# Pair of Mission End Tables in Walnut Build



## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

So, after some deliberation, she who must be obeyed and I decided that a pair of end tables are next on the list. Rather than making my own design or modifying an existing design, I'm going to be following the Woodsmith Mission End Tables from issue #127. Only modifications are to make it in Walnut, and make the drawer/aprons a bit wider. 










Not mine, but the basic design.

Started out by planing down half the stack of walnut I had










Mill up 2 sets of legs that are 1.75" square (with 1 extra, the one with the knot won't be used) out of solid 8/4 stock










Next I made the table tops. I had 2 pieces that were 11+" wide, so I cut them down to 8.25" wide and doubled them up.


















Next I went into my stash of figured lumber to get some boards for the drawer fronts










And then after that, just lots of cuts. Didn't feel the need to take a ton of photos, so I'll just show the pile of everything. There are 36 1/2"x1/2" spindles in there plus a couple extra. The shelves are not in the photo as they are being glued up.










Haven't cut the tenons or mortises yet, but the main sizing is done.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Subscribed! I like the design, but I love walnut more. Looks like your off to a great start. Also looks like you've got a nice stash of lumber!


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

My stash is being used up quick. Just a few weeks ago I had this:










Now I'm down to only this amount on the Walnut shelf


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

JMartel said:


> My stash is being used up quick. Just a few weeks ago I had this:
> 
> Now I'm down to only this amount on the Walnut shelf


Hey, it still looks better than mine! Is this all from a lumber supplier or something you had sawn yourself?


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

Upper stack is mostly construction grade lumber with some red oak.

Bottom stack is Walnut, with 2 pieces of Black Cherry, 1 piece of curly cherry, and one piece of quilted maple.

The Walnut, Oak, and Black cherry came from people on Craigslist (1 was a sawyer, the other makes furniture/builtins out of his house and sells extra lumber he doesn't need). Bought rough. Curly Cherry came from a lumberyard when I lived in CT. Quilted maple actually came from Home Depot. Found it in the clearance bin because the crappy planers at the supplier couldn't handle the figure and had some tearout.


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

Another productive day today. 

I cut all the mortises with my router mortising jig I built a few weeks ago. 










Nice and clean. Each one took more time to clamp and unclamp than it did to actually cut the mortise in it. Then I squared off the ends in a couple taps with a mortising chisel. Total of 28 mortises in all.

Then I rabbeted each of the spindle ends so that it would become a 3/8"x3/8" square instead of the 1/2"x1/2" main body. 4 cuts on each side, 2 sides per spindle, 36 spindles in total. Lots of cuts.










Then I cut some mortise strips to go in the stretchers, and dadoed the stretchers. Glued everything up. I'll run it through the tablesaw again after the glue dries and clean it up.











At this point, I just need to cut tenons and then I can dry fit everything together. I imagine I will have everything dry fit tomorrow night. Then it's just a matter of cutting the curves, leg tapers, and finishing. Going pretty quickly so far, considering I started yesterday morning.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

That is very impressive. Stay safe when making all those repetitive cuts. That's usually when I stop paying as much attention as I should be...

Got anymore pictures of how the mortise strips and stretchers are configured?


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)




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## Paul W Gillespie (Jul 7, 2011)

Following this one. Nice work so far.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

I had only been viewing this on my phone over the weekend. Now that I'm on a computer, I can better see how the stretchers work. The bigger pictures make it look even better also!


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## Travico (Dec 25, 2012)

Thanks for the detail info. You have got it going on!!!!!!!!!!!


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

So, I was able to work on these again today. 

Started out by dry fitting everything minus the spindles to check alignment and such.










Everything looked good, so I shortened the spindles (cut them way too long for some reason at first), re-rabbeted the ends, and fit them all to the rails. Did another dry fit, including the spindles this time.










Now it was time to cut the drawer front and the upper and lower drawer rails that surround the drawer front. I opted to use some very figured Walnut I had been stashing for this.










I first cut to length, leaving enough room for 3/4" tenons on each end. Since I wanted the grain to all line up like I did for the drawer fronts/apron on my coffee table, I then ripped a 3/4" strip off one side of each for the upper rail. Then, I ripped a 3-3/8" piece that will be the drawer front (5" apron all around, minus 3/4"x2, minus 2x 1/16" gap). And finally I ripped another 3/4" strip. Then I cut the drawer front to the opening size, minus 1/8" to allow for a 1/16" reveal on each end.










Tomorrow, I will be mortising the forward legs to take the drawer guide rails, notching out the bottom of the legs to take the lower shelves, cutting the curves in the lower rails, and starting to build the drawer boxes. I will be attempting to dovetail the drawer boxes by hand, which makes this the first project I will have done with dovetails.


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Beautifully done. I was hoping those pieces you chose for the drawer fronts would be wide enough to use the method you did for grain flow. These are going to be incredible!!


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

I'm deviating from the plans a bit with the drawers. Nothing major, but I'm going to be doing a full maple box, with the drawer fronts attached. I'm also using ball bearing slides instead of just wood guide rails like the plans are calling for. And no secret compartment in back.


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## mike1950 (Aug 29, 2010)

Looking Good- I LOVE the drawer fronts!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

These are the pulls that will be going on the fronts. Same as what I put on my coffee table drawers.










All total I've only worked for 3 days on this so far. Just had a large gap between when I had other things to attend to.


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

So, I finally managed to get a bit of work done on these this weekend. Not a ton, though as I had to go into work for a bit both days.


I cut the lower shelves to fit. This is just friction fit currently, but it will have shelf supports underneath.









I also cut the drawer boxes. I opted to not do dovetails and did locking rabbit joint instead. I figured I put this off enough and I should just get it done.










Now I just need to put in the upper and lower drawer rails that frame out the drawer front, and shape the legs/bottom. Then finishing and calling it done.


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

Nice!

I really like how you carefully select what pieces will go where - nice attention to detail.


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

Was able to put in a little bit of work today. Got the upper and lower rails for the drawer in tonight on both tables. All the joinery is now complete. All that's left is tapering the legs, chamfering the tops, cutting curves into the lower rails, and then finishing.






















I apologize on the slow progress. I had every intention of finishing these quickly, however paying jobs and life got in the way a bit. Hopefully I'll get these finished up soon. I'm getting annoyed with the room they are taking up in the garage.


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## Taylormade (Feb 3, 2011)

Outstanding work thus far. I love me some walnut!!


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

Did you get a new camera? Those pictures really show the beauty of that wood. The effort you put in to making those drawer fronts with the continuous grain flow will be well worth it!


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

Thanks guys. 

No new camera. This was with my iPhone. The second photo I used the flash which brought out some grain.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Tables look great...nice work indeed. 








 







.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Definitely worthy of a thread! I've always loved mission furniture but hate it being made with oak so much. Really digging the what the walnut brings to it.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

Yea I agree with most. Beautiful job and of course, you can't go wrong with walnut.


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## guglipm63 (Feb 27, 2013)

Looks good so far. I know what you mean by life getting in the way, I have a project collecting dust for now. Too many other things going on. Keep up the good work, I love the walnut you're using


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

Other projects got in the way again. The serving tray that I posted up here took precedence, and I've got another veneer piece that I'm working on currently. Managed to sneak some time in to this project though.

Tops are beveled and I've started the finishing process. There are a ton of pieces, so it will take me a while to do the finishing work. Then assembly.

But, can I just say that Figured Walnut + Arm-r-Seal = one of the best combos ever?


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Beautiful!!!!


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## captainawesome (Jun 21, 2012)

JMartel said:


> But, can I just say that Figured Walnut + Arm-r-Seal = one of the best combos ever?


Wow that looks incredible! I've heard of the stuff but never used it. What is your method of application? I've read to cut it with mineral spirits and apply with a cloth.


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

captainawesome said:


> Wow that looks incredible! I've heard of the stuff but never used it. What is your method of application? I've read to cut it with mineral spirits and apply with a cloth.


No cutting. You apply it with a cotton cloth. T-shirts work as good as anything else. Wipe it on somewhat heavy in a straight line following the grain while overlapping the previous line, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then wipe the excess off using the same method but a dry t shirt. You have to do soft landings and pick ups though like how an airplane lands. 

It's basically the same as any other wipe on poly/varnish since that's what it is.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using woodworkingtalk.com mobile app


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## WhatWeMadeInTheBarn (Sep 11, 2014)

Great choice of material and design, excellent work also.


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

Well I was finally able to get back to working on these again this week.

Scraped all the parts with my #80 (way too many parts. Took me 2 days)










This didn't give me quite as smooth of a finish as I'd like, so I sanded everything down with 220 grit after this.

And then started finishing everything. Again, Arm-R-Seal and figured walnut have to be one of my favorite combinations.


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

And I'm calling it finished, finally. 














































Sorry about the cardboard box, but it's been raining like hell here lately, and the lighting in my living room isn't the greatest for taking photos in. Plus, I didn't think you guys wanted to look at the inside of a dirty garage with motorcycle parts everywhere.


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## Carvel Loafer (Dec 31, 2011)

Outstanding, thanks for the thread! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## wisardd1 (Nov 27, 2013)

Very nice indeed!


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## Buckbuster31 (Oct 28, 2014)

Beauty!!!s


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

As everyone's already said, Very Nice! It looks like you put on the finish before you did your glue up. Any problems keeping the shoulders of the tenons, etc clean of finish?


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## JMartel (Nov 30, 2011)

Thanks everyone. 

Djg, no problems with glue up. Putting finish on after would have been much more difficult. I did it on my matching coffee table that way. Those spindles are such a pain after they are assembled.

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