18th Century Tavern Table
Materials: curly maple, poplar
Finish: dye, boiled linseed oil, Minwax wipe-on varnish, milk paint
Construction Details
Leg stock squared and marked for mortises.
Beefy English mortising chisels are the perfect tool for this task.
Completed mortises.
I'm a mediocre turner at best but managed to produce this reasonably matching set of legs after many prayers to St. Joseph.
Cutting tenon cheeks.
Paring tenons to final thickness.
I used an old Stanley 66 to put beads on the aprons and stretchers.
Parts for the base ready for glue-up. The through mortises are for the center stretcher which will be made to size after dry assembly.
Dry-assembled base. I used our spare room for this to ensure it was sitting on a flat surface.
Base after two coats of milk paint.
Here's the finished top after three applications of Vintage Maple TransTint dye, boiled linseed oil, and eight coats of wipe-on varnish. I got the idea for the cloverleaf corners from a Queen Anne side table.