Thanksgiving Table

We have been wanting to make our own dining room table for awhile now. When we first had the idea we were living in Washington, getting ready to move back to Colorado. So I said to hold off until after our move. Well, then we had to be in an apartment for a few months, so we didn't have the room for a big table. Now though, we are in a house that has room for our dream table! We had family coming over for Thanksgiving so we needed a bigger table!

We decided on a Farmhouse style table made out of 2x4's, 2x6's, 2x8's and 4x4's. And out of Redwood. I have always liked the look of Redwood, and the only other choice we had available at our local lumber yard was White Wood (Douglas Fir).

We found this 4X4 Truss Beam Table and plans from www.ana-white.com We ended up having to change it a bit because we couldn't find 2x10x8 of the Redwood. (This is where you can find a supplies list also. I forgot to steal the shopping list away from the hubby.)

4X4 Truss Beam Table
ana-white.com

Tools Needed:
Tape Measure
Table Saw
Miter Saw
Router with Round Over Bit
Clamps
Calls
Wood Glue
Belt Sander
Orbital Sander
Sand Paper 80,120, and 320 grit
Planer
Scraper
Circular Saw
T-Square
Kreg Jig
Drill
Air Compressor
Paint Sprayer for Stain and Polyurethane (Optional)
Brushes/Rags  
Ear and Eye Protection -Some of these tools get LOUD!

 
After getting our supplies we were able to get started!!

First we rough cut the tabletop pieces to length. No need to get perfect they will be trimmed down later.

We used a miter saw to cut our needed pieces.

While we were at it, we cut the rest of the pieces to assemble the table.

We then ran the tabletop pieces through the planer to get them all the same thickness, which also allowed to take off any impurities. 

Time to change the blades!

After they were all the same thickness, we ran the edges through the table saw. This allows a nice clean square edge to be able to glue together. When you buy lumber from a lumber yard, most of the time the corners are a bit rounded. This makes it hard to have a tight seam. Instead of have one continuous flat surface you will have gaps at the seams. You can also use a jointer for this process.

Now it is time to glue and clamp it up!! This is super easy. Glue all of the necessary edges and lay them down inside of the bar clamps. To the make the table top flat across you will need to take some scrap boards, and put packing tape on them, at least the width of the table. These are called calls. We used 3 sets of 2. Place the taped sides towards the glued wood. The slickness of the tape won't allowed the glue to "stick" to the calls.

Clamp the calls down. This will bring everything flat. If there are some high parts in the seams its okay. We will sand them down later. Now, let the glue set up for several hours. Do to the cool/moist weather we let it set up for a good 18 hours.

After the glue had set we then took all of the clamps and calls off and scraped all of the glue squeeze out off. We took the belt sander with 80 grit sandpaper to get the remaining glue off and level the high spots out. We then followed with our orbital sander with 100 grit paper to smooth it up. Make sure to sand both sides. 

Since we only rough cut the boards to length we then went back and cut the table to its final length using a circular saw. To make sure we had a straight level line across we used a T square to get our line. Then measure the width of one side of the base of your saw to the edge of the blade. Then measure from your existing mark over that measurement. Put a guide board on that line and clamp it down. This will ensure that your saw is cutting in a straight path along your line.

Now time for the bread boards. The width of your table will be the length of the breadboard, which we used a 2X8. The bread board covers up the end grain and completes the look of the table. These were planed down with the tabletops boards so they were all the same thickness. 

We  attached the bread board to the ends of the table by pocket hole screws. This is where a Kreg Jig comes in very handy.  We did one per board. Then screw in your pocket hole screws. 

Sand down the bread boards and make them flush with the others. Keep it mind you are working on the bottom of the table top.

After sanding, we used a 1/4 inch round over bit in our router to round over the bottom edges. Then we flipped the tabletop over and used a 1/2 inch round over bit for the top.

After one more fine sanding it was time to stain! Since we used Redwood we wanted to keep the natural beauty, just enhance it. So we used a natural colored stain. After it was dry we took it out and sprayed a couple of coats of clear satin polyurethane on. With 320 grit hand sanding between each coat. After those were dry we did one more coat by hand. 

Now onto the base of the table. No table top is good without a strong, sturdy base! For the 4x4 Truss base we started by planing all of our Redwood 4X4's to make sure the rounded corners were off, and that they were square. Again, this allows us to remove any impurities in the wood.

Then we cut them to the lengths we needed. Note- we rough cut these when we rough cut the rest of the boards at the beginning. At this time these are cut to final length.

Using the plans we made the two end pieces.

Then we built the middle. We then attached the 3 pieces together 4 inch screws and wood glue. 

This is a good example why we plane down our boards to make them square. As you can see the one the round over wasn't quite off so there is a good sized gap on the edges of the seam. The other picture shows a squared board. As you can see the seam is nice and tight. 

After a coat of stain and polyurethane to the base it was time to put the table together!
 

We started  by putting the pieces for the base together. Attach your 2 2X4's across the top using 2 1/2 inch pocket hole screws. NO GLUE. Then bring your middle truss piece to the middle. The reason why we attached the 2x4's first was to bring the base to it's final length. (And they are a lot easier to handle than the middle section). Then find the middle of the two end pieces, and each 4X4 end of the middle piece. Line up your marks and it will be centered. Attach the middle piece to the end pieces using 4 1/2 inch log screws. Again, no glue. The reason why we didn't use glue one these joints was so we can disassemble if need be.

Then put the table top on. Make sure the hangovers on the width and the length are the same to the table is centered on the base. Screw it on from the bottom using 4 inch wood screws.

Enjoy!
Kirstie

Want your own custom made table? These are available to be made to order from D & K Custom Woodworking LLC
www.dankcustomwoodworking.com