Mission Oak End Table

This was my first attempt at furniture and mortise & tenon joinery. I decided to start really small. My father-in-law wanted a small end table to place next to his recliner upon which he could put a jar of peanuts and his mug of beer while watching the game.

Carolyn and I went over to their house while they were out of town and measured the space, and the height of the chair, and took note of the color of the other wood furniture in the room.

I learned pretty quickly that if I wanted to do mortise & tenon joinery, then I'm gonna need to find a better way. I used a router to drill the mortises, and hand-shaved the tenons to get them to fit. Took forever.

I never took a photo of this little table. Maybe someday I'll get around to it.

Stats:

• Project # 1
• Completed: December 25, 2008
• Total Work Hours: 50
• Total Cost: $45

Finish:

• Sanded to 220 grit
• (2-3 coats) Minwax Provincial
• (3 coats) Minwax Wipe-on Polyurethane - Semi-Gloss Finish

Joinery:

• Mortise & Tenon
• Rabbets