Christmas present build

So i built my sister and future brother in law a raised panel maple pantry door for their new house and now she has a list of things for me to make. They needed an end table for their new leather couch, so i decided as a christmas present i would make them one.
I came up with a design and went out to pick up lumber. I found 8/4 and 4/4 rough cherry for the legs, skirt and edgebanding. I was able to get the cherry for around $70 total. I had a veneered piece of plywood in the basement for the face. This was the first time i have ever worked with rough lumber, so i spent many hours planeing and sanding the cherry down to size.

I tapered the legs using a custom sled i made for the table saw. I cut out a design into the plywood which will be filled with granite. The granite was cut on a sliding compound miter sawl with a diamond blade. I ordered an edgebanding router bit from mlcs so i didn't have to veneer the sides of the plywood, which i am very impressed with. I then mortised the skirt into the legs and used biscuits to secure the top to the skirt/legs. I stained it last night, i still need to put the gel varnish on and glue the granite down into the holes. Ill add more pics up when i get it finished.
I've spent alot of time and money on this project, so im hoping that they like it, what do you guys think?

 

looks good nice work

 

Thanks man, soo many hours of sanding.
The granite is like jet black but it has white flakes in it.

 

Very very nice!! Coming from a fellow woodworker.........I'm really impressed! Hope they appreciate the hard work you put into it.

 

Lol its fun designing it and building it. The sanding and finishing is a huge pain since any imperfections will show, i just space the work out so i don't rush and get impatient.

 

Great work, I would be proud to own it as well

 

Thank you very much, what do you think about the gel varnish? I want the finish to be able to take a beating, since it is an end table that will see alot of cups and plates.

 

That is fuggin awsome!

 

Nice work! Have you thought about a spray on laquer for protection instead of the gel varnish?

I plan on building a rustic/country style coffee table this weekend for my best friend's wedding present. I'm trying to finalize some ideas in my head on how its going to look. Probably some english style turned legs with a drawer in the skirt and a distressed tongue & groove joined tabletop. Still haven't decided on the wood yet. I'm kinda leaning toward some red cedar with a laquer sprayed on top for durability and the nice smell

I see you said you built a tapering sled. I made my own as well. I have used it a few times and it works great.

 

Yeah i was amazed at how well the sled worked out. Spray on laquer as in a rattle can? Tongue and groove is a good idea, i used it to join the pieces of the raised panel door i made, very solid. Red cedar would look and smell amazing.

 

It takes a little bit to get the angles just right. I usually practice on a few scrap pieces first before I start cutting into the legs. What tooth# blade did you use to cut through the legs? I found I have to use a pretty agressive blade to taper.

Do you have an HVLP sprayer? if not...buy one. Thats how I plan on applying the stain and laquer to the table i'm gonna build. I just ordered some legs for it a few minutes ago. http://www.osbornewood.com/product/1302.cfm

I think im gonna do the top in cedar and the apron and legs in Pine with the top natural color & sealed with a clear laquer and the apron, legs, etc stained a darker color than the top.

Do you use a tongue and groove router bit? I bought a freud tongue&groove bit a few months ago and haven't used it yet. I get to try it out on the coffee table project.

 

That's a great piece of work. Anyone would be proud to have it.

 

I practiced on nearly every scrap piece i could find before i even got near the 8/4 cherry. I used a 10" 80 tooth blade and it seemed to work just fine. I've already exceeded my budget on this build so buying a sprayer is out of the question for now. Ill have to incorporate into the cost of my next project for them.

I have the same router bit and it worked great not a single complaint the joint was perfect.

The pine stained dark with the natural cedar will look great, the cedar should really pop with the contrast in color. Those legs are really nice, to bad my sister has a very contemporary style house, so everything has to be square. I can't make any legs on the lathe downstairs since it wouldn't fit in, the taper is about as fancy as im allowed to go.

Good luck on the project man, put up pics when your done.

 

Well i finally got the table done, gotta love being a procrastinator. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they will like it.

 

That looks great! Nice job!

 

Thanks man

 

WOW

That is awesome, I can't do wood work for the life of me!