The entryway, or foyer, has an open space that could use a table for both decorative and functional reasons. Online there are hundreds of options, but a couple were selected as an inspiration for this project:
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Something narrow, not too tall or wide. The one on the right was the closest to the vision for the project. As with all projects, the entire thing was drawn in Visio, the drawing is available at the end of the post.
The entire project was built from reclaimed wood, the legs and stretchers are maple, the top is walnut. The maple came from an old Bush and Gertz piano that was not repairable was taken apart for the wood. The walnut was a barn post that was re-sawn. All the wood was acquired seventeen years ago and has been stored since, but it’s much older. The Bush and Gertz company went out of business in 1942, and assuming they used old growth maple, it could be upwards of 150 years old.
To get the project started, the maple would have to milled into usable pieces. The process began on the tablesaw, cutting into rough dimensions, and finishing with the thickness planer. The result is a lot of beautiful maple boards.
The walnut for the top had already been planed to the proper thickness, all that was needed was to glue it up. With the top glued, clamped and set aside and all the various pieces cut for the table, attention could be turned to the mortising process.
Like the Oak End Table, the mortises were drilled out using a forstner bit and the drill press. The holes were then squared off using a chisel.
Tenoning was next, cut using the stacked dado blade. All the stretchers received a tenon. After the tenons were cut, some fine-tuning with a file was required to allow for a snug, but not overly tight fit. It was dry assembled and disassembled a dozen times.
Glue time finally, it was assembled upside down to make the process a bit easier. Tabs were then glued to the front and back stretcher for fastening the top. Four mounting blocks were also glue to the underside of the walnut top since the wood was too thin to screw in to.
Three coats of amber shellac were applied with a light sanding between coats. That’s the project completed.
