One of the earliest “how-to” projects in Popular Woodworking (which at the time was called Pacific Woodworker) had the distinction of being a table by renowned woodworker Sam Maloof. While the article was not an actual step-by-step explanation (indeed, there weren’t even dimensions offered), the process for constructing the distinctive table base was described. Using that article, I built this Maloof-style table. And while this isn’t a weekend project, it’s not a particularly difficult piece. More importantly, this table will remind you of why you love to work with wood.

If you’re concerned about copying another person’s design, keep in mind what Maloof said in his book “Sam Maloof, Woodworker” when asked about those who copy his furniture: “This reminds me of an anecdote about Hamada, the Japanese potter. When someone asked Hamada if imitations of his work bothered him, he replied, ‘When I’m dead, people will think that all of my bad things were made by the other potter, and they will think that all of his good things were made by me.’ ”

1. Starting at the Post. The first step is roughing out and shaping the base’s center post. The post measures 3" x 3" x 23", and unless you’re very lucky you’ll have to glue up a couple boards to achieve this dimension. Using 13⁄4" thick material, I was able to glue up two 3"-wide pieces with room to spare.
If you’ve ever tried to glue two flat pieces together you know that glue works like butter, and the wood wants to slip apart. Drill two dowel holes on the matching faces and use dowels as guide pins during gluing so you won’t fight with your pieces.

Next run the post down to 3" x 3". You should leave the post longer than the finished 23" for now to allow for fitting. The first milling procedure is to use a dado stack to cut grooves the length of the post on all four faces.

2. Forming the Inside Curve. With the post grooved to accept the leg tenons, make cove cuts on the four corners so that the shape flows into the legs. I accomplished this with a 3⁄4" cove bit. This bit is a $50 necessity. There is no other tooling that provides the control given by a router and bit set up in a router table.

As shown in the photo, the location of the cove cut is critical to how easy it will be to assemble the base and how good it will look. Use two passes of increasing depth to put less stress on your router.

3. Quite a Joint! With the post essentially complete, it’s time to make the legs. You will be making four duplicate leg sections, each made of three pieces. (See the attached pdf for a pattern.)

Cut the pieces to rough size, being careful to mark the 45°-angle location exactly. On each leg’s top and center pieces you still have a flat edge to use as a guide to cut the angles on your table saw, or power miter box. On each leg’s bottom you’ll need to make the cut with the band saw or a hand saw and sand the face flat.

These are critical joints that determine how flat your table will sit, so pay special attention to making them meet correctly.

With the pieces roughed to shape, make the two rabbet cuts on the leg centers to leave a 11⁄16" x 3⁄4"-wide tenon. Check the fit with the grooves in the post. It should be a hand-tight fit.

Next sand the leg pieces to match the templates. A spindle sander is great for this step, but a drum sander chucked in your drill press will work, too. When you sand the shapes, leave a couple of inches to either side of each joint wide of the line. The joints should be shaped to match after the leg pieces have been glued together to ensure a smooth transition. 

Lay out the locations for the 1⁄2" dowels as shown on the pattern and in the photo.

4. Clamping Ballet. The glue-up of the leg components is tricky, but the photo shows a method that worked well for me. Next, again look to the patterns for the locations of the 1⁄8" dowels used to pin the larger dowels. Drill completely through the leg and dowel, but use a backing board to avoid tear out on the exit side.

Then add some glue to the 2" dowel lengths and tap them into place so the dowel protrudes on both sides. When the glue dries, sand the dowels flush.

With the pinning done, use a 1⁄2" roundover bit with a bearing guide to ease all the edges of each leg — except the tenon edge and the top edge. Be careful while routing because the grain is likely to change direction, especially at the joint, and tear out.

After routing, glue the legs to the center post. Definitely dry-fit the base assembly, clamping the legs in place. Make sure the base sits flat without rocking, and mark the center post to cut it to length to match the legs. After that, glue and clamp the base.

5. Strength and a Decorative Touch. Before sanding, there is one detail Maloof adds to his sculpted-base tables that adds strength, as well as a nice touch.
The half-lapped maple cross pieces are added to provide strength across the base, tying the opposing legs together with the center post. Chisel the 3⁄4"-wide x 5"-long grooves for the pieces to a depth of 1⁄2" at the center of the “X” and allow the bottom of the groove to level out into the legs. This leaves the trench about 5⁄8" deep at the ends of the grooves.

Next, cut the half-lap joint in the two maple pieces and fit them into the two grooves. Then drill four 1⁄8" pilot holes, 1⁄2" in from the ends of the pieces. Then drill 3⁄8" x 3⁄8" deep holes to allow the screw heads to recess into the maple. After inserting the four #8 x 2" flathead screws, plug the holes with 3⁄8" diameter walnut plugs.

After that, the rest is rasping and sanding. Maloof’s pieces are known for their contours and smoothness of transitions. I spent about six hours shaping and sanding the base through to #220 grit. It was worth the effort.

It seems silly, but the most visible part of the table took the least amount of effort. The 42" square/round top was made of four 7⁄8" x 11" walnut boards. I didn’t want to use more than four boards for the top, so I had to buy 8⁄4 lumber to get the width I needed — the result was that after resawing the boards on the band saw I had some nice 3⁄4" walnut for another project.

While Maloof makes no bones about using sapwood on his tops as long as it’s stable, I prefer a more consistent appearance —  though I did leave a little sap as a nod to Maloof, the master.

The top was edge-glued using six #20 biscuits per joint. To shape the top, mark a point 2" in from each corner, and locate the center of each edge. Bend a strip of 1⁄4" maple across the center point of each edge in toward the 2" marks and mark the curve for the top edges.

Complete the top (except for sanding) with a 1⁄4" roundover on the top and bottom edges.

To finish the table, I used Sam Maloof’s line of finishing products offered through Rockler (800-279-4441). These reproduce the Poly/Oil and Oil/Wax formulas mentioned in “A Maloof Finish” below. PW

A Maloof Finish
Mix one-third semi-gloss polyurethane varnish, one-third pure tung oil and one-third boiled linseed oil. You can substitute linseed oil with another third tung oil if it is polymerized (pure tung oil dries too slowly). Apply this mixture three times at one-day intervals. 

For a final coat, heat a 50⁄50 mix of pure tung oil and boiled linseed oil (or 100-percent polymerized tung oil) in a double boiler. Grate solid beeswax and add it to the heated mix until it is the consistency of heavy cream (about two double-handfuls of wax per gallon of mix). Let cool. The wax in the cooled mixture will stay in suspension and has a good shelf-life. This is applied a minimum of three times, vigorously rubbing in the mixture each time.


Click here for PDF file.

David is a former senior editor of Popular Woodworking.