Mission Style End Table with Marble, Finished

I just completed the end table and change the embedded stone from slate to marble. The slate was too bumpy and heavy for a table top and it even showed minor scratches. Marble isn't my favorite but I can get attractive 12" x 18" tiles for $8. The top is constructed from quarter-sawn white oak veneered on red oak. Red oak is readily available from my local Lowes store. After staining, you can't tell the difference in the species of oak.

Here is a view from the top showing the final construction of the curved sides. I was worried that they might flex easily but that has not been the case. It's easy to miss that they are curved. I think this is a design issue because there isn't anything straight to highlight the curve. Perhaps it would have helped if the sides were flush to the curved top.

Finishing only took two days. The first day to apply gel stain to emphasize the grain. The following day I lightly sanded the oak leaving the stain in the grain, and then sprayed it with a brown water-based dye. After it dried, I used a spray can of Deft satin lacquer to finish the project.

Mission Style End Table with Slate, Part 3

Here is an update on the end table project. The complex part are the curved sides which bow out slightly from each side to match the curve of the top. The picture at right shows the bottom of the table with a coat of gel stain that fills the grain of the oak. I'm following my Mission Style finish recipe that I blogged about earlier. After the stain dries, I'll sand it and then spray a brown dye.

Economy and Reduced Complexity

Using solid quarter-sawn white oak would have been costly and showing flake on all four sides of the legs would have been difficult. This project almost entirely uses veneer. The core of the legs is ¾" plywood with ¼" MDF sandwiched between them. Quarter-sawn white oak veneer is glued to all four sides.

Enabling the Curved Sides

To create the bowed sides, I've cut a 15° slot into the sides of the legs. I don't want the curve all the way to the floor, so the challenge is only having the slot partially down the leg. Veneer allows me to cover the slot on bottom part of the leg. I sawed the slot the entire length of the leg, then filled the slot with filler where it wasn't required. Veneer was glued over the top and I exposed the slot again with a small diameter router bit on my router table.