Brady time!
So I posted this on my Instagram account a week or two ago but I for those of you who don’t follow me and/or use Instagram, I’m gonna run you through this little table I built a couple weeks ago.
Hailey and I had the thought that it’d be nice to have a little table to set our coffees on while we sit next to the fire and my first idea was that I could build it with screws and treated lumber like everything else we’ve built this summer. But then I saw a piece of firewood that Hailey had chopped in a particular way that left it almost completely flat and smooth on one side. Gather enough of those and you’ve got a table top. Kindling for legs and stretchers. Use wood joinery methods instead of screws and you got a table with character. 😊
So we began gathering firewood that could be used for the top and the legs.
Once I had a small collection and a good ten day stay at the lake ahead of us I pulled out my tools and started chiseling.
First I needed to attach all the top pieces together. So I decided to cut what’s called a half lap joint into the underside of all the tops in order to glue two pieces of kindling across the underside of all four tops.
I had a lot of fun using my chisel to smooth the kindling. I didn’t have a hand plane here so a sharp chisel was the next best thing.
Also the wood chip mess on the ground was something I definitely enjoyed.
Next was gluing the top together. I only had three clamps so I had to glue one side at a time. Lots of time to sit and watch the fire. 🔥
Once the top was glued together I started working at notching out the tops of each leg in order to glue them to the underside of the table top.
My next step was probably the most challenging and time consuming of the whole build but also the most rewarding as well. I decided to add the stretchers aka little cross pieces by cutting round through tenons and drilling holes in the table legs to slide them through. The tenons were cut by hand with my chisel. Eight of them took me close to six hours but I had a blast!
Once all eight joints were cut I took it apart, added glue and then ‘clamped’ it together for the night. 💪
Once the glue had set and cured all I had left to do was trim the legs even and level. That took all of 15 minutes and it was done!
Ready to take its place and serve its purpose. 😊
Side note, as I was waiting for the glue to dry in the legs I made a wooden mallet from firewood as well. Which, from what I understand, is a right of passage for new woodworkers. I’d say not bad for my first mallet. 😊
