A friend from my work asked me to help him build a Farmhouse Table. He had gotten plans from the Internet and forwarded them to me for review. The plans called for making the table out of Douglas Fir, your basic construction lumber. My friend and I went to the local big box store and picked out the lumber. We tried to get the best pieces we could find, but construction lumber ain’t exactly like working with nice quality hardwood.
My friends wanted to enlarge the plans a little so we bought larger stock than what was called for in the original plans. We also made the table frame (the base) larger as well. Fortunately, the plans were not too complicated so tweaking them was not too difficult.
The plans call for putting the table together primarily with Kreg screws and a few regular wood screws here and there. I got out my trusty Kreg jig setup and we went to work. The part to make first was the bottom frame. We cut the legs out of 4×4’s then notched them for a 2×4 support. The 2×4 support fit right into the notch and was glued and screwed in place. We then installed the upper cross piece on each table end using Kreg screws. The ends with the table legs were connected with long stretchers using Kreg screws. There was a support that ran the center lower length of the table as well.
With the bottom frame constructed we turned to the table top. Basically, the table top pieces were connected using Kreg screws. We did a ton of drilling on the Kreg jig let me tell you. These boards were about 7ft. long with a screw every 8 inches or so. It took quite a while but we finally got the long table top pieces together. At one point we had to use a clamp to pull the lumber together properly before we put in the screws. Needless to say, this Doug Fir was in fairly good condition, but not perfect by any means. It did need a little tweaking here and there for things to fit properly.
After the long table top boards were done we measured and created the breadboard ends for the top. The breadboard ends were attached with Kreg screws also. They went together fairly well with a little muscle here and there.
So, we then had a table top (not attached yet) sitting on the bottom frame. If you look at the bottom side of the table top you will see lots of holes for Kreg screws. They cannot be seen from the top of course.
Next, we moved on to filling knot holes and sanding. There was a bunch of sanding to be done on this puppy before we could begin staining and applying some type of finish. This is rough wood after all. It did sand out pretty well though.
After the sanding was done, my friends loaded up the table top (still unattached) and frame into their truck and took it to their house for staining and the finish. They will send me some photos of the finished product. For now, I am just going to post what pictures we have.
Needless to say, several members of my family want me to build a Farmhouse Table for them. If I decide to do that I am going to try to get Douglas Fir (or maybe Yellow Pine) that is a little better quality wood if I can find it. That may not be possible, but it won’t hurt to look around online a little. Be sure and check out the photo gallery of the production process.
Doug
