Bedside Table Build Process

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I haven't had much time in the workshop since the last instalment, but I have made a little more progress. On a hot day a few weeks ago, I sawed the planks up a bit more, using the Mini Moravian bench in the workshop (to stay out of the sun) with a fan blowing all the sawdust into my face to help keep me cool!

After lots more of that, I was left with this pile of rough-sawn planks:

The end grain:

The face grain:

I'm pretty certain the grain isn't ideal for table legs really (both in terms of grain angle on the ends and grain straightness on the faces), but it's what I've got so I'm going to have to live with it.

After chopping them up I got on with preparing a straight and twist-free face and then a straight and perpendicular edge:

This shows the face and edge of the first one I did - you can see the grain is far from being straight up the leg:

After doing two of them, I didn't get back out to the workshop for a couple of weeks but this morning I went out and planed two sides of the remaining six:

Unfortunately (and perhaps unsurprisingly) the first two I did are no longer straight: they've distorted a bit since I planed the faces. They're all still much thicker than they need to be (in both dimensions), so I can deal with it, but I'm concerned that they might keep moving (and that they might move more when I bring them closer to thickness).

I was planning to feed them through the bandsaw this afternoon to get them closer to the final size and then dump them in the bedroom for a while to see how much they move, but I'm now feeling unsure of how close to the final size to aim for. If I get too close and then they move then I might not have enough left to compensate. I guess this would all be a lot easier with wood with a dead-straight grain.

I am a hobbyist metalworker and woodworker. I work as an electronic design engineer and spend most of my working days in front of a computer so I enjoy having the opportunity to use my hands and make things in my spare time. I particularly enjoy making tools as I can then use them on other projects. This website showcases some of the things I've made.

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