Build a Bedside Table
This small project features stout joinery and angles that will challenge your skills.
Synopsis: This is a sweet little project that is not only fun to make, but is also packed with challenges and lessons on creating strong joinery in delicate parts. It has splayed, tapered legs, angled joints, and asymmetric drawers. Because the parts are so slender, it relies on well-engineered mortise-and-tenon joints for its strength. Garrett Hack shows you how to build the piece and deal with the angles and tapers.
I love building small tables. They are not only fun, quick to make, and useful (or saleable), but they’re also perfect for trying new designs and techniques. In my teaching, I have found they are ideal projects to improve hand-tool and joinery skills.
This sweet little table is loaded with lessons and challenges. It’s also a great showcase for creating strong joinery in delicate parts. It features splayed, tapered legs, slightly angled joints, and two asymmetric drawers that fit…
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Comments
Am I wrong in thinking that the shoulders on the apron tennons would need to be a compound angle? He doesn't seem to address this at all. Perhaps the angle is so small that it is ignored?
Christopher, you aren't wrong. The shoulders need to be trimmed to fit against the legs. I found this when I was drawing up the plans for his Fir and Cherry table (with a pivoting drawer) which has the same basic leg and apron arrangement. The angle is quite subtle and needs to be worked out while fitting during dry assembly.
-Dave
Seems to me: Where the apron joins the leg there is an angle cut on the end of the apron (and hence the shoulder) but not a compound one. The tenon protrudes parallel to the face of the apron.See the Splay-leg table in Hylton's "Illustrated Cabinetmaking." The only compound angle is at the top of the leg and he fixes that after assembly with a plane.
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