Can anyone tell me how this table has been made?

[HomeGrownHeroz]

Hi,

I'm interested in making a table out of some scaffolding boards and reclaimed wood. I've done some diy projects at home before but nothing as big as a table before. Could someone help explaining how this table has been put together please?

 

[rob1693]

Pictures might help

 

[HomeGrownHeroz]

Sorry, image didn't link.

Interested in what sort of joinery methods have been used as well.

 

[Ollie78]

Not sure its joinery exactly, probably just bashed together with some screws.

 

[foxbat]

A simple mortice and tennon but looking at it I kind of think they'll probably be just a simple brace on the inside rather than any joinery

 

[TheTiddles]

It appears to have been built with… naff all thought to it’s practicality or appearance.

If you’re going to make the effort of making something even a tiny bit like that, just a little bit of design work will make something a hundred times better.

Overhang the top, a tiny bit of taper on the legs maybe, get the aprons the same height at least.

Some leg brackets, and dowels is enough to build it, nothing complex is necessary, but going to mortice and tenon is a jump up.

Don’t be intimidated by size, it doesn’t change complexity, just quantity of time and logistics.

 

[HOJ]

Could someone help explaining how this table has been put together please?

Simple answer is badly, could you explain, to me, at least, where the attraction of a piece of agricultural looking tat is, its as rough as things get, I have nailed together work tables that look better than that.

I'm interested in making a table

Surely if you are looking to make a piece to go in your home, set your target higher and make something that you will be proud to say you made. (and not get splinters off it )

 

[Ttrees]

I'm sure you'd get plenty of ideas if you googled potting bench
and I've much the same thoughts as The Tiddles.

However, don't take anyone else's nay saying as a negative thing...
What do you find the appeal with?

To my eyes, it looks like one of the legs of the seat has "fallen off"
perhaps they ran out of wood.

If there is anything of appeal in the picture, it might be the really good lighting,
and what looks to be something along the lines of a soap finish, though it could be wax,
on bare timber.
Chris Schwarz has a good video on the soap finish, cheap and cheerful.
It might tie in with the likes of the petite Roubo, if you like things flush.
All the best
Tom

 

[bilspe]

Hi,

Could someone help explaining how this table has been put together please?View attachment 167632

I would say by some 7 year olds in a primary school craft lesson

 

[Adam W.]

@HomeGrownHeroz Please excuse the glib comments from the above forumites, they all drink heavily on a Saturday afternoon and can't control themselves after 7 o'clock in the evening.

 

[HomeGrownHeroz]

Some interesting comments here. My partner and I really like the rustic / farmhouse style of it. We like the idea of using reclaimed wood such as scaffolding planks. We live in a small terraced cottage and it will go well with the style of our house.

 

[Adam W.]

You could use mortice and tenon construction to make the frame for the table and fix the top onto that or as mentioned in one of the saner comments above, screw it all together with brackets.

I'm not sure how the one in the photograph is constructed but it's probably quite simple. Mortice and tenon is a lot more involved and requires some carpentry tools.

Do you have any experience with laying out mortice and tenon joints?

 

[Ttrees]

Nothing wrong with a dry run using brackets, if you've got enough timber to do it again,
bearing in mind, the components being that bit much longer for the joinery, and wider if jointing & gluing up the boards for the top.

 

[HomeGrownHeroz]

For clarification as well, I'm not set on making this exact table. It was just one that I saw and liked the look of. Basically we like the look of the planks on the top and then just the methods of constructing it.

Full disclosure, I have no experience with any level of joinery to be honest. I've converted a campervan and made our kitchen, furniture, cupboards etc so have some confidence and some tools available. Plus it's a hobby I want to get into.

Thanks all for the help so far. It's interesting to get insight, even from the opinions of the people that dislike the table.

 

[johnnyb]

Could I also say this type of stuff is also a bit like those cls garden "things" there's a big concern making these things in leek. Just terrible brainless rubbish.

 

[Ttrees]

One rule broken with the flush top, being no accounting for expansion.

 

[Jacob]

Bought table brackets most likely.
Set of 4 Large 70mm Table Corner Brackets + Fixings Screws Leg Brace Tables Legs | eBay
Or perhaps pocket screw joints around the aprons to legs (not a good idea). Or might even be morticed and tenoned.
Top just nailed on. Mysterious extra bit of apron on the end table leg frame, some sort of bodge going on?
Bench - just all nails.
There's a trick with nails - you get all your bits sorted and marked but before you put it together you put the nails in each piece as necessary, with the points just showing through. Then finish nailing each of these pieces through to the next piece, clamped if you have them, but if you don't they get pinned into place and won't get bounced around as you hit the nails. Difficult to describe if you don't know what I'm on about.
Another trick is to pre-drill for nails if they are near an edge, especially end grain, to make it less likely to split.
Interesting designs are possible - google Reitveld crate table
I've made these before, from old floorboards:

Or chair to match:

 

[paulrbarnard]

Hi,

I'm interested in making a table out of some scaffolding boards and reclaimed wood. I've done some diy projects at home before but nothing as big as a table before. Could someone help explaining how this table has been put together please?View attachment 167632

Badly

 

[Dee J]

Agree with Jacob on the commercial corner brackets. Have a look at the underside of a lot of flat-pack tables and you'll see the same thing. Regardless of the aesthetics, that's a classic piece of table making.. And any treatise on woodworking will show the usual mortice and tenon arrangement. The modern commercial brackets are a quick, cheap, low skill work around.

 

[Adam W.]

For clarification as well, I'm not set on making this exact table. It was just one that I saw and liked the look of. Basically we like the look of the planks on the top and then just the methods of constructing it.

Full disclosure, I have no experience with any level of joinery to be honest. I've converted a campervan and made our kitchen, furniture, cupboards etc so have some confidence and some tools available. Plus it's a hobby I want to get into.

Thanks all for the help so far. It's interesting to get insight, even from the opinions of the people that dislike the table.

It sounds like you have more experience with joinery and woodwork in general than you think. I've worked with people on site recently who can't use a router or even screw a simple OSB crate together, yet they describe themselves as fully qualified joiners.

Anyway, here's a walk through for m&t joints if you want to go that way.
https://woodandshop.com/how-to-make-mortise-and-tenon-joints-with-hand-tools/
Remember though that there are many ways to skin a cat, but the right way is the way you feel comfortable with, that gets the job done.