Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
TOOLS & MATERIALS
WOOD MOCK-UP
• Cherry: 8/4 board, measuring pattern, particularly in the • Approximately 7 bf poplar or
2" x 14" x 86" (17 board feet). top. It can be challenging to similar
• The formula for “re-assemble” the boards and • Cardboard or thin plywood for
determining board feet make the flat-sawn pattern mock-up top
(bf) is: thickness x width x match because there is some • ¾" masking tape
length (in inches), divided material missing following the • 3" drywall screws
by 144. bandsaw cuts and milling. An • 1/8" mat board (for cushioning
• Example: 2" x 14" x 86" alternative to the unusually clamps pads and for mock-up)
= 2408, divided by 144 wide board that I used for
= 16.7 bf this project would be to use LAYOUT TOOLS
• Note: There is always two boards that measure • 6" steel rule
some percentage of waste approximately 10 bf each. For • Tape measure
when buying lumber. For example, two straight-grain • 4" or 6" square
this project, 17 bf is about boards measuring 2" x 8" x • Marking gauge
the minimum amount of 96" will give you a little more • Marking knife
wood needed to create than 20 bf (10 bf each). This • Straight edge or long steel ruler
the table. amount gives you a little
• Craig’s recommendations: breathing room in terms of ODDS & ENDS
The cherry board I used in grain pattern and would also
this class was flat and wide allow for a couple of extra • Sketch pad and pencil
with a lot of rift-sawn grain. parts, such as legs or rails, in • ¾" or 1" blue painter’s tape
This allowed me to have a case you make a mistake • Titebond Original Wood Glue
minimal amount of waste, along the way and need a • #6 or #8 x 1" wood screws
which in this project was the backup part. (for attaching table buttons)
flat-sawn wood in the center • Palette knife for spreading glue
of the board. I wanted to • Two ¼" dowel centers
take advantage of large areas • Countersink
of straight, rift-sawn grain
for this project rather than
introducing any flat-sawn
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
TOOLS & MATERIALS
HAND TOOLS, PLANES & CHISELS SAFETY
SPOKESHAVES
• / " or 9 mm chisel
3 8 • Hearing protection
• Jointer plane • ¾" or 1" wide chisel • Safety glasses
• Smoothing plane
• Small plane or block plane SHOP-MADE JIGS RESOURCES
• Craig makes, uses and sells • Mortise chop block (for • Woodcraft: woodcraft.com
a variety of wooden hand squaring mortises) • Rockler: rockler.com
planes with high-quality • Saddle jig (for routing • Hock Tools: hocktools.com
Hock blade and breaker sets. mortises) • High-quality plane irons,
The extra thick blades are • Tenoning jig knives, burnishers and
easy to sharpen and hold a replacement irons for metal
remarkable edge. ELECTRIC & CORDLESS planes
• Small, curved-bottom TOOLS & CUTTERS • Hida Tool: hidatool.com
spokeshave • High-quality Japanese tools
• Small hand drill (Craig’s • Plunge router with ½" collet
• 3/8" 2-flute, ½" shank solid and sharpening stones
drill is made by Fiskars. • GoggleWorks Center for the
Although it’s not a heavy- carbide upcut router bit
• Cordless drill Arts: goggleworks.org
duty woodworking drill, the
small size is very versatile. In • 1/8" drill bit
addition, the chuck closes • 11/64"
down to zero for tiny drill bits.)
• Whizcut file (Simonds Whizcut MACHINES USED ON THIS
Vixen 8" or 10" file) PROJECT
• Oberg file (Sandvik or Bahco • Bandsaw
Oberg 8" or 10" file) • ½", 3-hook teeth per inch,
• Card scraper (Sandvik, Lie- carbon steel blade
Nielsen or similar) • Table saw
• Scraper burnisher is required • Jointer
to form the cutting edge on • Planer
the scraper.
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc.
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
COFFEE TABLE 3-VIEW
395/8"
Top View
241/8"
24 1/8"
23/8" 29/16" 23/8" 29/16"
36" 201/2"
Rail with slight curve 16 7/8" Rail with slight curve
Front View Side View
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc.
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
Joinery Detail
JOINERY DETAIL
17/8"
13/16"
1 7/8"
Tenons 1" x 3/8" centered in rail
/16"
5
13
/16"
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
LEG PROFILE
17/8"
Top
4" Flat
for joinery
Inside Outside
Joinery Face Show Face
167/8"
Bottom
13/8"
13/4"
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
TOP VIEW OF LEGS
r r
n te le n te le
b b
Ce f Ta Ce f Ta
o o
Rail
Rail
Rail Rail
Yes NO
Grain running outward from the Curved leg with grain in different directions
center of the furniture piece Grain pattern on the sides of the legs
results in grain that follows the fights the curve of the legs and visually
curve of the leg tends to negate rather than accentuate the curve
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc.
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
FINDING ONE'S LEGS IN WOOD GRAIN
Top (Endgrain) Top (Endgrain)
Yes No
Diagonal endgrain Parallel endgrain
(riftsawn) results in (flatsawn) results in
straight grain on all 2 flatsawn and 2
faces straight-grained faces
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc.
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
Wooden Table Buttons
WOODEN TABLE BUTTONS
Grain Direction
/16"
7
/16"
/8" Pilot hole
1
Table top
11
/"
1 4
/8"
3
11/4"
Approx. 1/16" space 1/4" slot
to allow table button 1/4" deep
to pull top tight
against base
/64" Pilot hole
11
countersunk
Rail
cross-section
1"
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc.
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
Wooden Table Buttons
WOODEN TABLE BUTTONS
Sequence of cuts
Sequence of Cuts
1st cut /4"
1
Tablesaw kerf /16"
11
/16"
3
2nd cut 1
/4"
Tablesaw or
bandsaw
11/4"
3rd cut
Cut button to 11/4"
long on tablesaw
Drill pilothole and
countersink
/8"
3
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc.
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
GROOVES FOR TABLE BUTTONS
Grooves for Table Buttons
Top edge of rail
Long rail Short rail
11/4" 11/2"
3
/4" 3
/4"
1
/4" /4"
1
/4"
1
/4" deep
1
deep
Bottom edge of mortise
Longer groove to
is 3/4" below the top
allow for seasonal
of rail
movement
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
Saddle Jig for Mortising With Router
3/4” Plywood PLANS & DIAGRAMS
SADDLE JIG FOR MORTISING WITH ROUTER
16"
31/2"
22"
3 1/2"
4 1/4"
6 1/4"
6 1/4"
Wood screws
3" 16" 1
/8"
Bottom
16" x 33/4"
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
Saddle Jig
SADDLE JIG IN
InUSE
Use
Wooden wedges
Work piece
Plywood spacers
Wedges and clamps hold workpiece
in place
Plywood spacers of various thicknesses
position the workpiece near the top
of the jig
© Craftsy and Sympoz Inc.
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Contemporary Coffee Table with Craig Vandall Stevens
PLANS & DIAGRAMS
A WONDERFUL WASTE OF WOOD
A Wonderful Waste of Wood
Slashed grain on edge
corresponds with slashed grain on face
To correct:
Removing a wedge-shaped piece
from the edge straightens both
the face and the endgrain
Resulting straight
grain on face
and edge
Wedge shaped
waste piece
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