this was a chance to try out the front runner in color selection for that eventual job. White oak smells better in the shop than red oak. Thanks for sticking around. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 Came out looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 Nice! -Ace- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 Table looks great ! Amen to the white oak smell. It's even better when made into a barrel and toasted on the inside ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 That turned out great what a change! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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