This is my first piece of furniture with hand-cut mortise-and-tenon joinery. It’s far from perfect, but I managed to hide most of the imperfections inside the frame.
I finished it with 50/50 beeswax and mineral oil.
I think the table top and long aprons are cherry, with two strips of what may be oak in the table top? It was in the miscellaneous pile at my community workshop, so your guys is as good as mine. The legs and short apron are sapele, which is probably my favorite wood when it’s finished, it’s unbelievably lustrous in person.
Happy to answer an questions, otherwise, I just wanted to share the first thing I’ve ever made that I didn’t finish and immediately tear apart all the mistakes I made, I’m genuinely pleased with this one!
Yeah tapering legs definitely gives it a certain lightness, if they were square it would be a bit much.
Mad props to doing the joinery on the tapered surface, that adds a lot of complexity.
If I remember correctly, I chopped the mortises on the tapered face, then cut the tenons with square shoulders, then transferred the angle of the taper to the shoulders and cut off the tiny bit of excess. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected
I just recently learned the words “mortise” and “tenon” on my recent woodworking video binge. I saw your table and was instantly giddy with excitement! I’m not a carpenter, but I can see what I would call artistry in your work. And excellence. This table exudes excellence. Be so proud!!!
If you ever need inspiration for more impulse projects, I recommend looking up videos from Blacktail Studio. That’s what got a painter like me started on a mild obsession with carpentry.
I’m really glad to hear you like it! I’m glad it gives off that impression, because a not insignificant amount of time was spent finessing each individual joint