Queen Anne Handkerchief Table

Front view of the Queen Anne Handkerchief Table with the leaf folded down.

Description:
Here is my woodworking opus - a Queen Anne Handkerchief Table. Plans were from an article by Eugene Landon in the May/June 1985 issue of Fine Woodworking. In the article Landon claims that , "this handkerchief table is not only excellent Queen Anne, but is one of the finest pieces of furniture ever made in any time or place". I don't know if all that applies to my version, but it is a nice little table. Landon made his as a reproduction of an original made in Boston around 1740. His was made from mahogany and cherry, but mine is all cherry. The table has a swinging gate leg that allows the triangular leaf to be folded up to form a square top, or folded down to form a triangular top. There are three fixed cabriole legs, and one cabriole leg that moves with the gate. The height is about 27", and the top is 23.5" square with the leaf folded up. The table can be placed against a wall with the folding leaf in back, as shown, or in a corner with the leaf in front. I finished the table by first spraying with a weak solution of lye and water to darken the cherry, and then used several coats of linseed oil and tung oil. It is a bit light right now, but should darken up in a few months. Overall time for this project was about three months, mostly on weekends, during the winter of 1998.

Construction details:
Making this table was a challenge, and a lot of fun. I started with the cabriole legs, made from 12/4 cherry from Vermont. I made a full-size template for the legs, and bandsawed the contours. The foot of the leg was turned on the lathe, then spokeshaves were used to shape the legs. The aprons and top were made from Pennsylvania cherry that I got from my sister and bil. Most of these pieces were resawed with a framesaw from 8/4 stock. Unfortunately, even though this cherry had been air-dried for over four years, a lot of it warped within two weeks after being resawed. So I actually made two complete sets of aprons and boards for the top before I got pieces that were flat enough to use. The aprons are mortised into tenons in the legs, with 45 degree mortises on the back two legs (that was interesting). Each tenon is pinned with two cherry pegs. Probably the most difficult part of the project was making the knuckle joint for the swinging arm (see photos below). I spent many hours on that, as it was not a conventional gate-leg hinge, and there was not much detail in the article. But it came out better than I thought it would. The top involved a rule joint and an edge profile that I made with several molding planes.

Tools used:
Much of the work on this project was done with handtools, with the exception of a table saw and bandsaw for roughing out stock, and a Ryobi planar for surfacing stock. I used several Miller's Falls spokeshaves on the legs, along with a Harris shave, a Stanley #151 and #151R, some flat chisels, and a scraper. The tenons were fitted with a Record #778 rabbet plane. The edge profile of the top was made with wooden molding planes, including a 1/2" round that Trevor Robinson was kind enough to loan me. The rule joint was also made with a rabbet and molding planes. The top was finished with a Lie-Nielson #4, and scraped with a Stanley #80, a Stanley #212, and a hand scraper. Also used a Record #6 and a L-N block plane for joining and trimming.

One of the best things about a new project is that it is a good excuse to get more tools! For this one I got a new Stanley #93 shoulder plane, a new Starrett double square, and an H&R set of 1/2" molding planes. I also made a frame saw, and a marking knife. Except for the frame saw, all these tools were acquired after the project was finished, but now I have them for the next project.

Here is a view of the hinge of the gate leg. You can also see one of the brass hinges for the folding leaf, and the tenon pins.

Here is a another view of the hinge of the gate leg.

Here is a view with the leaf up. Notice the edge molding detail on the front corner of the top.