The inspiration for the project came from #1 Son who asked me to build him a hall table so he’d have a place to throw his keys and mail when he gets home. I saw a suitable design on one of those overstock on-line companies we were all deluged with around the Holidays. So I printed it out and tacked it up in my workshop for the rest of the inspiration since the one offered online probably had little or no wood in it.
I have a neighbor who works in a lumber mill and he is always on the lookout for any unusual boards as he mills them from the logs. He had previously brought me a couple of pieces of bark in-grown oak. They were 66″ by 12″ by 5/4″ rough. Not even knowing what they would look like I put these boards through the Dewalt which brought out their hidden beauty. It is trimmed out with 1-1/4” Black Walnut. The legs we created by gluing up the Walnut to 2-1/2” x 3″ with the wide side out. Since it is a side or hall table, the legs are 29-1/2” tall.
To add to the challenge, I live in Michigan and #1 Son in Texas so I had to make this knockdown for shipping. This was the first time I extensively used Kreg pocket screws for that assembly/dis-assembly task. The legs are built as an assembly, both doweled and glued together and I used #12 2″ screws to attach the legs to the top. Pocket screws attach the lower shelf to a framework for the drawers. That ends up breaking down into the lower shelf, drawer dividers, lower framework, and 3 drawers.
As finished it was 70″ long, 31″ high and 13″ wide. Drawers are 17 1/2″ wide but a foot deep. I used Minwax Natural Stain which evens out the mixed wood colors while not destroying uniqueness of the Oak and Walnut. Top coats were Poly-U.
Now that it is done, gifted as a Christmas present, carefully entrusted to Roadway to get it safely to Texas, I hope #1 Son carefully places his keys and mail on the table each day.
-Bob Savo
