Table and Benches

Dave Dunkman
by Dave Dunkman
I have a new buddy that runs a saw mill on his property. He gave me some old "no good wood" that he doesn't use because it has bad spots on it. They are rough-sawn and about 1.25 inches thick, various lengths and widths. I salvage the slabs and use the good stuff on them. It did take quite a bit of sanding to get them where I was satisfied with how they looked.
Table top
I first made about 30 bluebird houses (used the plans from my home state of Missouri, where the bluebird is the state bird), stained them with Olympic WaterGuard for Wood, and wood-burned different designs on them with some words that I thought of when I think of bluebirds.
Used a natural tone for some and a cedar naturaltone for others. I'm giving some away as presents and selling some at the Crickets Nest.
Back to the mill and my buddy liked his new birdhouse I gave him.
Finishing Table
He gave me more wood. I started thinking about other needs my wife and I had, having just moved into a a new home in Winston-Salem, NC. I decided to build a table after seeing a post on Hometalk with a beautiful table displayed. With a couple adjustments I began the table top. I Cut 4 slabs 43" long by 11"wide with sides 3.5" wide, long enough so the top pieces overlapped about .75". I decide to do some routing on the top edge of the top and the bottom edge of the sides.
Ready to move to patio
I had a left-over 1"x2", from another project, so I used it underneath for stability. Next was the legs, which I made by simply squaring a couple strips, one about 2.75" wide and the other about 1.5" wide, making a nice square corner. I then started the slow and steady wood-burning of the top and sides. One part at a time and a couple hours, then get away and do something else. Then again the next day a few times. The key to that was being patient. Oh - by the way, my wife did the drawing before I wood-burned. The top ins a Hawaiian flower - her best friend lives there and we think of Hawaii often.
Finished Table
After I finished, I used a soaking with Olympic WaterGuard for Wood (linseed oil, water clean-up) and MinWax Spar Urethane (exterior/interior) (gave it about 4 coats). Each coat got a little easier, and it took about a quart total for the table and the benches.
Final
I then put the table on the patio to envision how it looked and decided I needed a couple of benches to match.
Next was the 2 benches, which I also got the design from a post on Hometalk, but tweaked it a little to make them a little more stable. I needed to buy a 2"x6" x10' and a 2"x4" x 8', cutting them according to the dimensions from the Hometalk post. Again, I did the wood-burning and the staining/varnishing. When I finished, I put everything on the back patio and now have a place to sit when we go out there. My wife dressed it up with some solar color-changing decorative shell jars. They look pretty particularly at night.


I still have free lumber to work with and I am ready for my next project - a small table for my grandson to play at. However, I need some ideas, so if you have anything to offer, please post or reply. I'm thinking of a smaller version of what I just did, but I'd like it to include things that might make it more suitable for a 1-5 year old. Thanks.
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