Lien-Thanh's Blog: Making a Table (and Benches... and Stools)

Step 1: Obtaining Materials
Bill and I decided to make our first piece of furniture together. We used these plans, with the exception that we added 6 inches of pipe to each of the legs to make it counter height: http://www.storefrontlife.com/pipe-wood-table-v2/.

We rented a table saw, borrowed a sander from a friend, and bought the rest of the equipment we needed. It took a few runs to various places (a lumbar yard, Reuse Hawaii, 2 Home Depots, and Lowe's) to find the wood we wanted to use, and we eventually found some pine from Home Depot that we liked. We bought pipe for the legs, which we had cut and threaded (as shown in the video below).

Step 2: Preparing the Base
This step was straightforward, and consisted of cleaning the greasy nasty pipes and simple screwing them into place. We later added felt pads to the bottom. In this picture, Bill is holding a blower for no reason.

Step 3: Ripping the Boards
We wanted our 3 pieces of wood to fit together without grooves between them, so we ripped the 6-foot boards (trimmed them lengthwise with a table saw). This was a learning process. We had to replace one of the boards we originally started with, but we were eventually happy with the end result.

Step 4: Making the Table Top
We clamped the wood together and cut off the ends to make them even. Then we used a Kreg Jig to make 32 diagonal holes in the bottom of the table and screwed the three pieces of wood together. We put some wood glue between the pieces just for good measure. We used pocket hole plugs and wood filler to patch up the holes.

Step 5: Adding Support Pieces
We added 3 support pieces, which was an important step because our wood was slightly warped and this helped straighten out the pieces. This step also took some trial and error. Our original screws were narrow and able to go straight through wood, so they weren't forceful enough to bring the support piece flush with the crooked table top. We had to replace all the screws with ones that had bigger heads and add washers so we could force the wood together, which successfully straightened out our table.

Step 6: Finishing the Bottom of the Table
We sanded the bottom, applied wood conditioner, and applied a couple coats of combination wood stain + polyurethane. We felt like the result was too red and glossy for our taste, so we bought new materials to use for the top of the table.

Step 7: Completing the Table
We screwed in the base of the table to the table top, and it suddenly felt real. All we had left to do was finish the top with lots of sanding (60 --> 80 --> 120 --> 220), 1 coat of wood conditioner, 2 coats of stain, and 5 coats of polyurethane.

Step 8: Forgetting We Were Finished
We had an extra piece of wood left over, so we figured - let's make a matching bench. And while we're at it, we might as well make a bench for each side. And if we're going to have a bench for each side, let's make a couple stools for the end pieces. So it was back to step 1 of obtaining new materials, and then cutting/sanding everything down to the right size.

Step 9: Making the Benches
We drew inspiration from this design for the bench: http://www.storefrontlife.com/yet-another-bench/, but we heavily modified just about everything. We changed the length of the bench based on what would nicely fit under the table, we changed the apron length based on what size piping was readily available, and we made the legs taller so it would be counter-height. For each of the legs, we decided to put two pieces of 2x10" wood together (instead of five pieces of 2x4"), so that we could use the same wood that we used for the bench/stool tops.

We ripped the wood to make the bench leg pieces more even, and then screwed two pieces together to form each leg. There were still a lot of uneven areas, so we sanded them down until they were smooth. Here's a picture of before sanding (bench leg on the left) and after sanding (bench leg on the right).

This is what it looked like after we were finished sanding all 4 legs (2 for each bench).

We drilled a bunch of pocket holes into the legs and aprons, in preparation for eventually attaching the legs to the top and the aprons to the legs.

Then we screwed the pipes into the legs.

We screwed the legs into the top, the aprons into the top, and the aprons into the legs. And voila, we had benches!

Step 10: Making the Stools
For the stools, we started with this: https://rogueengineer.com/easy-diy-stool-plans/, but ended up changing it entirely. We wanted to use pieces of pipe on the bottom so it would match the table and benches. We used pre-cut pipes that were readily available, which affected the front aprons length, and ultimately affected the length of the stool top. For the legs, we made them counter height and changed them from 2x2" to 2x4" pieces of wood so the flanges of the pipe could be attached. As a result, the side aprons and side pieces of wood joining the legs only had to be ~3" instead of ~7".

We started by attaching the pipes to the legs.

Then we added the front aprons using pocket holes.

We added the side pieces and side aprons by drilling screws straight through the legs.

We completed the stools by drilling the legs and aprons into the stool tops.

Step 11: Finishing the Benches and Stools
We were down to the final steps! We filled the pocket holes, sanded everything down, and added felt pads to the feet.