These small versatile stands were a mainstay in the colonial home. Visit any historic home and you’ll find several tucked into corners, nestled by comfortable armchairs, or flanking the fireplace. When the top was level, it provided a useful perch for a candle, a book or a beverage; when vertical, it acted as a fire screen or decorative accent. And the tripod arrangement of the legs meant it could be placed in a corner, out of the way when not in use. Today tables like this fetch thousands of dollars at auction.

There are 3 distinct aspects to its construction: turning the column, making the sliding dovetails for the legs, and constructing the tilting mechanism; each will be performed with the aid of several ingenious shop-made jigs and fixtures to ensure safety, accuracy, and speed.

This piece is a great project for intermediate woodworkers and provides them with the opportunity to improve basic machine and hand tool skills, while learning to efficiently allocate time and shop resources. Building this tilt-top stand will get you one step closer to tackling that pie-crust, ball-&-claw tea table you’ve been dreaming about. 

This table was the cover story for Fine Woodworking magazine, Issue # 173

Course fee (including materials fee) $550

In order to register, please call us at 215-849-5174, or drop us an email and we will forward the registration materials.


Classes:

• Presidents' Day weekend, February 19-21, 2011 - day