Project Working

Bedside Tables Cherry

After I completed my pencil post bed, I needed to make a set of matching tables to go with it. I based this off of a New Yankee design that I really liked. The main table is made from cherry, but has a tiger maple drawer. I really like the contrast of cherry and maple, and tiger maple is probably my most favorite wood; I just love the way it looks.

I dont have any pictures of making the main table part (I need to get better about that!), but I do have several of the making of the top and then the finish. The plans called for a 1" thick top, so the first thing to do was cut some rough 5/4 stock to about an inch oversize. Here you can see 3 of the 4 pieces needed for this top.

From Cherry Side Tables

Next was to face joint the boards to get one side flat.

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Once I have one side flat, I run each piece through the planer to get down to the final 1" thickness.

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After the boards were planed to thickness, I started to see how I wanted them oriented. I did this before I planed them, but sometimes after planing, things can change a little. This is a rough idea of what I came up with; subject to change without notice:

From Cherry Side Tables

Then it was back to the jointer to joint the endges to get them ready for glue up.

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Here they are glued up. If you look closely, you can see I change the orientation once again.

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After all the glue was cleaned up it was time to cut to size, final sand and then begin the finish process. Ive talked about my finish for cherry before, but again what I do is start with a heavy coat of BLO. Here is one top coated in BLO.

From Cherry Side Tables

Now, after a few minutes, but before it dries, I will start adding the Watco Walnut colored Danish Oil. Here are two tops side by side after a few coats. You can notice the difference in how the color changes based on how the light hits it; the one the right looks much lighter, but its the same. That really messed with me while I was working on it.

From Cherry Side Tables

As for the rest of the table, it gets the same finish except for the tiger maple. All I did for that was put on several coats of BLO. Once they are all dried, I wipe on 3-5 coats of a satin poly. Here is one of the bases with the drawer in it.

From Cherry Side Tables

What I really like about the finish, eventhough it is tricky, is that you can still keep the cherry grain that everyone loves. If you look at the legs on this table, you can still see the crazy grain pattern that it has. I have noticed that over time, this does not change but actually gets more enhanced and deeper.