Blacker House Table Update

I’m working my way through the mechanics of fitting the joinery for the table.  It’s nice to be able to get into the rhythm of a familiar process.  So far, no major screw ups.

Mortises all cut, this shows the staggered layout pretty well.

I started the skirts and stretchers with a nice wide piece of 4/4 rough sawn Sapele.  My thought was to cut each skirt and stretcher from the same length of stock, so the grain match was consistent.  I’ve done that, but in the end this quartersawn Sapele is so uniform that it doesn’t make any difference.  I find it interesting to start with a big stick like this…

12.5″ wide 4/4 QS Sapele board I’m using for the skirts and stretchers.

…and break it down into accurately machined parts like this.  There was one section of the board that had a chunk out of the surface, which I was careful to avoid, so I had just the right amount of stock,  Since I have a small shop space, it also feels good to be using up material I have on hand, to free up that space.

Skirt and stretcher blanks milled up and ready to have tenons cut.

Next up, the tenon get roughed in.  Again, fairly mechanical work.  My goal was to make tenons slightly over-thick so I can plane each one to fit exactly into a mortise.  I really had to pay attention to make sure I cut the staggers correctly and kept the stretchers matched with their adjacent skirts.

One skirt and stretcher pair

I have half of the joints fit, and am on my way out to the shop once I have some coffee and run my Saturday errands.  The next step will be to cut the cloud lifts into the skirts and stretchers as I move from doing joinery to working on details.

First skirt and stretcher assembly done. It looks a little weird without the shaping done on the cloud lifts.  I have a nice tight fit at the shoulders, which is what matters most for me.

Half way there fitting the skirts and stretchers.

For the moment I’m resisting the temptation to start another project, like the Frank Lloyd Wright lamps, so I can focus on this one.  But I noticed some Claro Walnut shorts calling my name in the corner of the shop yesterday.