Tabouret

Among the large set of furniture designed for the Gamble House living room are two of these little stands, or "tabourets".  They have a square of marble in the top, so a wet flower pot or coffee cup won't cause any damage.  They are only sixteen inches high.

I had a nice piece of mahogany, real Santo Domingo mahogany that I'd been saving for 20 years for a good project.  I figured it was time to make up my mind.  There was almost enough for this stand, I had another board for the legs.

I started with the top, four pieces joined together.  I used a table saw jig, and then a chisel to cut the joints.

I trimmed the joints to fit, and shortened ends a little, and rounded them.

I cut slots on the inside, and cut a piece of plywood that would hold the square of marble.

I stretched that board by splitting it in half, so the side panels are only half an inch thick.  Not that you can tell without turning the table over.  First,  I used the router table to cut the cloud-lift detail.

After sanding each piece, I had to add the carving detail.  First, I carved out the step shape, then ruined the crisp edge by sanding.  This is how they look on the original piece!

The lower rails were also made using the router table, and are also half an inch thick, probably thicker than those on the original piece, (which look quite thin, maybe too thin).

I cut the legs and the mortises.

I stained the project before assembling it, that way I could stain the legs a little bit more than the rest of the project, and try to get them to end up the same color.

I glued the top together, and then the legs and stretchers.  I placed the leg assembly on the underside of the top, and traced it, then cut a shallow slot which will prevent any gaps once it's put together.

Then it was time to install all of the ebony pegs.  Forty four of them.

I needed a piece of marble for the top, so I visited a marble and granite cutting shop and asked if they had a scrap for me.  I took a picture of the table so they would understand what I was talking about.  Sure enough, they found nice scrap piece, and didn't charge too much for cutting an eight-inch square.  Their bread and butter is big counter tops and kitchen islands, so they seemed kind of amused at my tiny square.

I finished with a wipe-on polyurethane.

Project:  Gamble House Bedroom Side Table

This is the table I wanted to copy:

I had a small stash of Honduras mahogany that I bought back in 1995 left over from another project, it is darker than any other mahogany I've ever had. There was enough 8/4 material for the legs, the breadboards on the top and shelf, and enough 4/4 material for the shelf and the drawer front.

Here is the 8/4 wood cut up for the legs, and the short pieces will each be split to make the breadboard ends.

The taper jig for leg cutting is pretty simple.  It's important not to get the sides mixed up, or you'll  find yourself cutting mortises into the tapered sides.

Next, I used the router table to cut mortise slots in the legs.

The ends of the slots get squared with a chisel.

I had to buy some more wood for the rest of the project, Bohnhoff lumber sells genuine mahogany.  They let you look through the pile for the ideal board, as long as you don't leave a mess.  The lumber is rough-cut, so the 4/4 wood is over an inch thick, and all fuzzy.  I bring along a plane so I can see what the wood underneath looks like.  They surface-planed the board I selected, and asked if I wanted it the standard 3/4 inch thick, or as thick as possible?  "As thick as possible, of course!" I say without thinking.   This will result in some hand-planing later.  The board ended up a tiny bit over an inch thick.

First, I cut the back panel and side panels and make tenons on the end to fit the legs. (the photo is just of the sides)

Then I cut slots in the rails so the sides will be real frame-and-panels.

Then I fit the rails into the legs, and plane the fronts so the reveal is the same on the top and bottom.

Of course, this leaves the panel too thick.

But this gives me an opportunity to use an Old Tool Swap Meet find, a 1920's Scottish infill Panel Plane!

I did the same for all three.

It's already beginning to look like a table!  The top rails are different than the original piece, there, the panels reached up to the top.  (Unlike the bedside table in the Gamble House guest room, which had rails above and below)

I cut slots onto the inside of the lower rails, plus extend those slots into the legs.  The dust panel fits in these.

Now, it's time to start on the shelf.  First, the glue-up.

 Then I cut tenons and trimmed them to fit the mortises cut into the breadboard end caps.

The breadboard ends are fastened with a little glue in the center, and screws on the ends.  The holes in the end-caps are oversized to allow wood movement and prevent cracking.

Next, openings are cut into the legs to support the shelf.

Next, I cut the corners of the end caps, and make sure they fit into the legs.  They'll be rounded, so I make a pencil line at the point where it disappears into the leg, so I don't round that part by mistake.

The shelf gets decorated now, ebony pegs hiding the screws, (and imaginary screws), and tiny splines hiding the end cap joint.

The next part is the "waterfall" detail at the bottom of the legs.   I used the router table again, first a straight bit to cut two steps, then a round bit to round the sharp corners. They look like a bit of a disaster right after, but after quite a bit of sanding they look OK.

Finally glued everything together.

I put in some ebony pegs where the rails meet the legs.

The top and the drawer still remain.  First, the top.

Like the shelf, the pieces were glued together, then a tenon was cut on the ends, and fit to a slot in the bread board end caps.

Again, the mahogany I bought was too thick, so I had to plane it down.

The end caps are attached as before, and more ebony pegs are installed.

Here they are, ready to go.

I turn the table upside down onto the bottom of the lid, and trace around.  I chisel out a little trench, maybe 1/16 of an inch deep.  This will prevent any gap between the base of the table and the top.

The last piece is the drawer.  I use the router table to cut finger joints, and trim them to fit.

Again, using the router table I cut a slot on the inside of each piece, and install the bottom.

Before I glue it together, I round and sand the ends of the finger joints.  Once it is glued I add the ebony pegs.  Those on the sides are sanded flat.  (The top and bottom side pegs really do cover screws)

I add some Tulipwood trim to the drawer.  I don't know what trim they used in the original piece, it wasn't ebony like much of the other furniture.  I've been told it was probably Lignum Vitae.  

The last piece to make is the handle.  This is a departure from the original design.

I put a rail beneath the drawer, and guides on the bottom of the drawer.

I stained the piece in a similar way to Darrell Peart's  technique, (https://furnituremaker.com/2009/02/21/greene-and-greene-wood-finishing/)

I mixed the General Finishes dye stains, Medium Brown, and Orange.  I tried different proportions, and settled on 3 parts brown to 2 parts orange.  If I were going to start again, I'd have stained the pieces before I put everything together, which would have allowed me to stain the lighter material with two coats, and the darker wood with only one.

I went to the local woodworking supply, looking for the suggested General Finishes Arm-R-Seal satin,  but found that they don't sell that in Los Angeles.  Air Quality Management regulations.

So I used a mixture of one part polyurethane, one part tung oil and one part turpentine.  Painting it on, waiting 10 minutes or so, then wiping it all off.   After four coats, it looks pretty nice.   Once it dries a few more days, Ill put on some paste wax.