These tables were made long before the date on the post, but since I am just starting this new woodworking blog it puts a current date on it. I have always loved Arts & Crafts style furniture. Sometimes it is referred to as Mission furniture or Craftsman furniture. These tables were my first foray into mortise and tenon joinery. Oh happy days!!
The tables you see in these photographs were constructed during 2005 and 2006. I purchased the plans online and then proceeded to make the smaller end table first. That was my first venture into Mortise and Tenon joinery. Of course, I had to buy a new drill press to do the mortising! After finishing the first table I used the same plans to make the larger table. The larger table was much more difficult because there were no real diagrams, just a cut list. After a bit of trial and error it all went together.
The tables are made of quarter-sawn white oak. The table tops are of 1” material while the slats are ½” material. The rest of the table is ¾” stock. I bought the lumber locally and finished it in my home shop. It really was slow going because I had never built a table before. Man did I ever learn a lot about mortising and glue up times.
As you can see the tops of the tables are ceramic tile. A tile setter I am not! But, with a little help from my friends I was able to affix the tile and grout it reasonably well. With the tile you do not need any coasters for glasses. The tables were stained with an Oil based Special Walnut. They came out pretty well. They are finished with Tung Oil except for the tops which are finished with General Semi-Gloss Wipe-on Poly. Be sure and check out the photo gallery of the production process.
Doug
