Side Table for knitting

[MikeDingas]

Here's my latest work. The wife is now into knitting so I designed a table to hold her yarn and maybe some magazines.

I made this with 3/4" poplar wood salvaged from pallets from the office. Measurements: about 25” high, 13” wide, 15” deep, top is 15” x 23”. Finished with golden oak stain and Wipe On Poly.

Although some of the cutting was done on a bandsaw, it could also be done entirely on a scrollsaw but it would be slow going. Could have been done better but not bad for a first attempt at making furniture with no real wood-working training.

Tools: band saw, scrollsaw, table saw, biscuit cutter, router, sanders.

I designed the table but the fretwork is a BerryBasket pattern that I stretched to fit my needs.

Thanks for looking.

[3_M]

Very nice Mike. I am sure she appreciated it and made you a fancy supper.
Did you stack the two pieces of fret work?

[MikeDingas]

Very nice Mike. I am sure she appreciated it and made you a fancy supper.
Did you stack the two pieces of fret work?

Yes. I wish I had not tried to stain them. they both turned out too dark and I couldn't lighted them up in any way.

[mtwoodguy]

Great Mike! That sure doesn't look that the ancestry was a pallet. It looks very practical. Bet she loves it.
Floyd

[koutsman]

Mike, I am impressed. You took what was, no doubt, ugly and worthless (pallet wood) and you envisioned something beautiful. And you turned it into reality through an original design that works both mechanically and aesthetically. You, my friend, are both engineer and artist! Great work!

[jerrog]

Impressive piece!!

[Rolf]

Your first attempt, WOW it is a piece I would be proud to own!
A very nice design, I don't think the stain is too dark it makes the fretwork stand out.
I am sure she enjoys it. Are you going to make one of Carole's yarn bowls to set on top of it?

I would do one thing different with it (personal taste) I would use an Ogee router bit around the top edge of the table. You would have to be careful with tear out on the end grain.

[RJweb]

Thats great looking, I am sure your wife will enjoy it

[MikeDingas]

Your first attempt, WOW it is a piece I would be proud to own!
A very nice design, I don't think the stain is too dark it makes the fretwork stand out.
I am sure she enjoys it. Are you going to make one of Carole's yarn bowls to set on top of it?

I would do one thing different with it (personal taste) I would use an Ogee router bit around the top edge of the table. You would have to be careful with tear out on the end grain.

Yes, I am going to attempt that bowl. It will be the first bowl I've tried. Hoping for the best.

Regarding the top edge: I was too afraid of tear-out around some edges. I did some research and read that curved edges can be problematic unless you approach the routing in the correct sequence. Scared me off and didn't want to take a chance on ruining the top.

Thanks for the advice, though. Much appreciated, everyone.

[Rolf]

I agree on the tear out, I would try it on the cut offs first.
I am intrigued by the new Freud bits I will have to order one and see if it lives up to it's hype regarding tear out. I have a relatively cheap carbide cutter set that don't cut as well as I would like.

I saw Carole's bowl at the open house, pictures don't do it justice. I will be making one for my sister who is a big knitter.

[tgiro]

That one had to get you a thousand Attaboys, at least.

Great work and functional, too.

[Sandy Oaks]

Beautiful table, Mike.

[Rolf]

I will be making a dining room table insert with quarter sawn white oak I will need to rout across the end grain so like you Mike I am a bit anxious about the routing. So I think I will order one of the New Freud Quadro-cut bits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXtCXiS1EaE

I will post a review after I am done.

[JustLarry]

Great table. On the routing - I would take several shallow passes to get the edge where I wanted it with the next to last pass just a little (1/16" or so) under what the final cut would be. Less depth on the cuts lessens the probability of tear out. How many passes, probably make final cut on the 12th pass.

[MikeDingas]

Great table. On the routing - I would take several shallow passes to get the edge where I wanted it with the next to last pass just a little (1/16" or so) under what the final cut would be. Less depth on the cuts lessens the probability of tear out. How many passes, probably make final cut on the 12th pass.

I still have the waste material from the top. Think I'll try routing it to see what damage I can do!