Serpentine Front Hall Table

aaronpetersen, member

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This is a federal-style hall table that I made for my father-in-law as a holiday gift and as a thank you for letting me marry his daughter (we were recently married). This was my first try at period interpretation as well as all of the inlay, stringing, and banding. It's time consuming, but not as hard as I imagined. Grain was filled on the top only. The finish is amber shellac rubbed out with wet/dry sandpaper and polished with automotive rubbing compound.

The serpentine front was laid up from several layers of poplar and honduran mahogany, cut on the band saw, and then hammer veneered with hide glue and honduran mahogany veneer. The other aprons are poplar hammer veneered with honduran mahogany. The top is a bookmatch of crotch african mahogany laid up on a core of honduran mahogany. The stringing, banding, feet, and fans are of holly or maple and dyed costello.

The design is my own, but I used many other pieces to develop it. I also referred often to Steve Latta's federal card table articles for advice on how to do the stringing.

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Comments (11)

lund_fisher writes: I did some finish work on my father-in-law's house. But it was much more primitive than your table!
Good job!
Posted: 5:54 pm on January 3rd

hackerwilson writes: A hall table for your wife's hand. I had to build my father in Law a House.
Posted: 1:08 am on December 18th

aaronpetersen writes: Kent,

Not sure exactly what you mean. If you're referring to the top, the core is honduran mahog., so that's not a molding you see; it's the core. I used a profile with a filet on the top which hid the transition from veneer to core.

Aaron
Posted: 9:01 pm on November 22nd

KentMich writes: Beautiful job. From the photo it's hard to tell how you handled the edge of the veneer along the front. Is that a curved moulding along the front protecting the veneer edge or something else? How did you handle it?
Posted: 7:48 am on November 22nd

MadMatter writes: Awesome!!
Posted: 8:53 pm on November 20th

ronaloha writes: excellent interpretation of a classic design. Nice proportions, incl. tapered legs.
Posted: 12:31 am on November 20th

aaronpetersen writes: The Norm avatar is because I'm in mourning for the New Yankee Workshop. I love that show and will be sorry to see it go.
Posted: 9:45 pm on November 18th

Arbi56 writes: Aaron:
This is a very nice piece. Its detail and complexity are revealed subtly and pleasantly.
The mirror finish is most impressive.
But, one question: Why the Norm Abrahms avatar? :-)
Posted: 8:44 pm on November 18th

Arbi56 writes: Aaron:
This is a very nice piece. Its detail and complexity are revealed subtly and pleasantly.
The mirror finish is most impressive.
But, one question: Why the Norm Abrahms avatar? :-)
Posted: 8:44 pm on November 18th

aaronpetersen writes: I followed the steps in the recent article by Sean Clarke, High-Gloss Finish Made Simple (FWW#206). Basically, I padded on several coats of shellac sanding lightly between them with 320g or 400g wet/dry paper. After letting the finish cure for a week or two, I came back and sanded with 600, 1000, 1500, and 2000g papers alternating with or across the grain to make it easier to see progress. Then, I polished the top using fine grit automotive polish on a cheap orbital buffer from Home Depot. It was actually quite easy and doesn't take as much time as you would imagine. The key is good surface prep before you put on the shellac.
Posted: 5:16 pm on November 18th

simonnn writes: Would you share with us the details of rubbing out the finish?
Posted: 5:05 pm on November 18th

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