Projects / woodworking

Walnut and maple bedside console.

A long, narrow console in walnut and maple with thin ebony stringers and a blackened-steel anti-twist spine. Commissioned by my son for his bedside, briefed as "a fun project to do".

The brief from the client was direct: a fun project to do, for his bedside. The shape came from how he uses the space — long and narrow, table-height, room to set down a book and a glass.

The top is a sandwich of solid walnut and a single maple field, separated by thin ebony stringers. The contrast does the visual work; the ebony lines give the eye a place to rest between the two species. Finished in Odie's Super Duper Oil, which sits in the wood instead of on top of it.

A long, narrow top wants to twist. Two pieces of blackened steel handle that: a structural plate recessed flush into the underside that ties the legs together, and a back spine inset into the rear edge of the top. Both are tucked out of sight from any normal viewing angle. The four tapered maple legs bolt through stainless threaded inserts so the connection stays tight while the wood does what wood does.

Materials: solid walnut, solid maple, ebony stringers, tapered maple legs, blackened steel anti-twist plate and back spine, stainless threaded inserts, Odie's Super Duper Oil

Long, narrow walnut-and-maple console table installed in a living room, blue chair and fireplace in the background, late afternoon light raking across the top.

Gallery

Three-quarter close-up of the table end: chamfered end-grain shows the walnut-ebony-maple-ebony-walnut sandwich, two tapered maple legs visible underneath. — Walnut, ebony stringer, maple, ebony stringer, walnut. The ebony lines give the eye a beat between the two woods.

Tighter portrait view of the same corner: chamfered end face, sandwich layers stacked, two maple legs descending to the tile floor. — Same corner, vertical. The legs read taller and the sandwich proportions read truer.

Detail of the rear corner: the blackened-steel back spine inset flush into the top's rear edge, with one tapered maple leg meeting the top. — Black steel back spine inset into the rear edge. Anti-twist where a long narrow top needs it, invisible from the front.

View looking up into the underside of the assembled console: four maple legs in their wells around the recessed blackened-steel structural plate. — Underside. The blackened plate ties the four legs together and resists the long top's tendency to twist.

Closer view of the underside: washers and screws stepped along the maple-walnut field showing how the structural hardware is fastened into the top. — Detail of the hardware. Washers spread the load across the laminations so no single board carries the pull.

Close-up of the top of one maple leg: counterbored well with a stainless threaded insert seated inside. — Stainless threaded insert at the top of each leg. The fastener goes in and out without chewing the wood.

A rectangular brass plate inset flush into the underside of the maple-walnut top, with eight countersunk fastener holes. — Brass mounting plate recessed into the underside before the steel structural plate seats over it.

The maple-walnut sandwich top under red Bessey clamps during glue-up in the shop, a leg mounting block sitting at the foreground. — Glue-up. The sandwich is one continuous run of clamping pressure across the seams.

Three tapered maple legs laid on the shop floor before installation; two show the threaded inserts at the top, one shows a felt glide at the foot. — Legs pre-install. Threaded inserts at top, felt glides at the foot.

Two maple legs bolted to the blackened-steel structural plate, the assembly upside down on tile floor. — Legs and steel plate as a single sub-assembly before the top goes on.

The commissioner working the top with an orbital sander in the shop, hearing protection on, sweatshirt hood up. — The client putting in his own hours on the sander. A fun project to do.

A jar of Odie's Super Duper Oil and a white scrub pad sitting on the maple field of the top before the first coat goes on. — Odie's Super Duper Oil and a scrub pad. The finish sits in the wood instead of on top of it.