Build a hall table with a beauty that belies its humble nature. 

Instead of spending a fortune on a Queen Anne original, why not whiz up to the hardware store, pick up some supplies and make your own classic?

This hall table is easy to make using pieces of radiate pine and four pre-made cabriole legs, which you can buy at most big hardware stores for about $35 each. The top is made from one 290mm-wide piece of radiata dressed up with a decorative machine routed or hand-chamfered edge.

Radiata pine is an inexpensive wood that looks and feels sensational with the right finish. In this project, the timber is waxed with a special brew concocted by Scott McGregor. Once you know his trade secret, you'll want to use it everywhere, especially on pre-made whitewood furniture.

You'll need:
Homemade polish

A Side rails: (2) 42 x x 960mm pine
B End rails: (2) x x 250mm pine
C Corner blocks: (4) 42 x x 90mm pine
D Tabletop: 290 x x 1000mm pine
E Cabriole legs: (4) 737mm-tall, pre-formed pine

You'll also need:
Feast Watson Fungishield penetrating primer and preservative; Feast Watson Prooftint spirit stain (we used mahogany and walnut colours); Feast Watson Satinproof; 0000-grade steel wool

Step 1
Make the polish.

Step 2
Cut the 2 side and end rails (A,B) to length with a 45 degree mitre at each end. To get the best result, use a mitre box to guide a tenon saw. Set the rails out on a flat surface, check the fit of the mitres, then mark the matching joints.

Step 3
Cut the corner blocks (C) from pine. Drill clearance holes in the blocks and drill smaller pilot holes in the rails. This can be made a whole lot easier by using pilot bits, which bore the pilot hole and the clearance hole and then countersink in the one operation. Clearance holes are important in the top piece of timber because you need to let the screws pull the timber pieces together. To drill the clearance hole, start perpendicular to the face of the corner block and, once

Step 4
Apply glue to the face of the mitre and the mating faces of the corner blocks, then screw them together.

Step 5
Square one end of the tabletop (D). If the blade of your square isn't long enough, square from both sides. Cut to length.

Step 6
Place the tabletop face down and centre the frame on the underside. Predrill and screw the frame to the tabletop with 5 screws through the side rails into the top and 2 through the end rails.

Step 7
Flip over the top, and dress the edge with a round-over bit in a router. Set the router to cut a small square shoulder before the rounding starts. If you don't have a router, chamfer the edges wit!, a plane or a sanding block.

Step 8
With the top upside down, locate the cabriole. Iegs at each corner, then glue and screw on. Sand the end grain areas so they are
smooth

Step 9
The secret to making pine look beautiful is to spend time on the finishing procedure. Start by sanding the whole unit using several grade grades of paper from 80 through to 400 grit. Sand along the grain only and work carefully in grooves. Also avoid rounding over sharp arrises.

Step 10
Brush on a coat of Fungishield clear penetrating Primer and preservative using a good brush. This seals the surface ready for staining with spirit stain such as Feast Watson Prooftint, together with about 10 per cent of the primer. Make sure you wear gloves while mixing the stain.

Step 11
Try the stain on a piece of scrap pine first. If you do not like a particular shade, you can always mix 2 or more shades together. We used a mix of mahogany and walnut stains. Apply a spirit stain to the table with a brush. Let dry for 1 hour, wipe off excess, then let dry for another hour. To increase the intensity of the colour, apply more coats. We applied 4 coats to achieve a rich deep colour. Apply 1 coat of Feast Watson Satinproof (or similar) satin polyurethane and let dry for 24 hours. Then buff with 0000grade steel wool to produce a perfectly smooth surface. Wipe clean with a rag.

Step 12
Now it's time to use the beeswax-polish mixture that you made earlier. Working on a small area of the table at a time, apply the wax with 0000-grade steel wool, working it well into the surface to build up an even layer of wax. When that's done, simply buff the table with a soft rag to bring up the beautiful shine.

Shopping: Table built by Neil Wing, 0417 977 341. Cabriole legs, Newcombe Sales, order through Bunnings, BBC and Hardwarehouse stores nationally. Beeswax; gum turpentine; boiled linseed, Mother of Pearl & Sons Trading, (02) 9332 4455. Finishes from Feast Watson, available in paint stores nationally.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens July 2002.