Thoughts for my first wood project: side table design

[Dr Al]

Were they stainless steel screws? They're notorious for that, as are brass.

No, they were these: WoodSpur Torx Head Premium Self Countersinking Wood Screws

("gold-zinc" plated steel).

 

[MikeG.]

Well, oak is very hard!

 

[Droogs]

next time round try to pre drill the hole to the size of the inner shank of the screw and use some beeswax on the screw thread. It is surprising how much pressure this takes off the screw and eases fitting

 

[MikeG.]

next time round try to pre drill the hole ........

And just take a little care not to join the long list of people who have drilled straight through their newly finished table top!!

 

[Sgian Dubh]

... two of the screw heads snapped off while I was tightening them.

I suspect the pilot holes may have been too small. So, for example, if you were using no 8 screws, which are equivalent to 4 mm diameter shank screws, the norm is 4.5 mm diameter for the clearance hole and 3 mm diameter for the pilot hole (plus countersinking if using a countersunk screw), which works well for softer woods, e.g., walnut, cherry, pine, etc: but with oak, and some of the other harder woods, a 3.5 mm pilot hole is generally required. It's also a useful trick to smear a bit of candle wax or similar on to the screw thread prior to inserting the screw. Slainte.

 

[NickM]

First table or not, the table looks great Dr Al. Great job.

 

[billw]

Great work Al - can't wait to see what you challenge yourself with next. I recommend a bench hook

 

[Dr Al]

Just for fun I thought I'd take a photo of my new table next to the one it replaces. As I mentioned early on in this thread, I've got very little space in the house, so coming up with projects for the home is a bit of a challenge as they've nowhere to go.

This little table was in use but wasn't very nice (it cost almost nothing from Ikea and it's served us well for a lot of years since my student days, but it was time for it to be retired). Replacing an existing bit of furniture means there is space available for the new table!

I think the oak one looks a little nicer.

 

[MikeG.]

Take that pine one apart carefully, and store the wood nicely. That's well seasoned pine and will be an invaluable resource for all sorts of little jobs in future.