Sapele Table

One of the first projects I wanted to do was replace the table on my live aboard Cheoy Lee trawler. It was a little too long and too wide. It had table leaves that I didn’t need, and there was no storage space in it.

On a trip to Beaver Tooth Oak found some beautiful sapele wood. Sapele is a great wood for furniture on a boat, because it is highly water resistant, which keeps it from warping. It is related to mahogany because and is native to Nigeria. It is beautifully iridescent.

Step 1 - Cutting to Size

I first milled the wood and cut it roughly to size. My plan was to make the table roughly 64 inches by 22 inches. I wanted to add drawers. Since it is on a boat it needs to be mounted to some fixed mounts rather than have legs.

Step 2 - Biscuit joinery for table top

Biscuit joinery is a process of cutting out grooves within the wood and glueing a small piece of wood (i.e. a biscuit) in the middle of it. While biscuit joinery has some detractors because it isn’t that strong, it does help a lot with alignment.

Step 3 - Glue Up

The saying goes “You can never have too many clamps”. If you know a woodworker, just get them clamps for Christmas and call it a day. I used literally all of my clamps and could have used more. I beyond needing to glue up the table top surface, I also used a lot of cauls which helps to make sure everything is properly aligned.

Step 4 - Assembly

To assemble the base I used by dovetail jig to create half blind dovetails. Dovetails are a strong and aesthetically pleasing form of joinery. I’ve experimented with doing them the old fashioned way, by hand, and I just don’t have the patience or precision for them, therefore I use a jig with a router. In addition I used pocket holes to affix the supports for the drawers. Finally, I made some home made quarter rounds to sit atop the table. This is common on boats so that things don’t roll off surfaces while out at sea.

Step 5 - Finishing

I’d been experimenting with finishing sapele on a few smaller projects and was inspired by these finishing techniques. I really like the mixture of sanding sealer and then an additional coat of a harder finish like lacquer or varnish. The sanding sealer evens out the pores of the wood and allows for a more uniform finish on the wood. After a lot of research I settled on Epifanes glossy varnish. While I really like the results, its hard to get varnish perfect and it takes at least 6 coats which can only be applied about once per day. I try to avoid varnish whenever possible but felt this was the most fitting method for furniture on my boat.