Arts and Crafts Nightstand(Somnae)

(click on picture for a larger view)

I dug this rather odd table out of a dumpster. The top was separated from the base and one leg was off. The wood is ash and there were some rather tackey inlays around the legs. Notice the top is a not rectangular. The builder had also cut a groove at the joint of each board, making a crude bead board top.

The frame and drawer front are ash and the panels and top are oak. I didn't have enough ash to make the whole thing. Note the book-matched oak panels. The blue tape holds the panels together temporarily. Narrow cleats will be used to screw the panels together into a box.

After recovering the table from the dumpster it was about 2 months before I got to this point....I took many lengthy breaks. The stain is a red-brown water soluble dye with a VanDyke glaze and several topcoats of polyurethane. Mortise and tenon joints throughout. Pocket hole screws were used to afix the drawer supports and the cabinet bottom to the panels.

Handcut dovetails on the drawer. The door still needs a catch. I'm really surprised that the ash stained exactly like the oak and I don't think most will realize the nightstand was made from two different woods. The finished back makes the back almost as pleasing as the front.

HOMEPAGE