Cricket table
This is my first table, ever. I don’t include the 3-piece particle board tables made for work. It is based on an antique Cricket table, shown online by Valley of Virginia Antiques. Fell in love and just had to make one. I’ve posted the entire process in pics on my facebook page. They did give some basic dimensions but the final design was mine, based on those dimensions, and a lot of reverse engineering from a variety of pictures and a good deal of guess work. I believe that you learn by doing.
The top is made of a single 8′ Pine board cut into 4-peices. I didn’t have a biscuit cutter so I used dowels and glue to join the boards, then planed and sanded smooth. The top was cut with a jig saw then rounded off with a trim plane and rasp. the edge was rounded over with a trim plane and sanded. I used 2×4’s for the legs as that was the wood available and a good match to the original piece. Ran the legs through the table saw at a 45 deg. to remove material then rounded off the edge by hand. the inside of the leg was tapered with a circular saw then chamfered with the table saw and finished with a bench plane. Stretchers were joined to the legs with mortice and tenon, but not pegged. The top has a cross support and is secured with screws set through the rails. I used a combination of water and oil based stains to get the look I wanted and finished with food safe mineral oil after a good sanding. This is a period interpretation, stained to emulate a patina, but at the same time the table was not distressed. Ditressed items always look contrived and, in my view, lack something. I chose pine because it was soft and would reflect the realities of life. This isn’t supposed to be a showcase item but one of those that is always around, useful and approachable. Any dents, dings or blemishes were left alone and are part of the final product.
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