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1. Update 3 – Final finish and completed table Posted on August 21, 2016 by Brand Sixty-Seven
   This is going to be the final update on the Table For Food project. Please donate to assist the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and remember your donations are tax deductible (to the extent the law allows). This table build took me several months to complete. Mostly because I only....

   This is going to be the final update on the Table For Food project. Please donate to assist the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and remember your donations are tax deductible (to the extent the law allows).

   

   This table build took me several months to complete. Mostly because I only worked on it some evenings and weekends. I've condensed the video and the process way down to keep it short and sweet for viewers here, but I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the gaps in what you find here.

   I've skipped over much of the assembly of the pieces. I show in this update that I used long (and large) wood screws to hold everything together. There are two large screws holding each leg to the table top. The table top itself is two pieces and is held together with three 2x2 cross bars underneath that also butt up to the legs. The heads of the screws were counter sunk about a half-inch which left a little room to add a cover, which was simply a slice of a dowel rod glued into a slightly larger bored hole. The larger hole creates the illusion of wood pegs as the connectors.

   The finish is a clear polyurethane. I honestly think the wood looked better with stain only, but for a table that will actually get a lot of use, the clear coat was needed to make it easier to clean and less of a splinter fest. The dark finish looks good, but as I said in an earlier update, I might choose a little lighter finish next time just to see more of the wood grain.

   This table is now in our dining area of our home and we use it constantly. It's very solid. We eat every meal at it and it's a great fit for our space. There is only three of us, which is perfect. When there's four it's crowded. And if you need space for serving dishes, well... up-size this design to your needs!

   Again, please consider donating to support my efforts on this project. This is my volunteer work and I hope it can generate additional funds for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, who feed thousands of hungry local people each week. Thank you.https://funddeed.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/finished-table.jpg

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2. Update 2 – Finishing the pieces Posted on August 10, 2016 by Brand Sixty-Seven
   Once I had the design and the wood, it was time to get down to the nitty gritty and find out what was underneath all the layers of paint. Man, what a job! I have no idea if there's a much easier way, but here's what I did. First I....

   Once I had the design and the wood, it was time to get down to the nitty gritty and find out what was underneath all the layers of paint.

   Man, what a job! I have no idea if there's a much easier way, but here's what I did. First I scraped. That basically got the dirt off. Then I put on a paint stripping solution. And I scraped some more. Hmm. Not much progress. I got other strippers, and the gel stuff, and I left it on overnight and applied an extra coat. And I scraped. It was like glue. And I began to consider going back to my friend to use his planer. But not only would that not deliver the look I wanted - I needed to do this myself. In the end, I found using an electric drill with a wire brush was the ticket. It still took some elbow grease and some time, but left the wood more natural and rough on the surface.

   Next I got some help cutting all the pieces to size. Thanks El Jay! As we were working I had the idea to simplify the legs even more by having a V at each end of the table. If this was sturdy enough, I wouldn't need extra pieces to brace the legs. This design seemed worthy after we cut everything and did a little testing. So I lined things up and drilled holes for connecting the top to the legs. For this I used 1/2" screws 8-inches long, and counter sunk them so I could cover the holes with a slice of a dowel rod. Everything fit together nicely - I was pleasantly surprised.

   Then I did some test with different stains. I liked the darker stains and ended up using a shotgun slate that came out just on the brown side of black. A second chance might lead me to a little lighter choice, but the almost black goes well with almost anything, so why quip.

   All that's left is the final assembly and a few coats of polyurethane, stay tuned.

   And thanks for your support for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

    

   

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3. Update 1 – The Table Design Posted on August 09, 2016 by Brand Sixty-Seven
   Since I don't really know the first thing about making furniture, my approach was to keep it simple. After I found the wood (three 12-foot pieces of 2.5"x 8" fir). I started by sketching the basic shapes of the wood that I had to work with - and keeping in....

   Since I don't really know the first thing about making furniture, my approach was to keep it simple. After I found the wood (three 12-foot pieces of 2.5"x 8" fir). I started by sketching the basic shapes of the wood that I had to work with - and keeping in mind the space I wanted the table to occupy. It needed to be long and skinny. And I wanted to use the same wood for both the top and legs (and hopefully a bench too).

   After some time thinking, measuring and doodling, I had a concept. I would use two of the pieces side by side for the table top. The I would make legs using another piece for each leg and extra pieces for bracing the legs. To make sure the table was sturdy, I would add a cross brace between the legs.

   With a design in hand, I was ready to take on the challenge of stripping down the wood and cutting it to size. I'll share that in the next update. Thanks for supporting me and I hope you'll make a donation to help the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

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• 
  Kent Land

  07/08/2016
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  $10.00
• 
  John Avery

  18/09/2016
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  $100.00
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  Stanley Land

  01/06/2018
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  $100.00
• 
  Stanley Land

  01/06/2018
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  $100.00