Re-made just right

This is my biggest, most wonderful project yet. After a year of learning to build on my own, I finally feel like I am learning the fundamentals. I made this farm house table for my sister's beautiful home in St. George, Utah. Me and the family drove down there for 5 days of construction. It was so much fun, and I only had a little break down once! It all went pretty smoothly with no major problems, and I am so happy with the outcome!

It all started with Pinterest. Doesn't most projects these days start there! My sister was sending me pictures of some tables she liked and I picked the one I thought I could make. This is the table from Pinterest that I used for the inspiration.

The best part about it was the four legs with a square part on the top and the bottom. This would make it easy for me to use my awesome Kreg Jig to attach all the wood together. On this project, I chose to use Pine.

Here is a list of tools and products I used on this project:

1. The Kreg Jig, and Kreg jig screws

2. Miter saw

3. Extended screwdriver bits

4. Spade drill bit

5. Measuring tools

6. Leveler

7. measuring tape

8. 1X4 pine for the sides and bottom rack, 1X10 pine boards for the top

9. Power Drill

10. 4 Stair case posts

11. Gorilla Wood Glue

12. Sand paper-150 grit and 220 grit

13. 26 gallon air compressor

14. Husky Paint spray gun

15. Valspar Valtec self seal Precat lacquer

16. Ralph Lauren Tobacco stain

17. Valspar custom color match paint-white

18. Pencil

These are the wonderful pocket holes the Kreg Jig makes. It is a strong, clean, and easy way to join two pieces of wood. This one little tool makes my life easy. If you build things with wood, you should get this little thing. I have the Kreg Jig Jr. and it was only $40. It uses special screws which you can buy at Home Depot! I do have to stress how important it is to follow the instructions on how to set your jig according to wood depth, and make sure you follow the guide on what size of screws to use. And ONLY use the screws that come with the jig!!!! This is so important. Trust me, I have wasted HOURS of time not following instructions and having to rip things apart. But not any more!!!

This is the Kreg Jig Jr, which is what I have. To go to there website, click here.

First, I cut all the pieces that would make up the bottom rack. We decided to make the table 3 feet by 6 feet, so I cut the boards according to those measurements. I lined up all the boards equally and attached each end of the board on the 2 ends to keep from swiveling. (This picture shows only 1 screw, but I went back and did 2-much better). Then I stood up the leg posts, and marked where I would screw the whole bottom rack. Always use wood glue, and I used my favorite, Gorilla glue.

These are stair case posts that I used for my legs. They were the only ones at Home Depot, but worked perfect to be able to attach at the top, and bottom. I think I could have gotten them cheaper on line, but these were $25. I cut them down to size to about 3 feet tall.

After attaching the bottom rack to the bottom of the legs, I attached the top boards. I measured and marked where I would join the two pieces of wood together. I also used the level throughout this whole project to make sure it was straight.

I used extra pieces of wood I had to enforce the sides by bulking it up with more stability.

Since the bottom rack has a lot of wood to it, it was heavy in the middle, and needed some extra support. So I decided to add some small legs. Especially since my sister has little kids who would love to climb onto that rack.

Now everything is all put together and reinforced on all four sides. I put some cross boards along the middle as well. This table is really solid!

She wanted a beat up, barn look, so we hit it with a claw hammer for the glaze to go into.

I used the Kreg Jig to make about 24 pocket holes ready to attach the top to be a snug fit.

After all this work, I really wanted everything to be solid and strong.

Did I mention how important it is to have a strong hold with each piece of wood? And how do you do that? The KREG JIG!! I love it.

The top was made of 4 pieces of 10'' pine. I sanded it all down until it was nice and smooth. My new saw horses really came in handy!

We couldn't wait to see what it would look like inside the house, so we brought it in and it was perfect! The next steps were paint, glaze, stain, and lacquer finish.

The top was not attached yet so that I could stain it separate from painting.

This table filled this big, awkward space perfectly!

My sister and her husband stained it and next we were ready for my favorite part! I got this bolt and several others, from an old wood pile by my parents house. It was part of an old mink farm and I love how rustic and old it is. I had to hack them out with an ax! I was a little sad to give them to her, but this table was definitely worthy of this awesome addition!

I asked my dad to cut them down to about an inch, knowing I would create a hole to drop each one into.

To get them in, we used this drill bit to create a hole that would fit snugly each bolt. We used a mallet to get it in all the way. A great tight fit.

I love the look it gives. So very rustic.

I bought this honker at Home Depot while in St. George. It is a 26 gallon air compressor. It was a must for all the spraying I needed to do. It is awesome.

I also bought a new set of paint guns and they worked beautifully. I sprayed the beautiful milky white color first, which matched their cabinets perfectly. After it dried, we painted on the Ralph Lauren Tobacco color glaze, and used baby wipes to wipe off the excess. The glaze goes into the cracks beautifully.

Here, you can see the glaze in the cracks and how it goes around the divots on the legs.

It was Presidents day when I finished spraying and I loved this beautiful view of the table, flag, and snow capped and red rock mountains.

It took lots of coats of this finish spray, especially for the top.

My brother in law got all the supplies at a specialty paint store. This was the lacquer we used. It sprayed on so nice to give the table a nice quality sheen.

It took a couple hours to get the multiple coats of lacquer on the top. The air pressure produced over spray which was layered on by more, wet, lacquer!

I covered the bolts to not get a shiny coat. We wanted them so stay rustic looking.

Drying.

Almost done!

Love it!

Now she will have that extra space she needs to prepare food, and just to have another large surface. This is definitely a custom piece, and will stay with this house it they ever move.