We begin the final session with the table top being glued up. The timber is West Australian Sheoak, and this promises to be something special. When finished, it is a rose gold in colour, darkening over time to a rose-gold-brown.
While the panel is drying, I get on with finishing the drawer. So far it has been fitted to the table with an extra divider attached with a through mortice-and-tenon
We move on to attaching the slips
The drawer bottom is trimmed to fit, and then rebated for the slips
Here is the completed drawer. Note that the drawer bottom rests below the slips (rather than at the same height). This was to save a few mm of height
The rear of the drawer
The end of the drawer has a fitted section that serves to prevent the drawer bottom expanding to the rear. Instead, it will expand into a deeper groove at the front of the drawer. The reason for this less typical construction will be clearer later.
The drawer sides require a little tuning to slide smoothly. The drawer front at the legs was very tight (so that the drawer front appears to be a solid join), and it was necessary to remove some thickness from the drawer sides. This was done with a scraper for control, to avoid planning into the drawer front
Here is the fitted drawer
and here is the drawer front
The table top is ready for shaping. It has been book matched to create a pattern in the figure of a slight boat. This will enhance the outline of the top
The top is marked out with the template I made early on, and then bandsawed to shape. Below the ends are planed
and then the sides receive their final shaping with a Mujingfang double iron woodie. The advantage of this plane here is that it can take a thick shaving without tearout regardless of grain direction