I’m making progress on the night stand. I took some vacation time yesterday afternoon to meet the boys off the bus. I was able to get the first table glued before I took Ben to basketball camp. It isn’t perfect, but I feel pretty good about the construction.
Today I applied shellac to the base and top. I wound up making the top a little narrower (I had planned 20″ wide and wound up with 18″ wide). When I put the top on the base, it seemed a bit wide. Susanna agreed with me, and it took 30 seconds to run the top across the table saw and remove the 2-inches.
Tonight I glued in the cleats to attach the top as well as the runner for the drawer. Tomorrow I will attach the top and make sure the project is cleaned up and ready for the drawer to be built.
I’ll probably build the second table before building the drawers, but that is always open for change.
I also haven’t decided on a final finish for the tables. I may get some more water-based finish to spray on, or I may just use a wiping varnish. I’m leaning towards the spray finish – it will offer a little more protection than just the wipe on varnish. I have wiping varnish on hand, but I would have to go purchase more water-based finish to spray. Luckily, I don’t have to decide right away. The shellac will offer a little protection until I put a real finish on it, and they don’t need to be ready until Christmas anyway.
