Saga of the Nested Tables, part 1

My customer (my daughter) wants me to build a set of nested end tables. After much negotiation we agreed on mahogany as a building material and a design similar to the one pictured. This is the target. We will see how close the final product matches the target.

We looked at plans from several sources, including even buying a set of plans from The New Yankee Workshop ("Nahm"). I even received a loan of a book of plans from my new friend Ron (who shall otherwise remain anonymous), who knew me only from chatting at WoodCentral.com. He actually mailed me his book!

After amalgamating the dimensions and joinery concepts from these sources, I came up with what I thought was a good overall joinery strategy and approximate dimensions. However, knowing that my fatherhood was on the line, I figured I needed to make a prototype out of scraps, just to be sure my skills were up to snuff. Here is what I came up with. How I got here is the subject of the next few posts.