Creating a Set of 5 Art Deco style Small Tables

A project I have just completed was to make some small occasional tables, a set of 5, using jarrah removed from a roof during a current renovation. This beautiful house, built around 1930, has the most wonderful Art-Deco ceilings - which tragically were very seriously damaged during the recent storms in Perth... but that's another story. A second storey is being added to the house, and the old roof timbers were thoughtfully saved to be re-cycled. My client is a lover of all things Art-Deco, so my mission was to design and make 5 tables using this timber.

After some research, I submitted the following design and concept drawings which were agreed to by my client:

About the timber.
The timbers saved during the renovation are the classic stuff of jarrah western australian roofing which was pretty standard for over 100 years until the re-structure of the WA native hardwood timber industry which commenced in March 2001. Since that time jarrah stick roofing has been replaced by pine and steel. The old roofs and houses are now a wonderful source of dry jarrah, as well as karri, wandoo, marri and blackbutt. Tragically too much of this timber goes off into land fill as old houses are knocked down in the path of "urban infill" or the spread of McMansions. How did I get myself onto this soapbox again??

This stack of timber pictured here on sawstools on my front lawn was the pile of timber saved from the renovation by my client. It is predominantly 4"x2" timber (rafters) but also includes a few 5"x2" and 4"x3" sticks. There is also a number of 6"x1" and 8"x1" boards (ridge pieces) which are of particular use for the tops of the tables and the legs/ends.
All of this timber in the stack shown was denailed first. A dirty and slow process, but a good opportunity to examine each stick and get a sense of what was available for the project. There is much more timber here than we need - but I am a great recycler of this wonderful stuff!

This picture shows the 6"x1" and 8x1" sticks from that pile, which I have here denailed, scrubbed down with a wire brush, and scanned with a metal detector to ensure there are no nails remaining. Nails are not kind to machinery and cutting tools!
Shown here parked out side my workshop on another pair of sawstools, they are waiting to be cut up ready for dressing.

None of the boards are flat, so one face must be flattened first. These roofs were all built with green (unseasoned)timber, so the timber has dried (seasoned) in the roof. These timbers spent 80 years in the roof, so they are very dry. I find that the heat and dryness of old roofing timbers creates jarrah which is almost "case hardened" sometimes, but the timbers from this roof do not appear to be over-cooked.
There's some nice stuff in there, though some damage was acquired from the demolition process. That's not unusual.

Preparing the timber.
Much of the 6"x1" and 8"x1" sticks were cut into shorter lengths ready for making the table tops and the legs/ends. This was done before any dressing of the timber, due to the fact that the timber needed to be flattened. The aim was to try and obtain stock 22mm thick (7/8") which is a wonderful dimension commonly used in the past but no longer commonly available. Hence the need to ensure we lost as little thickness as possible from the timber. The pic here shows the timber after it has been docked into the two different lengths needed.
The flat faces were obtained using two methods. My buzzer only has a 6 inch cutter, so I was able to create the flat face on the 6"x1"s over the buzzer easily enough. The wider boards I had to flatten by hand in the old fashioned method, using my trusty No5 1/2 jack plane and a pair of winding sticks. The pic here shows the plane on a piece I was working on at the time.

Once the flat face is created, the pieces are put through the thicknesser to make the opposite face parallel. The boards are flipped over several times as the thickness is reduced, thus creating two flat dressed wide faces.

There's a picture which shows the same stack of timber
after it has been dressed to 22mm thick. There is some very nice timber in this pile.

The plan was to leave the nail holes in the wood, as this tells the story of the timber's former life in the house.


Making the Tops.The process for making the tops starts with matching up the machined pieces for colour and grain, and shooting their edges on the buzzer, to create the tops. Some of the boards had splits, so these were sawn down the split lines and the new edges shot.

Therefore some tops were made out of two pieces, and others were made of up to 4 pieces. The picture here shows a couple of the tops set out and prepared ready for preparation of the edges and then gluing up. The visible ones here are both 2-board tops.

The plan is the rip a piece off each side to use to create the under side build-up, and to dock a piece of each end to create the under end build-up.

One of the most effective ways to create good edge joints is to create a "lightning joint" profile. This works like a tongue and groove, and has the advantage of doubling the surface area of glue.

This creates a superior joint. I used a router cutter to cut the profiles on the edges, but back in the Art Deco era, these were cut with spindle moulding machines in the bigger workshops. So the use of this jointing method remains consistent with the period as a technique. It is far superior to a butt joint, and I like it!
There is a photo here which shows the joints cramped up.
Once the edge profiles were prepared, the tops were glued up. There is a pic here showing a pair of tops glued up simultaneously, to save on cramps.

After the glue dried overnight, the tops were put back through the thicknesser to clean them up. The finished thickness was 20mm, giving a doubled up edge of 40mm. That was the plan.

There is a pic here showing the stack of tops after they have been cleaned up through the thicknesser. Now it is time to make the rips off the side and dock the ends. Where we were unable to get the side rips wide enough, some of the leftover timber was used, matching the grain and colour as best possible. We needed 30mm wide side rips, and 42mm end rips. The end rips were docked to length in such a way that the lightning joints lined up, top and bottom, making sure that the correct ends were always matched to the correct part and orientation of the top.
There is a pic here showing one of the tops covered in cramps as these underside pieces are all glued to the tops. they will be left overnight to dry before the tops are cleaned up again and the final machining is done to create the final dimensions for the tops - 400 x 240 x 40mm.
Although we only needed 5 tops, I did a 6th one to ensure I had a spare. There are some unknowns with the nail hole positions, though I had been very careful to try and place them off the edges.

Making the Leg Ends.
These were going to be more challenging than the tops, as each one has an inlaid design on the outside face, plus tenons cut on the bottom ends.

First the selected boards were docked to length, and then the taper cut on each side. This was achieved by the use of a purpose made jig on the table saw, as pictured. (The overhead saw blade guard was moved out of the way for the photo). Use of a jig like this enables consistent repetition, so that each component would be exactly identical.

Once these were cut, another jig was used with a router trimmer with a 6mm cutter, to create the grooves to house the WA Blackbutt inlay. While these jigs are time-consuming to create, they end up both saving time and ensuring consistency and accuracy. A fair bit if planning goes into it...

There is a pic here which shows the stack of leg ends part way through the routing process.

The blackbutt strips were machined up, such that they would be a snug fit in the grooves. The corners were all cleaned to make the crisp corners of the grooves, using a sharp chisel.

The tricky part now was to cut the pieces to length accurately. This was done by hand, using a small gent's saw with 24teeth to the inch - very fine indeed. Another jig was made to ensure the cuts were always made at the required 7.5 degree angle on each end. Once all of the components were cut to length, the pieces were glued into place and left overnight to dry. The pics here tell the story.

The following day, when the surplus glue and veneer was sanded off, The resulting panel was very pleasing indeed! This pic here shows the cleaned panel. Looks like a winner!

Making the Base.
The bases are made from 4"x2" rafter material.

The rafter material was docked over length and then dressed.

 Once dressed, the pieces were matched up and arranged, 3 pieces selected for each base.

These were glued up, using a double tongue technique in each joint. Once dry, the bases were put back through the thicknesser and then docked and ripped to their final dimensions. Then the edge profiles were cut on the ends and the sides, as shown in the pic with the stack of bases. The mortises were chopped in the bases, all at the required 7.5 degree angle.

 Where did this 7.5 degree angle come from? The best method is to transfer the ideas from the concept drawing to a full sized drawing, on a "set-out board". The angles and dimensions of components can be measured from the full scale drawing on the set-out board. The picture here shows the set-out board, which is a piece of plywood. Being a great recycler, I obtained this piece of ply from an industrial airconditioning crate - good quality ply, too!
Anyway, the waste was removed from the mortises first, using a forstner bit in the drill press at the correct angle. Chisels were used to clean out the holes. The leg/ends would have tenons cut on the bottom ends, two stub tenons with a haunch inbetween, to be inserted snugly into the base mortises.

These pics show the dry fitting of one of the joints in action. The final clean-up and finish sanding of the components will only take place after the joints have been fitted correctly. The trusty Stanley No.140 block plane shown in the pic was made specifically for the trimming of tenons. A little beauty of a tool, long since out of manufacture.

After the finish sanding of the components, the leg/ends joints were glued up. This pic shows the glued up base. The top here is not yet attached, only sitting on top. The next stage was to attach the tops to the leg/ends and make and attach the feet.

The project comes to completion.

The tables were assembled and the polishing process has commenced. This would take several days before they would be ready for the final waxing. The finish used was Cabot's Danish Oil, which is a kind of oil/varnish mix. It has the wonderful look of a hand rubbed oil finish with the added benefit of a high solids build, providing an excellent platform for the wax finish. The oil and wax finishes gets better with age, unlike those nasty spray-on polyurethanes which I refuse to use these days.

The completed tables are pictured here during the polishing phase.

I was very pleased with the way they have come together, and am sure they will fit beautifully into the art deco surroundings of my clients's home.

For me the aim to achieve a high level of authenticity in their construction, such that a casual observer would not be aware that they were not made in the 1920's or 30's. The construction techniques are true to the era as are the fixings - no philips head screws, only slotted head wood screws and small bullet head nails were used.

 

This pic shows one of the tables after the polishing was completed.

I am very pleased to have contributed to sustainable timber usage by recycling and giving new life to beautiful timber which had previously spent 80 years supporting a roof. A credit to my client, for not wanting to see the old roofing timbers thrown in the skip bin bound for landfill. After these tables have been passed down the line many times as family heirlooms, there is no reason why this same timber can't again be used and re-used for centuries to come.  

I love this stuff... It is such a priveledge to be making family heirlooms.

In search of the ideal kids' workbench.

As I prepare to commence running woodworking activities with kids in Primary Schools, I have been exploring the best type of benches to make and to use for the programs.

My existing benches, used by adults and secondary students, are fantastic. They are solid and made for serious woodworking. However they are heavy and need to be assembled. Each bench is held together by 4 bolts. I have made shorter legs sets to enable young children to be able to use them.

This pic shows the two types of benches I have been using - the 2-vice model and the 4-vice model. Shown here in the process of being set up ready for a program with secondary students.

Meanwhile, I have been researching benches specifically for kids - and the results of my research so far have been disappointing. So I was thinking... how about supermodified saw stools? The important criteria for kids benches me are: easily portable, stackable, stable, able to fit inbetween the wheel arches of my ute, solid enough to not bounce when hammering, room enough for two kids, and two small vices per bench. So after some planning, I made a couple of prototypes - two because I needed to test out the "stackability".

So here is what I came up with in the experiment, and I reckon they are little beauties! A bit like sawstools with a widened top. Note the small shelf under as well.

Of the two small benches I made, only one has the two vices fitted so far. I need to find more of them!!They are second hand 6 inch vices made for kids. Old ones, of course, sourced from markets and garage sales. Both Australian made, one by Carter and the other by Silex.

Note the little Record #0110 block plane on the bench. It was my first plane, given to me by my father. I still use it regularly in my workshop today. I recently said to my Dad: "I love this little plane, and use it all the time. Do you remember that you gave it to me when I was only nine. It's such a good tool - except it is a real pest to adjust." He laughed and said: "That's probably why I gave it to you!"

These little planes are really good for kids to use, as well as for adults!

How's the stackability factor? I was very pleased the way that worked out. Now that the experiment seems to have worked pretty well, I think I will have to make about 8 more of them! I will also need to make some extensions for the legs so I have some flexibility with the height. I made one of these 2 inches shorter than the other.

It must be time I started rounding up the timber to make the rest of the batch...

Not sure how I am going to resolve the vice issue. They're not easy to find.

New Life for a Beautiful Old Table.

The job I have just complete was to re-build an old table. This beautiful oval extending table is a family heirloom - but has had a hard life too. The owner approached me, keen to have the table repaired and the missing extension leaf replaced. So I picked up the table from their home and have begun the rebuilding task.

The two halves of the top are removed here, showing the damaged frame.

The damage was extensive - more than I realised when I put the table in the back of my ute. It was when I started to investigate the table closely in the workshop that the true situation became evident. See the pic above! A jarrah table with cabriole legs, the extending mechanism is of the winding type with a crank handle. The end rail which houses the winding "socket" was smashed into 4 pieces. Of the 8 primary joints in the frame, 7 of these were broken. In most of these, the tenons were broken off inside the legs.

Rebuilding the Table Frame.

The table had been repaired before, long ago. However these repairs had failed too, so I pulled these joints apart as well, removing the metal brackets used in that old repair. These tenons had been broken also.

This pic shows the top of a leg, showing a typical broken tenon. The other broken tenon I have removed already from the mortise which has been cleaned out.

I have made two new ends for the table frame - as one was smashed into 4 pieces and the other was split through the middle and with the tenons missing on each end.

This pic shows one of the side rails with the tenon smashed off it. Rather than replace this whole side rail, I cut out a piece of it and housed in a new piece which would include the missing tenon. The next pic shows the result...

This side rail had a new section added which included a new tenon. Here the screws are being added to reinforce the glued lap joint. Note the slotted countersunk screws being used, in keeping with the original table. How long since you saw Nettlefords 9 gauge screws, Woodies?

Pulling apart the table gives away the secrets of how it was made. It was obviously made in a workshop environment, a combination of machine work and hand work. It is clear dado blades in a table saw were used to cut the table button grooves and the sliding mechanism grooves in the long side rails. A table saw was used for cutting one cheek of the tenons, and hand sawing cut their shoulder. The back face of each tenon was the back face of the rail. A mortising borer (probably on the end of a table saw spindle I reckon) was used to cut the mortises in the legs, as evidenced by the round ends in the mortises. Hide glue was used to assemble the table - most of which had held despite the abuse - hence the mortises had snapped off rather than the glue giving way. The table buttons were fashioned by hand, and yellow pine angle blocks were used to shore up the inside corners of the frame. Glued and nailed. The glue on these blocks had failed on many of the joints - it was the nails which mostly held these in place. The jarrah had been stained to a dark walnut colour on the visible faces. The curved corner wings of the cabriole legs were glued and nailed in place, with a dowel also used with each of these on the far end of the table. Very simple construction and mechanism. I will add new corner blocks to the 7 joints that I rebuild, as well as replacing the two ends of the frame.

One of the re-built corners around the leg. With the top corners of the cabriole "wings" broken off and missing, you can see here how I am gluing in small blocks which I will then shape to complete the curves at the transition point.

This pic shows one of those missing top corners of the cabriole "wings" now in the process of being shaped to complete the nice flowing transition to the leg.

The table frame here is rebuilt and prepared ready for staining and finishing. I moved the frame out of the workshop into the patio, where there would be better light for the staining and finishing. To get the new jarrah to match the old finish, after some trials I used a walnut flavoured wiping stain to get the colour up and then applied several coats of shellac over the lot. This was followed by a dark furniture wax -with a hint of walnut flavour in it as well.

Here the frame is being re-attached to the two halves of the top. As I was using only slotted traditional wood screws, the good old "Yankee" spiral ratchet screwdriver came in very handy for fixing the table buttons. They still can outclass the cordless drill/driver for screwing in slotted screws. When repairing the frame, I often used a slotted bit in a brace, for much more purchase. Wonderful!
The extension mechanism's threaded rod needed straightening, so I did that as best I could using a metal vice and an anvil. Much better. The threaded nut is cast brass or bronze, with the manufacturer's inscription: J & A, F'cray, V. I did a bit of googling for info about "J&A" in Footscray Victoria, but I have not found any info at all. Does anyone out there know anything about this foundry or manufacturer? It might help to date the table... At this stage I am guessing that the table was made in Perth sometime between 1900 and the 1920's.

Making the new Extension Leaves.
Now that the rebuilding of the table has been completed, it was time to get onto making the missing extension leaves. The table extends about 18 inches to the limit. Instead of making one wide leaf (which are a pest to store) I made two narrower leaves, as these are easier to store, not too heavy, and more versatile.

The challenge with these jobs is obtaining the right material to match the old. Lots of old furniture was made from timber finished to 7/8ths of an inch in the old language (22mm). Somewhere along the way, someone out there in the timber industry decided that 1" rough sawn timber would be dressed to 3/4" (19mm). The standard dressed sizes for jarrah in Western Australia for decades has been ex- 1" to 19mm and ex-1 1/2" to 30mm. It's a lot of wastage when you think about it, but I guess that reflects one of the down sides of high volume mechanisation. The only way to get 22mm thick dressed timber is to dress it yourself - either from 25mm rough sawn stock or to boil down 30mm dressed sticks - even more wastage and very expensive!

However there is one more alternative. Salvaged timber. I frequent my local salvage yard where I often buy timber which I recycle, and keep an eye out for those rare goodies which come in from time to time. Some months ago, I came across some old shelving which had come out of an old house which had been demolished. At the time I had snapped it up, as these were jarrah boards 2.7m long and 250mm wide. I bought 2 sticks at 22mm thick and 2 at 33mm. So one of these 22mm sticks gave me the timber I needed to make the two leaves. Lucky I hadn't used it already! Fancy that - 7/8" thick nice wide boards and about the same vintage as the table! Just perfect.

Sorry, there are no photos of the making of the leaves - I was too focused on what I was doing to remember to take any pics!

Making the new leaves was easy. Trying to match the colour was a real challenge... but then, it almost always is with restoring old furniture. I had several goes with a range of different stains but just couldn't get a perfect match. Three times I got the finished polish on and decided it wasn't good enough - so had to take it all off and start again! What I have settled with is a bit reddish in tinge, but actually it looks really nice in the centre of the table. I will never guarantee to be able to do a perfect colour match - for good reason!

We had a very nasty storm the other day in Perth. At least $100 million in damages across the city. At the time we had moved the table into our house from the workshop area, to make sure it would be safe. The pic above shows the table where I left it in our living area - completed and waiting to be returned to the customer. The rags under the feet are to protect the jarrah floor from drag marks and to reduce friction when the table is extended and wound back in again.

This next picture shows the table with the leaves removed and sitting on top.

What a delightful privilege has been to give new life to a wonderful old piece of furniture. In many ways, furniture and people have a lot in common...

Job done - and the table's story continues to unfold...

The story of the table is echoed in the way that it has been made, the battle scars and stains in the top and the frame, the marks of the earlier repairs which were made to it long ago, the old-looking new extension leaves, the memories embedded in it of the family which have passed it down the line, and the new structural repairs which I have just undertaken. This and more all adds up to create the story of the table - which gives it it's character and identity.

I am told that the family are looking forward to gathering around the table to have morning tea on the morning I will be delivering it back to it's proud owners. A new chapter of the table's story begins...

Another Successful Woodworking Activity with the Belmont Alternative Learning Program.

I recently completed my third program with the students at the Belmont Alternative Learning Centre. (BALC)

The projects I offer sequentially introduce new skills and reinforce previously learned skills, which the participants apply in the building of their projects.
Last time I worked with the BALC students, they each made bedside tables. This time, the project involved some more tricky skills and maths, as the participating students each made a bar stool. In addition to angled legs and components, this project included the upholstering of the tops, which the students also undertook themselves.

Making the Bar Stools.
The following sequence of pictures help tell some of the story:

The measuring, marking and preparation of the angled components required good accuracy.

The use of dowelling jigs still requires care and accuracy for a good result.

The glue-ups are always a high pressure event as we race to beat the fast drying glue!

Glue-ups are best done with people working in pairs. Once clamped up, the excess glue is cleaned up.

The glue-up takes place in two stages: the two ends are glued up first, and when these are dry they are then glued together. This glue-up has been completed and cleaned up.

The upholstered tops first needed their plywood bases to be prepared.

The plywood bases were glued to the 50mm HD foam, and then the surplus foam trimmed off.

Students next helped each other apply the 12mm peeled foam to their seats.

The surplus peeled foam was then trimmed from the underside.

The calico was then stretched over the foam layers and fixed to the underside of the base.

The final task in making the upholstered tops was the trickiest – fixing the black vinyl cover.
This required considerable patience to get the corners right!

The students applied Danish Oil to their completed frames.

Once the frames and seats were completed, they were screwed together, completing the project.

Some of the participants with their completed stools.

A great job done by the students. Well done, Gang!!

Each time we have worked together, the BALC students have used their basic woodworking skills and learnt and applied new skills. It is a sequential process. What will be make next time? It will be interesting to see... I suspect we may make something which will benefit the local community. A bit of carpentry. Let's see what happens next term!