# First table



## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

Newbie woodworker here. Not sure where I want to go with woodworking, but I've always enjoyed challenging my mechanical ineptitude. Anyway, I always liked doing things with my hands. As a Production Engineer, I can point at some stats and say I caused that ... but when I was a pipefitter, I could point at piping systems I installed on an aircraft carrier when Reagan was president, and say I built that ... and it's still operational and will continue so until that carrier is retired.

Wanted to build some deck furniture. Not the generic Adirondack chair & table, but something a tad bit different. I built a prototype chair I liked, then decided to build a matching table. Now I will modify the chair a bit and build six more. The table has taken more time than expected (like most endeavors, huh?). It's a mild variation of a farmhouse table made of treated lumber and employs the same 10° leg angles I used on the chair.

Need to stain (oil) the apron boards, then final assembly will occur on our deck. Then the top will be screwed down (pocket-holes underneath), along with the 3 contrasting boards which look uneven because they're not secured yet. The 2x4s on the garage floor allow me to slide the base longitudinally and tilt it upright without the abrasiveness of the concrete eating away at the table legs.

I'll post more pix when the chairs are underway & the table is on deck.


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

I have prepared my bill of material for building the six chairs, but wanted to post this photo. The table was final assembled this afternoon on our deck. Planned it that way because I did not want to move it from the garage fully assembled. It will be repositioned on the deck after the chairs are built.


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## John Smith_inFL (Jul 4, 2018)

that is one very impressive table !!
well done !!

.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

As mentioned the table turned out nice. How did you tie it together in.the top?made many exterior tables,etc for restaurants....


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

John Smith_inFL said:


> that is one very impressive table !!
> well done !!.


Thank you!


Rebelwork said:


> As mentioned the table turned out nice. How did you tie it together in.the top?made many exterior tables,etc for restaurants....


About 100 pocket-hole screws, plus the end transverse (quasi-bread) boards are glued to 4 of the longitudinal top boards. It's amazing how difficult it can be to get 4 separate board ends to align for a glued fit-up. Spent a couple hours planing ends after clamping scraps to the sides of each board to prevent tear-out.
The black parts are treated 2x4s glued together so the grain counteracts each other ... thought it may retain their straightness better than 4x4s ... and they employ glued dado joints (no hardware).
I'm really liking your circular tables, especially that top with the solid edge surround.


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

The chairs are coming along, albeit a bit slow. Bought and stacked treated lumber to dry 2 months ago. Today, all pieces are cut and the round-over of edges has begun. Four items with shape were duplicated using a small (or should I say "micro") router table. Hope to complete pre-sanding parts and start pre-assemblies this weekend (built a fixture for pre-assembling the seat bottoms and backs).


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## cynrich (Mar 27, 2020)

That table is beautiful!


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

cynrich said:


> That table is beautiful!


Thank you. I'm hoping my plan for the chairs will complement the table and not distract.


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## EastTXFamilyFarm (Jul 6, 2020)

Awesome table; unique and something I wouldn’t have thought of, but it works!


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## furnacefighter15 (Jun 21, 2020)

I dig it. I especially appreciate mortise and tenon joints. 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Great design. Very Original.


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

Tony B said:


> Great design. Very Original.


Thank you. I was shooting for the "bread board look" without the labor intensive joinery, especially because it will sit out in the weather. Since it's been sitting out in the rain and sun... expanding and contracting ... I find I may need to pull and trim one of the 3 floating boards ... make it about 1/16" more narrow. When it swells, it almost closes the gaps between it and the adjacent fixed boards.


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

Made a fixture I used to pre-assemble the seat backs, and will also use it for the seats. Pre-assembled all the seat back frames today and installed slats on one of them. A Japanese flush-cut hand saw works great for trimming dowels. I designed the back and seat slats to be the same size, but hole locations are different. I used a fixture for drilling and countersinking the 216 holes today.


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

Completed pre-assembling six chair backs and six seats, and then moved on to prepping for final assembly. When I designed the prototype chair using MS-PowerPoint, I drew a full size elevation view on a 2' x 4' piece of 1/2" plywood. After maturing the design and updating the plywood drawing, I glued some stop-blocks to that plywood so I can use it as an assembly fixture. Due to the limited space in my work area, I can final assemble only one chair before starting another. This one is ready for oil stain and screwing together all the piece parts ... parts which are stained different colors. At that point, it will be moved to the deck so I can begin chair #2 of six.


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## GSXRFanIM (Jan 16, 2019)

Nice table
I just built a Cedar table that i hope went together good without a lot of movement.
Building a 2nd one already


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

I’m hoping the general consensus is the table and chairs aren’t too gawdy.
I’ll post a few more pix after all six chairs are assembled and positioned around the table.


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

It's been about seven months from the day I first bought lumber to positioning the last chair with this ensemble today. It was a bit challenging at times, but thankfully had no deadline to meet. My next project is to build a storage container for the various hand planes I've acquired. I have no wall space for a till, so this storage will be a box with sliding doors mounted atop the base of my floor mounted drill press.


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## MaintenanceMan (Jun 25, 2010)

Gorgeous!


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

REVISED! The three light-colored boards in the table top originally had 1/8" spacing around their edges. *'Twas not enough!* Expansion in the weather has proven that larger gaps are necessary. Recently removed those boards and increased the gaps to 1/4".


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## garryswf (Aug 17, 2009)

You did a fantastic job on the table and chairs. the thing that stands out to me is first the quality of workmanship, beautiful, what i really like is the contrasting colors. great job!


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

I am not a pine person, I guess because my first experiences with it were bad. 
I'm just not used to seeing such straight boards.
Anyway, what grade lumber did you buy?


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

Tony B said:


> I am not a pine person, I guess because my first experiences with it were bad.
> I'm just not used to seeing such straight boards.
> Anyway, what grade lumber did you buy?


Though the lumber did not come from a "big box" store, it did come from a local retailer specializing in treated lumber and composite deck boards. The table top is nothing but premium grade 5/4 (4/4 actually) deck boards ... treated lumber. All the wood in this project is treated lumber suitable for ground contact.

Here is a link to TLO ... https://www.treatedlumberoutlet.com/ ... located in Hampton, VA


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

garryswf said:


> You did a fantastic job on the table and chairs. the thing that stands out to me is first the quality of workmanship, beautiful, what i really like is the contrasting colors. great job!


Thank you! Color was a concern to me. Original idea was to just go brown and black, but then it would simply resemble the deck. The lighter boards were also a concern because I feared it may look gawdy. I like it, and those that don't have been polite by not telling me so. <LOL>


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## AwesomeOpossum74 (Jan 27, 2017)

Very nice job!

From the look of the last pics you posted, the table will not be covered, e.g. under an awning? I can't tell from the images, but did you add space between the boards making the top, to allow water to run through?


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## hoowasat (Dec 2, 2019)

AwesomeOpossum74 said:


> Very nice job!
> 
> From the look of the last pics you posted, the table will not be covered, e.g. under an awning? I can't tell from the images, but did you add space between the boards making the top, to allow water to run through?


Table is not covered ... fully exposed to the weather. Will be covered during winter months ... generally November though March. A photo in post #1 shows the board spacing gaps, and post #19 is where mentioned having to increase those gaps from 1/8" to 1/4" because of swelling. Thank you for your concern.


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