Farm Table from reclaimed wood

Hi Everyone,

I have been hard at work making my first farm table for our very itty bitty kitchen.  So here was the problem, my kitchen space was only 6 feet wide and could not accommodate many tables that we had looked at, so I decided to make one.  We had a shed that was falling down and needed to be removed.  I went to check it out!  It had a lot of great wood that was in remarkably good condition, even though it must be over 50 years old.  And there you go, I was in business.   My husband and I set out to tear down the shed, remove the wood and pound out all the nails.  We then sprayed for termites and let it dry for a week. Here is what we got.

 

 

 

 

 

After determining a table size of 31×66 would work best for the space,  I found the straightest pieces and started sanding, planing  and sanding some more.  It was a daunting task as this wood was originally hand milled and nothing was straight, even or had the same thickness..  IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!  After hours of adjusting and planing, I was happy with how they were fitting together.  No fine carpentry by any means, but looked awesome. Here is were I ended up…

After sanding the boards I noticed a crack developing in the wood so I added a star inlay to guarantee the wood would not continue to split.  This task was not too difficult, not perfect, but I wasn’t trying for perfection, as it is a rustic farm table after all. It was a new skill I was learning, so I was very pleased with the results.

I decided to use a stain, wax combo to complete the top.  I love this stuff (Briwax).  I used antique mahogany and dark brown. Dark brown brought out all the great details and the mahogany gave it the great color.  It gave this beautiful patina and just enough shine and protection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next was accomplishing the trestle part of the table. I wanted to use the beautiful 4″ x 6″ beams as the supports and decided to cut a nice little design into the ends. 

I used a lap joint and drawbore joinery.  Ended up needed a few screws to solidify the connection, which were hidden behind a button top wood plug.

After I added a wood cross pole to give the table stability, I was done and I LOVE IT!