Ambrosia Maple Floating Nightstands

Completed Nov 2019
Project previously posted elsewhere.

Project Information

Set out to build a pair of floating nightstands about a year ago. Took a number of ideas from other lumberjock's projects, added some of my own and this is what evolved.

I purchased the wood from a lumber mill in the mountains about 40 minutes from my home. In response to my request for something with figure, the folks at Shoen lumber suggested Ambrosia Maple, which I knew nothing about prior to this build.

On the prototype I put the drawer at the top, but found that due to the tapered design, the bottom shelf was too small, which led me to move the drawer to the bottom of the nightstand.

The build, although straightforward took me over a year due to life getting in the way. ( bought and refinished a house for my father in law to call home)

I was concerned about the finish, as I experieced blotching with maple On previous projects, but following the advice of fellow jocks, I'm pleased with how it turned out.

After sanding to 320, I hand scraped all surfaces thinking it would make it less porous. I applied a coat of min wax wood conditioner and followed that with two coats of Zinnser Amber Shellac wiped on ( 00 steel wool after each coat) to give it a warm tone without obstructing the grain in the wood. Last I applied 2 coats of General Finishes clear wipe on.

Thanks for looking.