After the material has been dimensioned, lay out, joint and glue the stock for the top. Construct the leg assemblies next.
After laying out the feet but before profiling them on the band saw, cut the 2"-deep mortises that will receive the leg tenons. This can be done on the drill press, clamping the work to a tall fence custom-made for this operation. You can also cut the mortises by hand, securing the work in a vise, then removing the bulk of the waste with a drill bit, and cleaning up the mortise walls with a chisel. Similarly, cut the through mortises in the two cross braces. Profile the feet and cross braces on the band saw.
Then, fashion the leg tenons. You can do this on a table saw fit with a stack of dado cutters or by hand using a tenon saw. After fitting the tenons into their mortises, glueup the two leg assemblies.
Shape the stretcher and fasten it to the top of the cross braces with half-notch joints. The top is held in place with wood screws passing through oversized holes in the braces. These oversized holes allow for expansion and contraction of the top in response to seasonal changes in humidity.
The original table was built of cherry with pine used for the drawer back, sides and bottom. The exception was the drawer front, which was made of maple. Because of this, Kassay suggests the possibility that the drawer might have been added at some time after the completion of the original table, a notion further supported by the drawer's extremely (and impractically) short front-to-back depth, a feature that suggests that the drawer wasn't fully integrated into the table's design.
With the exception of the grooves that must be ploughed on the outside faces of the drawer sides, drawer construction is conventional, with through dovetails at the rear and halfblind dovetails at the front.
After fitting the drawer, sand and finish the table and drawer.
1 These photos show the underside of the table. Note the washers under the heads of the screws holding on the top. These are necessary because of the oversized holes drilled through the cross braces. Note also the drawer runner affixed to the inside face of the cross brace.
Materials List :
Table
A.
Top
1
pc
1/2 x 17 1/2 x 30 5/8
B.
Leg
2
pcs
7/8 x 3 5/8 x 20 7/8
C.
Foot
2
pcs
7/8 x 7 1/2 x 16 1/8
D.
Cross brace
2
pcs
7/8 x 1 5/8 x 16 1/2
E.
Strecher
1
pc
1 x 1 5/8 x 28 3/4
F.
Drawer runner
2
pcs
1/4 x 3/8 x 7
G.
Screws
various
Drawer
H.
Front
1
pc
1/2 x 2 5/16 x 21 3/4
I.
Side
2
pcs
3/8 x 2 3/16 x 7 1/8
J.
Back
1
pc
3/8 x 2 3/16 x 7 1/8
K.
Bottom
1
pc
1/4 x 7 x 21 3/8
L.
Pull
1
pc
1/2 x 1/2
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* These are net measurements. A surplus should be added to all dovetailed parts to allow them to be sanded flush.
* Pull was ordered from Constantine's Hardware.
* These are net measurements. A surplus should be added to all dovetailed parts to allow them to be sanded flush.
* Pull was ordered from Constantine's Hardware.
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