Table for a Friend

This table was a challenge.  The wood was a bit twisted, and I should have opened up my planer and planed the boards to the same thickness.  But, I didn't.  Even with the challenges, I loved how it turned out.  Unfortunately, my friend and coworker, T, had a slight accident when transporting it home.  It has a bit more "character" than she'd planned on this early in her ownership of the table.

At some point this summer, I'll try to help her "fix" it.

T wanted something different.  She'd seen an octagonal shaped table and like it, so that's what sizwe went for.  If all else fails, it can be moved into her husband's "man" cave for poker nights!  It should easily seat six, and maybe a couple of small kids.

The finish on this: sanding, conditioner, dark walnut, provincial, watered down "sienna brown" paint brushed on to tone down grain, then more provincial, then coats and coats of polyurethane. The base is the same, but I used espresso on it to give it a "blacker" tone.  I loved the finish - it made a somewhat rustic table look very rich.

 In pieces                                                             Together

My dining room chair has a really large seat, I think T has something smaller in mind.

 

Finished - before pick up

And, the nasty scratch attained during the move!  It looked really large to me, but T says it's only a small scratch.  She was most upset by what look like teeth marks in the edge!

I think we can fix it!  I'm anxious to get a good "after" picture of this table in use!

Table for the Docs

There's just something about tables...  They are big, bulky, sometimes hard to work on.  But, when finished, they are so different from the materials you start with.  From straight boards, you end up with something that is beautiful and functional.  I just feel good when I've finished one - even though there's usually enough swearing going on in the garage that you might think I hated what I was doing! My creaky bones and joints certainly make it challenging!

I've made a couple over the past few months.  The first was for the Docs.  They had a contemporary style, counter height table and they wanted something more rustic/chic to fit in with the style they have in their home.  As usual, I used inexpensive 2x and 4x material.  The finish is similar to what I used on their dining room and living room tables.  Sanding, conditioner, dark walnut, weathered oak, white wash, mixture of dark walnut and weathered oak, then coats of polyurethane.  And, lots of sanding in between coats.  The base is quite a bit darker than it looks in these pictures, but the top does have a lot of gray tones mixed with the browns.