Picture 1: I am nearing completion of a modern design coffee table that is made from Russian birch plywood and paper-backed, 4x8 sheet Peruvian walnut veneer from Oakwood veneer company. The design is low in height and square in footprint. There are two large drawers in the coffee table which ride on Blum heavy duty drawer glides. Here is a picture of the mostly completed project. I still need to finish the finish, but I will wait a little while before polishing.
Picture 2: Using the TS55 and track to dimension the plywood. My Russian birch is supplied in 5 ft square pieces making it a little awkward to transport.
Picture 3: The joints for the table are made with a lock miter bit in the router table.
Picture 4 and 5: A 4" tall plywood riser base supports the main box.
Picture 6 and 7: Dry fitting the panels for basic structure.
Picture 8 and 9: Glue-up. The blue masking tape keeps squeezed out glue off the plywood.
Picture 10: Clamping the main box.
Picture 11: Oops. I forgot to account for the solid edging in my table's final dimensions. As a result, the main box is too long. In this photo, I trimmed down the box down with the TS55 track saw.
Picture 12: Gluing solid edging to the plywood.
Picture 13: Making the drawer boxes. I got tired of the lock miter bit and switched to butt joints with dominos for the drawer boxes.
Picture 14 and 15: Fitting the drawers. The Blum concealed drawer glides have a bar that connects the left and right ends to ensure that the drawer opens without racking. Drawer bottom is 3/8" thick plywood.
Picture 16: Making the drawer fronts. There is a profiled edge on the drawer fronts which necessitates a hardwood edge. The plywood drawer front panel is banded with 1/2" wide Peruvian walnut which is also attached with dominos.
Picture 17 and 18: Veneering the drawer fronts. The drawer fronts are veneered using Titebond cold press veneer glue and lots of clamps. I don't have a bag or pump for vacuum veneering.
Picture 19 and 20: Progress. Drawer front attached to drawer box.
Picture 21 and 22: Veneering a side. I don't have enough long clamps so I made a rack to let me use shorter clamps on one edge.
Picture 23, 24, and 25: Veneering the top (and bottom) With a 4 foot square box, the only option for me is to use heat reactivated glue (Better Bond HeatLock).
Picture 26: Veneering the riser base. Back to cold press veneer glue for this.
Picture 27 and 28: First look at the veneered box with several coats of clear Pratt and Lambert No. 38 varnish. The interior surfaces are painted.
Picture 29: The grain of the veneer travels up one drawer front, across the top, and then back down the opposite drawer front.
Picture 30: Detail of the drawer end. The drawerfront edge is stepped to show a narrower edge when closed.
Picture 2: Using the TS55 and track to dimension the plywood. My Russian birch is supplied in 5 ft square pieces making it a little awkward to transport.
Picture 3: The joints for the table are made with a lock miter bit in the router table.
Picture 4 and 5: A 4" tall plywood riser base supports the main box.
Picture 6 and 7: Dry fitting the panels for basic structure.
Picture 8 and 9: Glue-up. The blue masking tape keeps squeezed out glue off the plywood.
Picture 10: Clamping the main box.
Picture 11: Oops. I forgot to account for the solid edging in my table's final dimensions. As a result, the main box is too long. In this photo, I trimmed down the box down with the TS55 track saw.
Picture 12: Gluing solid edging to the plywood.
Picture 13: Making the drawer boxes. I got tired of the lock miter bit and switched to butt joints with dominos for the drawer boxes.
Picture 14 and 15: Fitting the drawers. The Blum concealed drawer glides have a bar that connects the left and right ends to ensure that the drawer opens without racking. Drawer bottom is 3/8" thick plywood.
Picture 16: Making the drawer fronts. There is a profiled edge on the drawer fronts which necessitates a hardwood edge. The plywood drawer front panel is banded with 1/2" wide Peruvian walnut which is also attached with dominos.
Picture 17 and 18: Veneering the drawer fronts. The drawer fronts are veneered using Titebond cold press veneer glue and lots of clamps. I don't have a bag or pump for vacuum veneering.
Picture 19 and 20: Progress. Drawer front attached to drawer box.
Picture 21 and 22: Veneering a side. I don't have enough long clamps so I made a rack to let me use shorter clamps on one edge.
Picture 23, 24, and 25: Veneering the top (and bottom) With a 4 foot square box, the only option for me is to use heat reactivated glue (Better Bond HeatLock).
Picture 26: Veneering the riser base. Back to cold press veneer glue for this.
Picture 27 and 28: First look at the veneered box with several coats of clear Pratt and Lambert No. 38 varnish. The interior surfaces are painted.
Picture 29: The grain of the veneer travels up one drawer front, across the top, and then back down the opposite drawer front.
Picture 30: Detail of the drawer end. The drawerfront edge is stepped to show a narrower edge when closed.
