My first attempt at furniture building

[deathpunk dan]

So, we are in the middle of the long, long term process of renovating our little cape here in southern RI. What was once a spare bedroom is going to be a dining room.

You can't have a dining room without a dining table. After seeing what she liked (pottery barn, restoration hardware etc), I started wondering how hard it would be to just build something myself.

Keep in mind, I have absolutely zero prior experience with woodworking or furniture building of any kind. It was more of a "I wonder if people DIY this sort of thing."

I found plans for a six foot farmhouse table (it's just the two of us) and decided to give it a shot.

The whole thing is made from pine dimensional framing lumber, with the exception of Douglas fir legs. I was afraid to commit to using nice hardwoods for a first project, in the event I ended up with something unusable.

Here's the result!













[IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/06/7yhy****.jpg[/IMG]

...the first meal on the new table.
Many, many lessons learned. Next piece will be better (an end table), but overall I am pretty happy with the result. Two coats of minwax dark walnut, 3 coats of semi gloss poly, and a coat of furniture wax. So much sanding - the harbor freight belt sander paid for itself many times over. Joinery courtesy of a Kreg jig, 2.5" coarse thread pocket hole screws, and Gorilla wood glue.

She wants a planked sideboard like the one restoration hardware sells for three grand. I found plans for a near clone online...hmmm...

[wdfifteen]

Pretty cool! Good idea to use less expensive lumber for the first project.

[RWebb]

what type of joinery did you use?

hardwood is harder to work with than soft woods too - try making some dovetails to convince yourself

[porsche930dude]

very nice! I always work with cheap wood too because im too cheap to buy anything. But I like how it turns out just a little bit rustic but still nice. did you use Pre stain wood conditioner? that helps even out the color so you dont get so much of the grain showing if thats what your going for

[M.D. Holloway]

That looks great! Well done.

[dyount]

Looks like well done for the first out of the box project. Take a look at fine woodworking magazine, maybe start with a book on shaker furniture? Shaker is a simple clean line style and if it's too thin for your taste look into Stickley style.
As well, if you've really got the bug a local community college may have a woodworking class to polish your skills and as well teach you a little about finishing hardwoods as well.
Woodworking/cabinetmaking is a skill that really comes in handy .... next thing ya know your misses will be making all the local moms jealous by the "my hubby did this/that" thing.
I teach myself in the evenings for extra P-car money at a community college.... if you're gonna get bit it's a good bug to bite ya

[look 171]

Good on you pal for doing it. I smile a little as I scroll down the pics. When I saw the finished piece with the poly, I LOL, in a great way. Now, may I suggest something on that Kreg Jig? don't use it for structural joints like you have there where you jointed the rails to the legs. Is not if, but when it will go. Don't believe their infomercial. Try and use mechanical fastener like steel brackets or a mortise and tendon joint there. I started building furniture in my late teens and has been addicted since. Pretty much self taught except for a couple of high school classed. Building furniture and cabinets supported myself through long years of college. Did it for a living after that but no longer build furniture for too many people. Cabinets and construction are what we do now with the exception of a few very special clients where we will build all the furnitures for their homes and music studios.

If you have questions or need an answer, please ask. BTW, I taught woodworking to a bunch of local high school kids for a few years.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by dyount

Looks like well done for the first out of the box project. Take a look at fine woodworking magazine, maybe start with a book on shaker furniture? Shaker is a simple clean line style and if it's too thin for your taste look into Stickley style.
As well, if you've really got the bug a local community college may have a woodworking class to polish your skills and as well teach you a little about finishing hardwoods as well.
Woodworking/cabinetmaking is a skill that really comes in handy .... next thing ya know your misses will be making all the local moms jealous by the "my hubby did this/that" thing.
I teach myself in the evenings for extra P-car money at a community college.... if you're gonna get bit it's a good bug to bite ya

What do you need in PA to teach classes like that in the community colleges? That would be fun.

[ZAMIRZ]

That looks awesome. Keep this thread going with pics of your other projects. I love seeing stuff like this come together.

[BeyGon]

that looks good, especially for a first timer. pretty nice.

[herr_oberst]

That looks great! Reminds me of a table my dad built for a little ski cabin we had.
But what is this little noisemaker under the table? :-)

[deathpunk dan]

But what is this little noisemaker under the table? :-)

Vestige of a former life

86 JCM 800 50w model 2205
basically backdated to JMP mkII specs on channel 1, diode clipping bypassed on lead channel.

Too loud for the house, plugged in maybe 1x since 2007. Available with or without matching slant cab mit celestion 30s for the right offer. Sounds incredible when paired with my LP junior or special.

[herr_oberst]

That little amp is nothing I can use, having not a vestige of musical talent despite my love of music,

but like I said, nice little table. Looks sturdy, too! Build more stuff and post more pix!

[BRPORSCHE]

Dan,

Any chance you can post the link to the pdf you ripped the plans from? I am very interested in this stuff.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Nicely done, especially for your first effort. I used to work in a cabinet shop, once you learn a few of the common techniques you will amaze yourself with what you can build. I would like to do more, but my current shop isn't conducive to doing fine woodworking. Quality tools make a huge difference in the end result, a top notch table saw with an accurate and square fence is worth its weight in gold. Measure twice, cut once.

[Holger]

This is really nice! It looks very solid and well-built!

When I built our wooden terrace canopy I tried to plan measurements that made me avoid cutting as much as possible.
Cut areas never get even when I have to cut!

[deathpunk dan]

Originally Posted by BRPORSCHE

Dan,

Any chance you can post the link to the pdf you ripped the plans from? I am very interested in this stuff.

Sure thing.

DIY straight leg farmhouse table

Here's an incredible, almost overwhelming site for furniture plans. She's uh, easy on the eyes too:

Ana White | Free and Easy DIY Furniture Plans

I have a very portable, inexpensive table saw and an older Delta chop saw. So, I decided to make all of the cuts @ my folks' house. Dad has a really nice Ridgid table saw and a nice sliding compound miter saw. I rough cut everything, then made the final cuts.

One major screw up was buying wood from the local lumber yard. It was straighter, sure, compared to Lowe's/HD stuff, but not as dried out and one of the breadboards warped so badly upon drying out I had to remove it and make another one.

The sanding was 50, 80, 120 with the belt sander. Then 60 and 80 with a disc sander. Then 80, 150, 220, 320, 400, and 600 with a 1/4 sheet sander. I think - I may be forgetting something.

Thank you all for the comments. Back to trolling the 911 used parts section I go...

[scottmandue]

Looks great!

FWIW I have been seeing a lot of this type of furniture showing up in high end shops for big $$$...

Call it retro or recycled or whatever, that style is selling and you could make a few bucks building and selling if you were so inclined.

[BRPORSCHE]

Scott,

The word you are looking for is disstressed. Chicks are eating that $hite up.

[VINMAN]

Nice work! Looks great.