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I made this sassafras top and set it aside a while ago. It’s a wonder it hasn’t been damaged. I was able to saw it close to the line, but now it needs cleaning up.

rough cut edge

I started with it upside down to work on the bottom first. Since I was trying new things I wanted any mistakes on the less visible side.

To clean up the edge I used a spokeshave and a block plane. The spokeshave worked better for long grain and the block plane was better for end grain. First I removed larger bumps and irregularities. Then I switched to chamfering the underside.

chamfer lines, 1″ back and 1/4″ down

The top was made from 5/4 thickness boards, and was now about 1″ thick. I envisioned a wide chamfer, about 3″ wide and 1/2″ thick. But when up close with the wood I balked at removing that much material. So I marked lines 1″ wide and 1/4″ thick. This will make the top appear 3/4″ thick at the edge.

I was able to remove almost all of this material with a #5 plane, and the remaining with a block plane.

smells like root beer

After making the chamfer I further refined the edge. It was easier to work on when 3/4″ wide than 1″ wide. I sprayed denatured alcohol on the edge and shined a light from different angles to look for tool marks and imperfections. After shaving and planing, I rounded over the corner with 3-4 swipes of the block plane. Then I hand sanded before flipping it over to work on the top.

tool marks to be planed

bottom finished

This picture shows a cabinet scraper on the top. It would have been smart to even out the glue lines with a scraper, but I made the impatient mistake of trying a #5 plane. This produced tearout on half of the glue line which I was never able to recover from.

I cleaned up the top as good as I could with the cabinet scraper and card scraper, frequently checking with denatured alcohol and a raking light. When I was satisfied, I rounded over the top corner with 3-4 swipes of the block plane. Then I hand sanded the entire top.

The last bit of woodworking is to make tabletop buttons. I have not done this before. I read an Andy Rawls’ post on Popular Woodworking about making buttons and decided to try it. In the post he gives credit to Paul Sellers. I could not find the info on Paul’s blog, so maybe it is on youtube.

The grain is oriented so that when struck the pieces separate. I was able to make six pieces quickly which needed only a little fine tuning. These will go into slots (domino mortises) in the aprons.

notches cut for tabletop buttons

ready to be smacked

cleave for me

buttons ready

For finishing I planned on the ash legs and aprons to be ebonized with india ink, while the sassafras top would have shellac.

My first time using ink was on my small dresser, where I used india ink on poplar. The poplar took the ink very well, with none of the downsides I had read about. The first coat provided almost full coverage, with the second coat making it appear richer or fuller. Ash did not behave the same way. In some spots the ink did not soak into the grain. And the grain was raised enough to be scratchy and start snagging the foam brush.

you missed a spot

raised, rough grain

So after one coat I will take a break and think about what to do next. I know I will have to sand these, I just don’t know if I will do it now or wait until more ink or topcoats go on.

The sassafras top I had intended to use a light colored shellac on. I tried Zinnser sealcoat on a piece of scrap, comparing it with garnet shellac. I was disappointed that the sealcoat didn’t do much at all, so switched to using garnet shellac for the top. I applied one coat with a cotton cloth. I saw some dry splotches, so applied a second coat immediately. The top is so large that by the time I get to the ending point, the beginning point is dry.

1-2 coats of garnet shellac

Here it is after 1-2 coats. I think it’s a bit orange-y. Now I don’t know if I will continue to apply a full 5+ coats of garnet shellac or switch to the sealcoat. I also don’t know if I switch to sealcoat if it will smear the underlying garnet coats. So more to think about until tomorrow.

A neighbor asked if I could make something so that their cat wouldn't have to eat their food at floor level.  She wanted something about 12" long, 7" wide and 4" tall.  I made this in the same way I made a step stool a few years back - just two sides and a top, dovetailed together.  The only wrinkle is that the legs splay out at 11-12 degrees.  But the dovetails aren't complicated - you just have to put that 11-12 degree angle on the edges of the top when laying out.

The pet food stand

Here you can see the splay of the sides (a.k.a. legs)

The wood is pine that used to be my FIL's bookshelf.  It had different color heartwood and sapwood and I got the color to flow from top to legs.

Note the colors

The cutout in the legs that forms the feet is a half-oval.  I used the two-nails-and-a-string technique to lay out the oval, then cut it out with a coping saw.  The sides of the legs are also angled bottom to top for a nicer look.

The top has gently curved edges.  The dovetails came out nice.  As usual, could have been better, but I'm not complaining.

One end dovetails - had to contend with a minor knot

Other end dovetails

It's finished with a few coats of shellac.  My neighbor might choose to paint it, and I'm OK with that.  This was a simple little project, but fun nonetheless.  It's always good to practice with dovetails.