Fine Woodworking's Scandinavian Kitchen Table Plan

This plan is your guide to making a simply beautiful table. This everyday table is modeled on Julia Child s original kitchen table. Purchased in Norway in 1960, it s the farm table at which Julia and her husband Paul ate most of their meals. It is now on display at the Smithsonian where it so fascinated Mario Rodriguez that he created this plan for reproducing a similar version.

Construction is unusual and excellent.Dispensing with typical leg-to-apron joinery, the table has shouldered brindle joints that lock the legs to a pair of long aprons to eliminate racking. Three dovetailed cross rails link the apron, along with the H-stretcher system, to make it rock solid.

Tips for short-bed lathes, jigs, and putting it all together. Follow this detailed plan to complete all the steps for turning the legs on a lathe, cutting the stopped dovetail sockets in the aprons, fitting the stretchers, assembling the undercarriage, and applying the final finish.

This simple table has a sophistication all its own Mario built his farm table from soft maple - wood that is hard enough to survive daily use, but with a rosier, more attractive color than hard maple. Get your plan today and start thinking about the wood you ll choose for this robust but unpretentious table.

SKILL LEVEL: Intermediate

FINISHED SIZE: 35 1/4 in. wide by 65 3/8 in. deep by 28 3/4 in. tall

PRINTED PLAN INCLUDES: Extensive full-size and scale drawings Complete cutlist Step-by-step companion article "