Evan Turner, Jarrah and Huon Pine Bedside Tables (Furniture)

I take great pleasure in making pieces I know I will keep and enjoy a lifetime, and pass down to my children to also cherish. Made from jarrah and Huon pine, these bedside tables have a traditional and elegant design that will stand the test of time. The drawers enjoy classic design elements from the shaker oval box - Gothic arch cutaways, dowelled bottom panel and hand cut copper tacks. The undermount runners allow the drawer to glide fractionally above the top shelf. The top gap is large enough for fingers to fit through to grab the top lip and open the drawer. The drawer sides were challenging to make. Rather than steam bending a thin panel of Huon pine, I wanted to use some beautiful veneer that I had obtained to showcase the sweeping grain and birds eye figure. Each drawer side is made from five laminations of veneer, that were bent around a form. The grain direction varies for strength. Each layer was added separately over eight glue ups, which...took some time. The top and bottom edges were trimmed flat and then the cutaways completed. The frames feature wedged through mortise and tenon joints. The great thing about this joint is that once the wedges were driven in there was no need for additional clamping. The other nice frame detail is the dual joints cut on the side uprights. On one side the upright has a halving joint into the rail and on the other it has a channel for the shelf. The end result is a little beveled corner piece that appears seemingly out of nowhere. The back panels stiffen the tables nicely and additional bracing is hidden out of sight under the bottom shelf. Finished with buffing oil and wax.

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