Going stir crazy because of the social distancing. And I needed a table. I could have bought one from IKEA or Target for anywhere from $125 to $10,003! To take my mind off things and to save money, I made a table for about $110.
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| The homemade table Jake Sharon made. Plus, two IKEA chairs he assembled. |
MATERIALS
I went to the hardware store and bought the following materials :
- A large piece of wood for $29.45
- Four Waddell Pine 28-inch table legs for $11.98 apiece
- Waddell 4-Pack metal, table leg, straight, top plates for $10.48
- Two cans of Minwax Polycrylic water based polyurethane at $11.97 per spray can
- Fine sanding block for about $3
HOW TO MAKE IT
I spent about 20 minutes building the table. Afterwards, I went to the hardware store and bought the water-based polyurethane varnish. I did not record video of the varnishing. That took about 4 hours including all the intermittent drying. So I did not include varnishing in this making-of video. I probably should have though. Below are some directions on how to assemble the table, then directions on how to varnish it.
TOOLS NEEDED FOR ASSEMBLY
- Philips/ standard screwdriver. Or powerdrill with Philips driver bit (recommended).
- A clean surface on which to put your table top while you assemble your table.
ASSEMBLY DIRECTIONS:
- Place your table top on a clean surface, with the side you want to be the underside face up.
- Place each of the top plates where you think you want your table legs to go.
- Imagine who might sit at your table. Are the top plates far enough apart for their legs to fit between them?
- To ensure you have the top plates where you want them, measure their locations from the edge of the table top and see if that matches the other top plates.
- Screw in the screws included with the top plates.
- Screw the table legs into the top plates.
- Flip the table over.
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| Table leg has a screw on top to screw into the top plates. |
VARNISHING
Though not featured in the above video, I recommend varnishing your table to protect it against dings and stains. I used Minwax Polycrylic semi-gloss water-based polyurethane. It is easy to use and easy to clean up. Just in case, I took my table outside to spray it.
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| Minwax Polycrylic water-based polyurethane |
VARNISHING DIRECTIONS:
- Do this outside if you can.
- Spray about 12 inches from the surface.
- Spray in even lines, following the wood grain.
- Overlap each line.
- Do more than one coat.
- Allow about 30-minutes of dry time in between coats.
- In between coats, use the sanding block to lightly sand the surface. If the surface looks slightly white, that is all you need to do. You did it.
- Wipe any debris from sanding off the table.
- Apply a second (or third) coat.
- To varnish the underside, I recommend waiting till the top is totally dry and flipping the table over.
IN CONCLUSION
I spent about $110 on this project. So, compared to some of the cheaper tables out there, I didn't save tons and tons of money. However, it felt good to make a unique table, my table, that I will probably keep for years. This table can comfortable seat two to four people.
I'm just trying to make the best of this situation and keep my mind off things. I hope you make something too. If so, please tweet me at @jakeisfantastic and share your projects. And/or, please subscribe to me on Youtube and/or leave comments.
I'm just trying to make the best of this situation and keep my mind off things. I hope you make something too. If so, please tweet me at @jakeisfantastic and share your projects. And/or, please subscribe to me on Youtube and/or leave comments.
Bye! I'm Jake!
