PRACTICE TABLE
This was a "special use" project was for my wife.  After building a "disposable" practice table out of cut offs for her to keep in a temporary apartment while was playing with the Richmond Symphony, she wanted one for her studio back home.  She uses the table as a place to set her recording equipment, tea pot, tea cups, portable phone, cell phone, etc.  Since she usually stands or sits on a tall stool when practicing the table was designed to be much taller than usual for a piece that size: 35" tall.  At that time, cash flow was tight so I decided to see how nice of a table I could build for the lowest cost.  We had a few old TV dinner trays that no longer served their purpose but luckily for me, each of the tops were made from solid red oak.  Consequently, that was now going ot be the wood of choice for this project. While wandering around Home Depot one day, I noticed that they had red oak stair spindles on sale and since the table had to be tall, they worked out perfectly. In order to clean up the bottom and make them look a little more like a leg instead of a spindle, I added a slight chamfer edge to the bottom.  The apron is solid red oak with a lacewood bead I glued to the bottom. All in all, the entire project cost just over $16.00! UPDATE 2008: About a year after finishing this project, I made a brand new top out of red oak that is much larger and serves as a stand alone serving tray - see pics below...
	Here it is, no laughing at the spindles but chuckle at the cat you want!  I was fairly pleased with how well the red oak from the top, apron and legs all matched up.  There's only a little difference in color and grain but overall they match.
	The project is finished with Bartley's Gel Finish and at least it's strong enough to hold the cat! The spindles came with holes drilled and circular plugs for mounting so all I had to do to the tray was center the holes and drill a 3/4" mortise with a forstner bit.
	I dressed up the edges of the square up by adding a chamfer and beveling around the bottom to create the look of a
	Here's a better shot of the lacewood bead, it was shaped using a 1/4" round over bit on the router table.  The top lifts off to function as a tray, like a Butler's Tray.  That way she can load it up with tea and other goodies and just carry the whole kit and caboodle upstairs to her studio.
	UPDATE 2008: Here's a shot of the new top. I routed a curved lip on the interior using a dish cutting bit. It took awhile to get everything out but it was worth it as the few times my wife spills some tea, it doesn't go running off all over the place.
	UPDATE 2008: This is the bottom of the new top, I routed finger grips on either side and the entire piece rests snugly inside the frame.
	UPDATE 2008: It can still hold a cat.