| Project by Don Broussard | posted 11-18-2015 02:35 AM | 2850 views | 3 times favorited | 20 comments |  |
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A friend of ours and his wife bought a new house in the north Georgia mountains and needed a dining room table. We selected a design from the internet, packed a few tools and headed to their house last week. My friend has a very spacious shop left by the previous owner but is sparsely equipped. The only large stationary tool is a Craftsman 12” RAS set up with a long cutting table. My friend borrowed a Craftsman table saw to use. It was a fairly new model, but was underpowered for the lumber we had.
My friend and I went to a mill in the area to select the wood for the project. Initial discussions at the mill with the miller lead us to a nice stack of dry cherry, but it was a bit too pricey for my friend. We ended up getting knotty alder at around $3/BF (no idea if that was a good price or not). Knotty alder is a hardwood in the maple family but is not too dense. I found it pretty easy to work with.
We glued up the tabletop and made the trestles. We used biscuits for half the table top glue up but there was too much trouble with the alignment with the biscuits so the balance of the tabletop glue up was done sans biscuits. The top came out pretty wavy so we used some drop offs to make some supports to draw the tabletop and force it to be flatter. With a 1-¾” thickness, it did draw up a bit but not completely. Some sanding effort with a belt sander was needed to get it acceptably flat. The “client” picked out a Colonial Maple stain which they will apply after doing the finishing sanding.
We bought lumber to build two benches but we ran out of time.
Finished dimensions are 43-½” wide, 95” long and 30” high with breadboard ends on the top.
-- People say I hammer like lightning. It's not that I'm fast -- it's that I never hit the same place twice!
20 comments so far
lightcs1776
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#1 posted 11-18-2015 02:38 AM
Great table, Don. Looks very sturdy and a lot of room. Plus, the mountains of Northern Georgia? There is no better place in the world.
-- Chris ** If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. — Tom Paine **
Monte Pittman
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#2 posted 11-18-2015 02:40 AM
Very nice work on short notice.
-- Nature created it, I just assemble it.
DIYaholic
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#3 posted 11-18-2015 02:43 AM
Great lookin’ “on the fly” table.
Impressive work!!!
-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow! If good things come to those who wait.... Why is procrastination a bad thing?
ShopTinker
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#4 posted 11-18-2015 03:05 AM
It looks great Don. I bet you and your helper had a great time working together on this project. Maybe you’ve given him the woodworking bug. Although leaving him with final sanding and finishing might nip his enthusiasm a bit.
-- Dan - Valparaiso, Indiana, "A smart man changes his mind, a fool never does."
CFrye
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#5 posted 11-18-2015 03:42 AM
Nice trestle table, Don. Good neighbor award to you! That knotty alder will finish up great! Thanks for sharing.
-- God bless, Candy
waho6o9
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#6 posted 11-18-2015 04:02 AM
Beautiful work Don!
Woodknack
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#7 posted 11-18-2015 05:48 AM
Very beefy and kinda gothic.
-- Rick M, http://thewoodknack.blogspot.com/
NormG
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#8 posted 11-18-2015 05:51 AM
Well done on such a large project with little equipment
-- Norman - I never never make a mistake, I just change the design.
oldnovice
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#9 posted 11-18-2015 06:34 AM
Good work in a short time with very beautiful results!
-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"
Ken90712
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#10 posted 11-18-2015 09:17 AM
Well done, looks great.
-- Ken, "Everyday above ground is a good day!"
JL7
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#11 posted 11-18-2015 11:43 AM
So this is a case of go big AND go home! That is really impressive work Don…..
-- Jeff .... Minnesota, USA
Jim Jakosh
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#12 posted 11-18-2015 02:36 PM
Fine looking table!!
JIm
-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!! Variety is the Spice of Life!!
Don Broussard
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#13 posted 11-18-2015 02:46 PM
Thanks to all for the comments and compliments!
Here is the plan, in case you’re interested in building one. The plan uses construction lumber which makes some operations easier. We used a real breadboard on the ends instead of pocket screwing a 2×6 as called for in the plans.
I did caution him to make sure he has help to get the table into the house. My guess is that it weighs about 250-300 lbs.
Dan—When we left, he was still pretty enthusiastic about woodworking, but he hadn’t started sanding yet. I think I may have to check in on him this week to get an update on his level of enthusiasm.
-- People say I hammer like lightning. It's not that I'm fast -- it's that I never hit the same place twice!
terryR
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#14 posted 11-18-2015 02:56 PM
Looks great, Don!
Very stout.
-- tr ...see one, do one, teach one...
Hammerthumb
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#15 posted 11-18-2015 04:27 PM
Looks good Don.
-- Paul, Duvall, WA
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