It is final assembly time for the dining table! After many weeks of ripping, routing, glueing, and leg assembly, the table was ready for a drive up to Fort Collins, CO for final assembly on location.
Unfortunately, I had a continuous brain fart for about two hours and did not take any photos of the table packed in the CR-V for the drive. Let’s just say that it was majestic and impressive that the entire table fit in there. The back window was open for the entire ride and it was fantastic.
After getting to Fort Collins the final assembly process was pretty straightforward. The first step was to reassemble the table top into one piece, since I had to take it apart for “shipment”. I then attached the base to the table top using the figure 8 fasteners I discussed last week. After getting the table top attached to the base I was able to put the breadboards onto both sides of the table.
Then, using the holes I had previously drilled through the breadboard into the mortise and tenon joint, I used a mallet to knock oak pins into the breadboard to keep it in place. The middle pin on both sides was glued into place, while every other pin was only glued on the outer edges and not the middle. This will allow the table portion to expand and contract independently of the breadboards and should prevent any cracks from developing.
The excess bits of the oak pins were removed using a flush cut saw. The final step was to give the entire table a solid sanding to remove any imperfections and level out some of the edges from the table top glue up. Starting at 80-grit, I spend a lot of time sanding the entire surface, working my way up in 20-grit increments until ending at 160-grit.
It’s not perfect, but I am proud of it. I learned a ton through the process and had a great time doing it (even with the curse words and frustrating parts). Hopefully it serves as a wonderful gathering place for years to come. Total cost for the 8’ x 4’ table ended up being $360 without labor, which is a pretty great deal compared to similar sized tables out there. Even if those tables are a slightly higher quality (but made with less love).
