A long weekend, and another pleasant distraction.

As this past long weekend approached, I got to thinking.  Every morning for the past month, as I got out of bed in the dark to squeeze in a morning walk/jog, I was greeted by the sound of my wife's favorite lamp rocking away on her bedside table.  I certainly don't want to wake her at that unpleasantly early hour.  And more importantly, I really don't want to be the cause of a lamp catastrophe.  The lamp itself is an older one with three or more glass pieces in a metal frame.  I'm sure it's not particularly valuable monetarily, but since she loves it, it deserves a better home than the rickety old department store table it currently lives on.  Ah ha!

About a month ago, I purchased a copy of +Tom Fidgen's "Made By Hand"  Of all the beautiful projects that he chronicled in the book, the one that spoke to me the most (and instantly: the cover photo and the ethic he espouses on his website are the reason I purchased the book) was a small side table.  More importantly, when the book arrived, my wife agreed with my assessment.  I knew that I would build the table eventually.  Enter my early morning revelation about a cheaply made,quasi-wood side table currently inhabiting the space next to her side of the bed.  I knew that the project was beyond my current skill level, but I also knew that I would never gain skill by staying firmly within my woodworking comfort zone.  And it was a long weekend after all.  So a new table went to the front of the line on my bench.

The bulk of the stock that I will need.  And the coffee that I needed to get moving.

I came up with a compromise.  Based on the space that I would have to work with,  my desire to make the table my own, and knowing that this project was a stretch, I decided to make a full scale mock-up out of pine.  This is my opportunity to practice the skills required, work out all of the measurements and joinery, and hopefully finish with a table that will make my wife happy until we can find the perfect wood for the final version.

With my fingers crossed, and my heart in my work, I'll document the journey here.

My legs cut to length.

I was able to find some 2x2's for the legs, so that it wouldn't be necessary to glue up stock.  Of course the final dimension of the legs will be 1 1/4" square, so out came my old Stanley No.8 to plane the legs to finished size.

One leg down, three to go.

During the process, I noticed some issues with the plane.  To make sure that my legs were square and smooth, I checked my scribe lines often, and accounted for any small errors as I went.  That definitely made the process take longer, but I think the slower pace will actually help me achieve better results.  And besides, isn't that one of the reasons we all decided to use hand tools?  Working at a different pace?  Being more in touch with the feel of each piece of wood as the fibers yield to our imagination and take on the shape we envision?  A couple of blisters later, and my legs were all planed to final thickness.

All the stock that wasn't a leg.

In my next post, I'll share the beginning of the joinery.