Shaker Hall Table | |
Traditionally, Shaker tables have tapered legs -- sometimes turned (round), sometimes square. This version has legs with a square taper cut on a table saw. Note: All plan illustrations may be accessed by clicking their filenames in the text where noted. This will take you to a new browser window with a full page illustration that you may save to your hard drive. Click Here for a complete list of the diagrams. An enlarged drawing of the legs with dimensions is found in htable_l.gif. An exploded view of the entire table with drawers is in htable_x.gif. A cutting diagram is in htable_c.gif, a materials list in htable_m.gif. Of course the drawing referred to in the text are found in the numbered GIFs. The overall flow of work for this table starts by making the legs. Then the aprons and the front assembly (with the two openings for the drawers) are added to form the basic shape of the table. All of these pieces are joined together with traditional mortise and tenon joints. If you haven't tried this type of joinery, it's not as difficult as it sounds. It can all be done on a router table (for the mortises) and on a table saw (for the tenons). The table top is made by edge-gluing boards together to form a large blank. As with all edge-glued pieces, the selection of the stock is important. Try to match the grain patterns and the color as closely as possible. With a good match, the joint lines are almost impossible to see. The Drawers. For the drawers on this table, you have a choice of joinery: dovetails, or a locked rabbet joint. We used the locked rabbet. But if you opt for the dovetail joint, one easy method is to use a router and special jig. By the way, the drawers are sized so routed dovetails will work out evenly. Finish. We built this table out of cherry. One of the keys to success when finishing a project made of cherry is patience. It takes time for the wood to reach the rich red color that cherry is known for. When it comes from the lumberyard, cherry is usually a light pink or salmon color. There's no need to stain it to get the dark color. As soon as the finish is applied, the wood will darken somewhat. With time (about six months) and continued exposure to sunlight, it will turn a rich, dark red. It's well worth the wait. The Legs This project starts by making the tapered legs. Begin by cutting four leg blanks (A) from 8/4 cherry stock (which is 1-3/4" thick actual). Each leg blank is then trimmed down to 1-1/2" square, by 28-1/4" long, refer to the Exploded View in htable_x.gif. Mortises. After cutting the legs to size, mark two adjacent sides where the mortises will be cut. (It's best to cut the mortises before tapering the legs.) The mortises are easy to cut on a router table with a 1/4" straight bit, see Fig. 1a in htable01.gif. SET UP ROUTER. To set up the router table for the mortises, start by raising the bit 9/16" high. (This is 1/16" more than the length of the tenons on the aprons to allow a little glue relief at the bottom of the mortise). Then move the fence until the bit is centered on the thickness of the leg. The length of the mortise is set by clamping a stop block to the fence 5-1/4" from the right side of the bit, see Fig. 1 in htable01.gif. Now you can cut mortises on two adjacent sides, automatically stopping the leg using the stop block. TAPER LEGS. After the mortises are routed, the next step is to taper all four sides of each leg. To cut the tapers, we used a sliding platform jig on the table saw, see Fig. 2 in htable01.gif. (This technique is shown in detail in the article in Woodsmith No. 51, page 20. Also, the method for tapering the legs on a jointer is shown on page 22 of the same issue.) But you can you any method you're comfortable with to taper the legs. Whatever method you use, the point is to cut a taper on each side of the leg that starts 6" from the top end and tapers down so the bottom end is 1" square. This means cutting 1/4" off each side, see Detail in Fig. 2 in htable01.gif. The Aprons After the tapers are cut on the legs, the next step is to cut the front apron assembly. This apron assembly consists of five pieces glued together to form two drawer openings, see Fig. 3 in htable02.gif. To make the front apron, start by ripping two pieces 1" wide by 37" long for the top and bottom rails (D). To make the three dividers for this front assembly, rip a blank 3-1/2" wide. Then cut off two end dividers (E) 2-3/4" long, and a center divider (F) 3-1/2" long. (This insures that the grain will run the same direction as the top and bottom rails.) Assemble Front Apron. After cutting all five pieces for the front apron, glue and clamp the dividers between the top and bottom rails, see Fig. 3 in htable02.gif. Make sure the center divider (F) is centered on the length, and the end dividers (E) are flush with the ends. Aprons. While this assembly is drying, cut the back and side aprons. Start by ripping the stock for these pieces to a common width of 5-1/2". Then cut the three pieces to finished lengths of 10-1/2" for the sides, and 37" for the back. (The back apron should be exactly as wide and as long as the front assembly.) Cut Grooves. To support and guide the drawers, cross members (G,H,I) are mounted into 1/2"-wide grooves that are cut along the inside face of the front and back aprons, refer to Fig. 11 in htable05.gif. Postition of Grooves. The position of this groove is critical. It has to be cut so when the drawer runners (I) are mounted, they're flush with the bottom rail of the drawer opening, refer to Fig. 11c in htable05.gif. To set up the saw for this position, adjust the fence so the distance from the inside edge of the rail (the joint line shown in Fig. 4a in htable02.gif)to the inside edge of the dado blade equals the thickness of the stock for the drawer runner. (This means you measure from the joint line, not the rip fence.) Then cut grooves in the front and back aprons, see Fig. 4 in htable02.gif. Now tenons can be cut on the ends of the aprons to fit the mortises in the legs. We cut them on the table saw, see Fig. 5 in htable03.gif. Tenons. The tenon is formed by cutting 1/2"-wide rabbets on both faces of the aprons. To do this, we used a 3/4"-wide dado blade and moved a wooden auxiliary fence over the blade so only 1/2" was exposed, see Fig. 5 in htable03.gif. Sneak up on the final height of the blade by raising it and making a pass on both faces of a scrap piece until the tenon fits the mortise in the legs. Once set, cut rabbets on both ends of all four aprons to produce tenons centered on the thickness of the stock. Notch Tenons. The bottom end of each tenon has to be notched to fit the mortise, see Fig. 7 in htable03.gif. Since the mortises are rounded on the bottom, I cut the tenon a little shorter so I didn't have to square-up the bottom of the mortise. This means cutting a 3/8" notch on the bottom of each tenon, see Fig. 6 in htable03.gif. End Pieces. To make assembly easier later, glue a pair of legs to the side aprons to produce two complete end units. But don't glue on the front or back aprons yet. Cross Members, Top, and Assembly Next, the nine cross members are cut to fit between the front and back aprons. Two of these pieces are for the drawer guides (G), three are used to mount the top (H), and four are used for the drawer runners (I), see Fig. 10 in htable04.gif. Cut to Size. First rip enough stock 1-1/2"-wide to make the nine pieces. Then to determine the length, dry assemble the table and measure the distance between the front and the back apron to get the shoulder-to-shoulder length for the cross members. Now add 1/2" for the two 1/4"-long tenons. (Although the grooves are 5/16" deep, the tenons are only 1/4" long to allow for adjusting.) After cutting pieces to length, form the tenons by cutting 1/4"-wide by 1/4"-deep rabbets at both ends, see Fig. 8 in htable04.gif. Drawer Guides. The two drawer guides (G) also have a groove cut down the center, see Fig. 9 in htable04.gif. This groove guides a pin that's mounted on the back of the drawer. Top Mounting. To allow the table top to expand and contract, we drilled oversized shank holes (3/8"-dia.) on the three top mounting pieces (H). These holes are centered on the width and drilled 1-1/4" from each end on all three pieces, see Fig. 11b in htable05.gif. Table Top. Now glue up a blank for the table top (J). Then cut this blank to final size so it overhangs the side aprons by 1-7/8" and the front and back aprons by 1-3/8". Assembly. After the parts are cut, dry-assemble the table. If everything is okay, glue and clamp the front and back aprons to the leg units--making sure the cross members are in position but not glued in. (Tack them in after assembly.) There's one important thing to watch. Refer to Fig. 11 in htable05.gif to see how the rabbets on the cross members face down on the drawer guides (11a), but up on the top mount (11b), and drawer runners (11c). Top. Now center the table top on the aprons and screw (don't glue) it down to the mounting cleats, see Fig. 11b in htable05.gif. The Drawers The first step in making the drawers is to cut the pieces for each drawer to size, see Fig. 12 in htable06.gif. Fronts. The drawer fronts (K) are cut from 3/4"-thick stock. The length of the front is 11/16" more than the width of the drawer opening. This 11/16" measurement allows a 3/8" lip on both ends (3/4" total), minus 1/16" for clearance. As for the height of the drawer front, measure the height of the opening, add 3/4" for the lips, and subtract 1/16" for clearance. Sides. The sides (L) are cut from 1/2"-thick stock. Cut them to width (height) to match the height of the drawer opening, minus 1/16" for clearance. As for the length of the sides, measure the depth of the table (from the front of the drawer opening to the back apron). Then subtract about 1/4" from this measurement. The Back. The back (M) is cut to rough width to match the drawer sides and to rough length to match the drawer front. (It's trimmed to final size after the joint is cut.) Locked Rabbet Joint. After cutting the pieces to size, rabbets are cut on the top and bottom edges of the drawer front to form lips. Then the locked rabbet joint can be cut on the ends of the drawer front. Drawer Sides. After cutting the tongue on the drawer front, the companion dado is cut in the drawer sides to complete the joint. Drawer Back. A variation of this joint is used to join the drawer back to the sides. First, trim the back to final length. To get this length, measure the distance from end to end of the tongues on the drawer front and cut the back to equal this measurement. To cut a locked rabbet joint to join the back to the sides, first cut a rabbet on both ends of the back to leave 1/8"-thick tongues, see Fig. 13 in htable07.gif. Then cut a 1/8"-wide dado in the drawer sides to accept this tongue. Drawer Bottom. Before assembling the drawer, cut a groove for the plywood bottom (N). This groove is located 1/4" up from the bottom edge of the lip on the drawer front, see Fig. 14 in htable07.gif. On the drawer sides, it's 1/4" from the bottom edge, see Fig. 15 in htable07.gif. After the grooves are cut, dry assemble the drawer and cut the drawer bottom to fit. Then trim the back to width so it rests on top of the plywood bottom. All the basic parts for the drawer are cut, but there are a few details to take care of. Round Over Edges. First, round over the front edges of the drawer front with a 1/4" round-over bit, see Fig. 13 in htable07.gif. Now glue the drawer together, making sure it's square. Guide Pin. When the glue is dry, we added a guide pin on the top edge of the back, see Fig. 12b in htable07.gif. This pin is a No. 6 x 3/4" brass screw that's screwed part way into the back. Then cut off the head to leave a guide pin. One other detail is to cut a slight chamfer on the back edge of the drawer so it can be tilted into the opening, see Fig. 16a in htable08.gif. Knob. Finally, drill 1/4" holes 2-1/8" from each end of the drawer front and mount two knobs to each drawer, see Fig. 12a in htable06.gif. List of Illustrations: htable_c.gif htable_m.gif htable_x.gif htable_l.gif htable01.gif htable02.gif htable03.gif htable04.gif htable05.gif htable06.gif htable07.gif htable08.gif Provided by Woodsmith Magazine (C) Copyright 1995, August Home Publishing Co. All Rights reserved. Reprinted with permission, HouseNet, Inc. |