The aprons on this oak end table are all curved, which in addition to being a nice design accent helps to keep the piece from feeling too blocky.
There is a fairly simple technique for making sure all of the aprons have the exact same curve so the piece is nice and even. To start out I took a piece of MDF (medium density fiberboard) cut the same length and width as the table's aprons will be. I use MDF because there is no need to waste good wood for a template part. On the MDF I trace out the curve I want (using a large compass to make it nice and even.
The I take my MDF template to the band saw and cut out the curve. Band saw cuts are fairly rough so it's necessary to smooth it out afterwards. Once I am satisfied with the shape of my MDF template I then trace the curve from the template onto all 4 of my oak aprons. I cut all of the aprons on the band saw as well. It's important to cut a little bit proud of the curve line - in other words leave a little extra, don't cut right to the line. Once I have all of my aprons cut I can then match them up to the MDF template one by one.
I clamp 1 apron to the template at a time and use a flush trimming router bit to finish the apron curve. The router bit uses my MDF template as a guide and cuts the actual apron to an exact match of the template. By doing this with all 4 aprons they end up being an exact match of each other.
