End Tables

It has been a while since I posted last. Here is what I have been doing. This is a pair of matching end tables to go with the hall table that I made earlier. They are pretty much the same, just smaller. Actually they are harder to make than that sofa table because they are a bit deeper and require 5 slats on each side. That is almost twice as many per table. I have one the tables finished just in time for the holidays. The other one I just finished sanding. Next it finishing and glue up. Here is a photo of the unfinished one and the finished one.

For whatever reason the images will not load... I will look into it.

Done

Here it is all finished. I think it turned out pretty good for a first piece of furniture. I certainly learned a lot from it and it will make the matching end tables and and coffee table go much smoother.

Table just about done and starting end tables

My table is just about done. I have glued it all up and am just finishing the top coat on the last piece. There are a couple of photos of the pieces of one leg pair prior to me gluing it up.


While I am letting the coats of finish dry I have started on a pair of matching end tables to go with this. I had enough wood left over from building this table to get both tops for the end tables. There is a photo of me measuring out to cut the two end table tops. I certainly learned a lot for the first table and I am sure the build for the two end tables will go much quicker.

Heidi's art class

Heidi and Pepsi are taking an art class at the UWEC. They go on Wed. evenings. Here she is doing her "homework".

4-1-08

Here is the latest on my table. Since this is my first go at this I am finishing it parts at a time just in case I either don't like it or it does not turn out right. That way I only have to fix one part if it goes bad. The first photo is the end view. It is not glued up yet. Since it it mortise and tenon jointery, I can assemble it without glue to see how it works. The top is sitting on it now and is all finished. I have to make the bottom shelf yet. Maybe this weekend I will do that.
This next view you can see how the top looks on it. I think it is turning out pretty nice. The color we chose for this is much better than our original choice. For oak it looks pretty natural, but still gives it a bit of color.

Here is what Luke is up to

I have started woodworking a bit. What I mean by woodworking is more furniture and less birdhouses and rough carpentry. My first project is a mission or craftsman style sofa table. The table is about 50"x17"x28" tall. I used red oak and all the joints are mortise and tenon joints. I am using General Finishes brand Prairie Wheat gel stain and General Finishes brand Armor Seal for the top coat. In total it will have one coat of stain and 5 coats of top coat. It is turning out pretty good for my first project. Heidi likes it and it will look nice in the entry way. I started it before I made this blog, so this is the only photo I have for now. The photo you see here is minus the top and bottom shelf. I have the two long pieces finished just to see how they look before I finish the rest of it. I have the whole thing just about finished now. I am pre-finishing before I glue it up because of all the nooks and crannies in this piece. By the way the little stack of pieces in the back corner are just sample pieces that I did to test some finishes. I will post more photos of it half finished and some photos of the finished project.

Welcome

Here is a little blog we created to share our hobbies with our friends and family. Here will try to keep you up to date on what is new and some photos of our latest creations. Heidi is busy knitting these days. She also does very elaborate counted cross stitches. Luke has been trying his hand at fine woodworking. Of course there is still the photography. Luke also has picked up the guitar again. He will spare you all from listening to that for now though. Alex loves to draw and is always bringing home fun stuff from art class at school. Alex also likes to help his mom do various projects in plastic canvas. Last but not least we all like to garden in the summer. Heidi recently inherited hundreds of gladiola bulbs from her grandmother who is scaling back a bit. We have a couple of landscaping projects this year and of course the vegetable garden.

So check back often to see what we are up to and drop us a line to say hi.

Luke, Heidi, and Alex