DIY Farm Table

Remember my post last week about some farm table inspiration? Today I've got a treat.  If you want to know the deets, read on, if you just want to see pretty pictures scroll to the bottom...

If you want to see what some of my inspiration was, take a look here.

There are lots of ideas and a few do it yourself links on the world wide web, but I just didn't see exactly what I was looking for. So we did it our way. There is no wrong way, well, there's no exact way of doing this. So here's our way....

Items needed:

100 year old barn wood bought off a guy in the country who got it from a guy that was about to burn his barn down. $60.
2- 4x4 posts cut at 30" $9.98 each.
3- 2x4x8 for apron and braces 6.00 each (I think.)
screws
belt sander
palm sander
lots of sand paper varying from 60 to 220.
drill
paint
Howard's Feed and Wax
Protective glasses
Ear plugs
Mask

Start by building the base. We used the 2x4 to build the apron. That's what the part under the top of the table is called, for you non-builder types like myself. (I had to look it up, and kept calling it a skirt.)

 I'm not sure what this is a picture of... oh, wait. I know. We used the Kreg Jig to make this so that the screws weren't on the outside and showing.

A Kreg Jig makes a hole in the wood at an angle for the screw to go in so it is not seen. It basically rocks.

Tom cut the 4x4 posts to about 29 inches. I just measured our round table and that was the height of the table, so we went with that.

He then cut out 3/4 of the top section of the post so that the little piece sticking up fit snugly behind the apron.

(The K stands for keep. Not Kirsty.)

Here's my hot hubs cutting the posts.

By the way, we did this on Saturday. It was in the 40s. When I finished it yesterday, it was close to 70. Gotta love the midwest.

Here's what the boards looked like prior to sanding and cutting. Well, the back two are done. The front two are not. Oh, and that's the table base too.

I spent several hours (not really) using the belt sander to get off the top layer of farm. I mean barn. It smelled really bad and the first time I did it I forgot to wear my serious mask and I got sick. Yeah, that's right my serious mask. The one I use for spray painting. Can't get away with a tiny little white mask for this.  They aren't too expensive (I got mine for $37 at HD) and so worth it.

We put a couple of 2x4's in between to add support so the wood didn't sag.

Amazingly we were perfectly square. THAT NEVER HAPPENS to us. You'll notice the angled holes on the outside of that 2x4...that's because they were going to be covered with another skirt (ha, apron). So, no big deal that they are on the outside here.

Hubs also put corner braces on to make sure the table is sturdy and because it just wasn't heavy enough...ugh.

For the table top we used the Kreg Jig again to attach each board to the one next to it. That way we could get the boards as close together as possible. Fortunately things pulled together nicely.

When they were all together we cut the boards to size. Tom said it smelled like animal dung when I cut the ends of the wood.

That's my new Carhart coat for working in the garage. Cute, huh? Not so much. I wanted black, but they only had red in my size. Oh well. I really did cut those boards, too. I didn't just stand there for a picture. It freaked me out and I made Tom do the other end. It took me roughly 17 minutes to cut all the boards, it took him 17 seconds.

We put it up on the sawhorses so it was easier for Tom to screw the top to the base. I lifted that thing up there. It was heavy. My back hurts.

We then attached the boards to the table base prior to sanding. We left one side of the table top long. I have no idea why. I had to climb on top of the table to use the belt sander, it was just easier. It's a sturdy table. I wasn't too worried. Good thing I've been running...

These are the boards that Tom ripped (yeah, that's right. Ripped.) When you cut a piece of wood lengthwise with a table saw it's called ripping. I'm fancy schmancy.

Here's a closeup of those boards. I clamped them to the table so that when I used the belt sander they wouldn't fly through the garage door. That darn belt sander is a wild one.

 Aren't they gorg?!

Here's the table - top cut, board belt sanded, 60 grit on the palm sander. I went over the entire thing with the 60 grit. That took out the rough stuff. Then I took the 220 grit and went over the entire thing. A lot. When I say a lot, I mean a lot. I went over sections, ran my hands across them, then moved to the next section. Then went back again and did the entire process again. I got 72 slivers....or 4.

Once I was satisfied with the feel of the top, I got out my absolute favorite thing in the entire world for wood. Howard's Feed and Wax. Are you listening to me Howard? I heart Feed and Wax.

I just put it on, with a paper towel. Look at the difference.

The Howard treated 100 year old barn wood is on the left. The untreated yet sanded to within an inch of it's life 100 year old barn wood is on the right. Ah-mazing.

(The picture is crap, but give me a break.)

 After I applied the wax, I let it dry. It says to wipe it off, but I don't like to. I like to leave it.

Then, I applied a coat of polycrylic. Then I let it dry. Then I sanded it lightly. Then I did the whole process again. Three times. I need to do it two more times.

I also painted the legs white and then Tom cut and mitered the skirt, I mean apron, that was going on the outside of the base.

Here he is measuring it and making sure that the top of the skirt met up with the bottom of the table top properly. He did have to use the hand planer to make sure it fit and that it covered the same all the way around.

We used some wood glue and our pneumatic nailer to get the apron attached.

Then I painted the apron.

Are you ready for the big finale?

Here it is in our eating area.

Do you think it would be wrong to grab my pillow and blanket and snuggle up on it?

 

I can't believe how amazing it turned out. It is better than I had expected.  I'm just giddy over it.

I can't wait to put a table runner on it and get it all ready for Thanksgiving!

Look at that beautiful wood. Ahh, glorious wood. I love you.

It's not perfect, it's not supposed to be. But, it's absolutely perfect for me. We are so happy with the results!

I'm going to go ahead and share this all over the place at these amazing blogs.








Piece of Work Wednesday at Primitive & Proper
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous