Tables
Plans and Complete Instructions for Building Ten Classic Tables

From a Shaker sewing table to a display table for art objects, Tables offers 10 excellent reasons to spend quality time in the shop. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced woodworker, the projects offered by Anthony Giudice in this book will provide plenty of challenges to increase your skills.

The table projects include a candlestand, an end table, a Shaker sewing table, two coffee tables, a display table, a half-round console table, a hall table, a cherry kitchen table, and a trestle table. You'll get:

• 10 classic projects from historic pieces to contemporary styles
• Step-by-step instructions and clear illustrations
• Design guidelines for creating your own tables
• Numerous tips and jigs you can use for all your projects

Introduction:

The first time I really saw a table through a woodworker's eyes was when my teacher showed me a cherry end table he had built years before. He explained how the top must be high enough for the lamp to throw light, but not too high; that the legs have to be tapered or the proportions will look wrong; and how essential it is to fit the drawer to the guides accurately, or the drawer will bind and stick. He also described the advantages of an oil finish: it's soft and lustrous, the top won't stain if you set a glass on it, and the wood still looks like wood.

As always, I asked questions without trying to appear too stupid. Did you cut all this wood to size with a handsaw? No, a table saw. Did you edge joint the top? No, I used a jointer plane for that -- didn't have a jointer yet. What about the dovetails in the drawers? Hand cut, I think. There were only a few to do. Did you mortise and tenon the legs? He nodded. They've got to be strong to last.

In a simple well-made end table, there are myriad lessons in woodworking. This is why tables are great projects for any furniture maker, experienced or beginner. They can be challenging to make, but without the engineering gymnastics necessary in, say, building a chair. You can be flexible with the techniques you use to build them, without taking undue risks.

The table designs in this book were assembled from all over the United States and from all different types of woodworkers. There are a few traditional pieces, Shaker and Arts and Crafts, contemporary work from the Northeast and the West, and a few surprises included as well.

The range of projects offers a variety of approaches and techniques and the opportunity to learn a new skill, sharpen others, and possibly develop new ways of seeing. I hope you'll carry away something valuable, whether you've built hundreds of tables or are considering building your first.

Before you begin reading this book, I'd like to leave you with a few thoughts about workmanship. There seems to be a tendency among many contemporary woodworkers to fuss their furniture to death. Woodworking doesn't have to be flawlessly executed. Joints don't have to be cut perfectly. Just work as carefully as you can to get them fairly snug, and they should be fine. Of the dozens of tables I've made over many years, none of the joints was "perfect," but none has ever failed.

And don't worry about finessing the wood surfaces. How flat does a tabletop need to be? Flat enough so that a ball won't roll off it. As for tool marks, it's fine if some of them show. They just show the woodworker's hand in the piece.

Table of Contents:

1. Table-Building Basics

2. Shaker Candle Stand

3. End Table

4. Hallway Table

5. Shaker Sewing Table

6. Oval Coffee Table

7. Glass-Top Display Table

8. Arts and Crafts Coffee Table

9. Classic Console Table

10. Sturdy Kitchen Table

11. Danish Farmers Trestle Table

SOURCES

METRIC CONVERSION CHART

INDEX

Soft-cover, 9 x 10-7/8 in., 176 pages, with color photos and drawings
Published 2000

ISBN: 978-1-56158-342-3