Featured A Couple of Tables

James, is the bottom of your table picture that you posted maple wood and the top pine?

 

No, the entire base is Cherry, legs, stretchers, aprons and drawer front. The top is white pine with breadboard ends.

 

Thanks James

 

That is a primary reason i bought it, most american tables in this form did have pine tops & a maple base. Very few that have survived were built with a cherry or walnut base.

 

Yes that is the wood configuration I have become accustomed to seeing, southern states.

 

My cherry table was built in coastal Connecticut, cherry was a big deal up there at the time, it was plentiful & used as a substitute for the more exotic & imported mahogany.

 

Is cherry a hard wood like mahogany or walnut? @James Conrad
Or is it more akin to maple in hardness?

 

All 3 are considered hardwoods, with cherry & walnut more color and usually more desirable unless the maple is "tiger" which has a heavy figure.

 

Tiger maple is rare though, only 2-3% of all maple have that figure.

 

Thanks James we can barely get cherries down south when they're in season, much less cherry wood!

I doubt I have ever seen "tiger maple" down south either!

 

Tiger maple is rare and expensive, there was a queen anne mid 18th century corner chair that i had my eye on years ago, was blown outa the water at auction, chair sold for 20k.

 

Queen Anne, American c 1750

 

Beautiful chair. I can see why it went for that price. We've had quite a few pieces of curly and tiger maple from the Lancaster County area.

CX, your first table brings to mind that in the early days and even on the farm, folks couldn't afford to buy a new piece of furniture when they needed it so they adapted what they had and made it work. I wouldn't be surprised if the original top had been one piece. After it became substantially worn, it was replaced with the 3 pieces of wood. Love your second work table. We have one in walnut that the top has to be cleaned down from time to time as it oozes some kind of grease/oil from many years ago.
It looks like the escutcheon may have been replaced on your first piece.
Patd

 

What a fun thread. Love these tables. Great info, everyone.

 

Dang

 

Where are you down south?

 

What log house!? Where!?

 

In looking at 1st table again, it would be tempting to remove those leafs that were added later but, i don't think you can at this point. There is a thumb moulded edge which was cut off on both sides when they "remodeled" table and converted it into a drop leaf.
It would look weird to have thumb moulded edge on front and back with none on sides, I'd leave it be as a "drop leaf" table.

 

I think CX is in Iowa but could be wrong about that, it was her or someone in here complaining about the heat last summer.

 

I thought she was in BC. Was it Vancouver Island?

Love the tables, CX, both of them.