495 Bedside Tables Pt 1
I’m sure you’ve heard the trope “The cobbler’s children have no shoes”? Well the same thing in the Vanderlist household can be said about furniture. Around here it feels like I’m always making something for someone else’s house (or more than likely for my shop).
For a long time now my wife Samantha has been asking me to build us a matching set of bedside tables. I keep asking if she wouldn’t prefer something bigger and more awe striking like a new dining room table. But while that would be nice, a bedside table that actually has room to set a book AND a lamp seemed to be a higher priority.
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- Hers
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- His
So, starting on today’s episode I’m finally building those bedside tables for her. The design is simple. Straight lines, no embellishments and something with a drawer and a shelf. Samantha also asked that they be painted too. That’s fine with me, I have a decent stash of Poplar that’s been waiting to be used for quite a while now.
I’ll get us started by roughing out the stock that will be the 20″x18″ tops and the 16″x16″ shelfs. These dimensions are a little too big for my jointer and thickness planer, so it’s a great excuse to break out the hand planes and flatten them by hand.
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Download the Sketchup Plan for this build (note: the drawer box should be adjusted for your specific hardware or needs)
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- Wood movement catastrophe averted | Matt's Basement Workshop | July 7, 2014
Matt, you just keep the good material coming at us! Great episode and nice to see the “Galoot” side of Matt showing a bit with all that planing work…Shannon will be gobsmacked.
Thanks! I’m still sore from all that hand work, but it’s a good kind of sore. Also, the final results have been fantastic and make me feel like I really accomplished something.
With that said though, I have a deeper appreciation for my jointer and thickness planer than ever!!!
Looking forward to the rest of this series. Bummer you had to do it by hand but its good to see other methods for milling lumber. What size is your jointer?
My jointer is 8″ and my thickness planer 13″. I could’ve easily ripped the boards into sizes that would’ve worked with both tools, but my hand planes were looking so bored up on the shelf LOL.
I thought it was an 8″ but was not sure if you had 220 in your shop or not. What kind paint are you going to use for the finish?
Not sure yet, more than likely it will be water based paint…of the wife’s choice lol.
No jointer fence I notice. Well done sir, well done
I almost added a voice over to ask you to avert your eyes 😉
just wondering if flattening the boards before gluing them together would be easier considering you would be working on a narrower board
Yes and No LOL! For sure handling each board separately would make the process of flattening them individually easier, but a common problem I run into is ensuring there’s no ridge at the glue line.
Usually it’s very small if at all perceptible, but using this technique ensures the mating components are parallel with each other.
Of course with that said…in the next video I end up doing something a little bit different to handle the wide side panels LOL.
Just starting this series now, great first episode! I enjoy seeing hand tools used, even though i have a hard time breaking mine out 🙂 Looks like a #7 would compliment my #5 and block plane nicely.
A #7 is a nice tool to have, but a #6 could have easily handled the task too…and not nearly as expensive as a new #7. Not to mention, just a little bit lighter and easier on the body 🙂