A few months ago, my friend asked me to help him build a dining room table for the new house that he and his wife bought in Colorado. I’m not going to lie, it was both terrifying and exciting. Terrifying, because I had never built anything that required close to the amount of skill required for a flat, square dining table. Exciting, because it was a chance to dive headfirst into something I believed I would really enjoy.
Obviously, the first step was to design the table to fit their needs.
They love to spend time with family and wanted a table for everyone to gather around. In this case, everyone is 8-12 people, so we decided on a very large table. Approximately 4’ x 8’.
After determining the size, we needed a design. They sent me a few examples for sale that they liked, and then I sketched out a couple of examples for them.
After some feedback, we decided on top option 2 and I started to draw it up in SketchUp. Now, if you are a seasoned woodworker, or someone who knows a little bit about wood movement, you may realize already that top option 2 presents a lot more difficulties regarding expansion and contraction. It also presents a lot of issues with warping, especially using lumber to save on costs. I did not realize that at the time (first time, remember?), but luckily a friend offered some solid advice before I ruined everything in the build. I’ll get into more details later regarding wood movement and how it was handled on this build, but it was a fair amount of work in this design.
That being said, we kept the design as is, and I do not regret it one bit. It was a huge learning experience to build and I think the end result was worth the added difficulties from the beginning.
Back to the SketchUp design.
The final table design calls for thick table legs, 3” x 3”, and a table-top made from 2” x 6” lumber, ripped down to 5” wide. It’s substantial, and I can’t wait to walk through the build process with you over the next few weeks.
Almost a month ago, I posted an update regarding my weight loss and workshop goals that I set last fall. The weight loss goal in particular had gone poorly, so I’m adding more frequent updates to try and stay accountable to my goals.
Weight Loss – Two weeks ago, I had dropped 2lbs and weighed in at 174lbs. Today, I have weighed in at….174lbs. Honestly, I’ve done decently well these past couple weeks with eating healthily and exercising constantly. I did enjoy espresso fudge birthday cake almost every day 2 weeks ago, but despite that I’ve weighed in between 173 and 174 consistently. I’m going to keep pushing and see if I can lose at least a pound by next Sunday.
Workshop – Like 2 weeks ago, still no progress on the faux beams. I did drop off the dining room table that I built and am starting to write about! While I still have other things on my to-do list, finishing up that table is a big step towards working on the workshop once again.
