Outdoor coffee/bbq table

[Nick]

Hi all!

My first ‘real’ project on the new workbench, made a little coffee table (to match the garden sofa I’m building for the mrs).

This was a bit of experimenting with different joints, and I appreciate it might not be the *best* way to do things, but I learned quite a lot in the process and it seems rock solid (performed the very scientific ‘stand on it and see if you get hurt’ test).

I used half lap joints for the frame (I’m having a go at mortise and tenon for the garden sofa, still learning this one), not perfect but the Mrs is happy and I like how it came out

Cheers,

Nick

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[PeteG]

I like that Nick, where or what was the timber from?

 

[Nick]

Thanks Pete.

The frame is just 4x2 leftovers from my workbench build, and the top is an old crate from a wood recycle yard here in South Wales (Reseiclo in Newport if anyone is down this way, great little place).

The Mrs finished it with 'mostly natural' outdoor decking stain I think from Wickes.

Cheers

Nick

 

[doctor Bob]

I like it as well.

 

[PeteG]

Thanks Pete.

The frame is just 4x2 leftovers from my workbench build, and the top is an old crate from a wood recycle yard here in South Wales (Reseiclo in Newport if anyone is down this way, great little place).

The Mrs finished it with 'mostly natural' outdoor decking stain I think from Wickes.

Cheers

Nick

It might be worth putting some wood hardener on the end grain of the feet. I haven't used it before but I've just bought some for
my planters when they get finished. Just a thought

 

[Nick]

Thanks Pete.

The frame is just 4x2 leftovers from my workbench build, and the top is an old crate from a wood recycle yard here in South Wales (Reseiclo in Newport if anyone is down this way, great little place).

The Mrs finished it with 'mostly natural' outdoor decking stain I think from Wickes.

Cheers

Nick

It might be worth putting some wood hardener on the end grain of the feet. I haven't used it before but I've just bought some for
my planters when they get finished. Just a thought

I had planned on doing so, was going to use some sort of resin or 2 part epoxy to harden/protect the feet, is wood hardener the same thing Pete?

Cheers

 

[PeteG]

Thanks Pete.

The frame is just 4x2 leftovers from my workbench build, and the top is an old crate from a wood recycle yard here in South Wales (Reseiclo in Newport if anyone is down this way, great little place).

The Mrs finished it with 'mostly natural' outdoor decking stain I think from Wickes.

Cheers

Nick

It might be worth putting some wood hardener on the end grain of the feet. I haven't used it before but I've just bought some for
my planters when they get finished. Just a thought

I had planned on doing so, was going to use some sort of resin or 2 part epoxy to harden/protect the feet, is wood hardener the same thing Pete?

Cheers

I believe it'll pretty much do the same job Nick...I've always oiled due to never having wood hardener in, but I'll be painting the
planters so hardener is probably best suited this time.

 

[rafezetter]

I had planned on doing so, was going to use some sort of resin or 2 part epoxy to harden/protect the feet, is wood hardener the same thing Pete?

Cheers

Wood rot hardener is an air catalysed liquid epoxy that is very penetrative, but is essentially similar in chemical makeup to the epoxy used for glass fibre work, and sets just as hard.

On spongy wood (rotting) like window frames etc it's great to stabilise the wood for repairs, but can also be used in new wood especially endgrain to harden up the fibres to resist rot and water.

You could dip (soak for a few mins) the feet, let it set (overnight is best) then sand the side surfaces of the feet to remove the (slightly) visible epoxy "sheen" so it'll still age and oxidise (go grey) like the rest of the leg, but the internal endgrain fibres will now be rock hard like epoxy.

Heating the ends with a heat gun just before dipping seems to help the endgrain draw up even more of the fluid for better penetration.

It's harder than wood preservative, and is essentially clear so you can keep the natural look of the wood.

HTH.


Oh - for the coffee table top planks that are screwed down - I would advise removal of them, slightly elongate the holes (all of them) by wiggling the drill side to side in the hole, then screwing back down - this will give the boards a chance to expand and contract without splitting or cracking.