My wife needed a bedside table to match the Chippendale Walnut dresser I had made her. I wanted to do something in the Queen Anne style with cabriole legs – something to challenge my woodworking abilities and develop new skills. I am beginning to doubt that bedside tables like the small one we envisioned were commonly made in Queen Anne times because I could not find any examples in the literature. I think they might have become common later in Hepplewhite and Sheraton styles but were uncommon in the 18th century. I modified Philip Lowes plans for a lowboy in FWW Nov/Dec 2008 for a design to meet our needs. Like his lowboy the drawer was inset but with a molded edge to appear to be a lipped drawer. Also like Mr. Lowe’s lowboy, the edges on the legs and apron were not relieved but were flush – a detail that requires perfect technique. 

 

To prepare for the task of creating cabriole legs for the first time, I reviewed articles by Philip Lowe, Lonie Bird (FWW #144) and Steve Brown (FWW #270). I also shaped three practice legs in douglas fir from my templates before I proceeded. 

 

Prior to this piece I made my dressers with Blume undermount soft close runners. Usually this was to meet our design wishes. For this dresser I planned to use handcut dovetails. I also reviewed various articles and videos on handcut dovetails by Mr Lowe, Gregory Paolini (FWW #231) and Mike Pekovich (various FWW). After making one practice drawer, I was ready to embark on my first hand cut dovetails. Mr .Lowe’s and Mr Pekovich’s videos made it super easy to make good tight fitting dovetails on my first production drawers. 

 

I made the bedside table from walnut. I employed hard maple for the drawer sides, the runners and kickers for durability. I used walnut for drawer front of course but also for the drawer back to easily chop pins. I actually used highly figured walnut sapwood from my reject pile for both the dresser back and drawer back. I tend to use off color or sapwood pieces for secondary woods rather than discarding wood that is perfectly usable otherwise. It makes for unique secondary woods in my furniture and enables me to reduce wood costs and waste. 

 

My wife treasures the bedside table and I have already embarked on my second project with hand cut dovetails for drawers. Always dreamed of making a furniture piece with cabriole legs and now in retirement I have indeed done it.

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