Sassafras Kitchen Table

[JustinTyson]

I recently completed a fairly quick (at least, for such a large piece) and easy kitchen table. I used sassafras, because my design called for 3" square legs and it was one of the few woods I had in the appropriate dimensions.



But I'll be honest, it doesn't hurt that sassafras is a dream to work with hand tools, and finishes up with a beautiful golden chatoyance. It seems like a common open-pored wood like oak or ash at first glance, but it has a much richer color that changes and shimmers as you walk around. Not possible to photograph, but if you ever have the chance to work some sassafras, go for it! I wish I hadn't sold most of my stash



It was quick and easy, because the joinery was stupid simple. It looks complex, but it's just an intersection of three half-laps.



You fit two pieces together to start



Lap the third piece on:



And slide it home:



The tabletop has three 1/2" holes that fit over corresponding holes in the tops of the legs. Keeps the legs from continuing to squat towards the floor when pressure is applied.





Really the part that took longer than anything was waiting for glue to dry. The panel is glued up of 8 separate pieces, and I did them all 2 at a time to make it manageable. This is the widest panel I've ever dealt with! I was happy to get it out of my small shop and into my kitchen.

I wrote up a whole series about designing and building the table on my blog (start at the bottom for chronological order). I feel like I spilled about 10,000 words on this topic, so you'll be forgiven if you just want to look at pictures

[C. in Indy]

That's super-nice! I was recently thinking about Sassafras; your comments distinguishing it from oak and ash are much appreciated.

Great work.

[JustinTyson]

C. in Indy said:

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That's super-nice! I was recently thinking about Sassafras; your comments distinguishing it from oak and ash are much appreciated.

Great work.

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Thanks! Sassafras really is a great wood. I had a whole stack of clear 8' x 2" x 12" planks that I sold for $2/BF. Now that I'm getting ready to build a Windsor chair, I'm kicking myself. It would have made great seat material.

Ah well. I guess I'll have to use my 24"-wide poplar planks to mop up my tears.

[Bibliophile 13]

Looks great! I especially love the simple geometric forms--circles and rectangles--that combine to give a really interesting visual effect.

[Window Guy]

I like it, simple and clean looking. Nice Job !


Steve

[Scoony]

Looks awesome. I love working with sassafras. Leaves the shop smelling like root beer. I used it on a few projects. Pretty easy to come by around here and you can sometimes find curly sassafras

[JustinTyson]

Yep, the smell was amazing. I used to be able to find 12"+ diameter sassafras pretty easily when I lived in southwest Mississippi - that's where the wood for this project came from - but coastal Florida ain't exactly hardwood country. Not much besides live oak and pine on this island. If you do find a sassafras, it's going to be a scrappy little tree a couple inches in diameter.

I've seen some sassafras that was 4' in diameter along the Mississippi River in TN, but I suspect it was hollow!

[Rob Young]

JustinTyson said:

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Yep, the smell was amazing. I used to be able to find 12"+ diameter sassafras pretty easily when I lived in southwest Mississippi - that's where the wood for this project came from - but coastal Florida ain't exactly hardwood country. Not much besides live oak and pine on this island. If you do find a sassafras, it's going to be a scrappy little tree a couple inches in diameter.

I've seen some sassafras that was 4' in diameter along the Mississippi River in TN, but I suspect it was hollow!

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+1 on the smell. Makes you want a sarsaparilla to drink.

[C. in Indy]

Now I'm imbibing some of that aroma.... Got a small lot and I'm starting to explore which pieces to extract :

[hbmcc]

Yes! Nice!

Are chairs next?