Last year I built this small rustic table for our lake house and put a bird’s eye maple top on it. I wanted to find an easy and decorative way to attach the top to the four leg posts, so I drilled a 3/4 inch hole down through the top and into each leg. Next I cut a length of dowel the same dimensions as the hole, but here is where I stepped it up a notch….
I first cut a one-inch slot in one end of the dowel with my hand saw. Next I cut a wedge from a scrap of walnut. I swabbed the inside of the leg hole with woodworker’s glue, tapped in the dowel, and then tapped the dark walnut wedge into the slot. I ran the grain of the dowel perpendicular to the grain of the bird’s eye maple top for even more contrast. Lastly, I sanded the top smooth, and finished it with three coats of Minwax® Wipe-On Poly.
Give it a try sometime!
Thanks for stopping by –
Bruce
