Building Stuff.

I spent a large chunk of my childhood in my Papa's shop.  In hindsight, it probably wasn't the smartest place to let your grandkids hang out, but we didn't lose any fingers and some of my best memories were made in there.  To this day, the smell of sawdust evokes more emotions in me than any other smell.  

When I decided to set out on this table building journey, all I could think about was what my Papa would be telling me.  I imagine it would be filled with a lot of head shaking and "gotallmighty's", but I think he would have been proud nonetheless.  

I finished my two projects this afternoon, and while they both still need a coat of polyurethane, I'm very pleased with how each of them turned out.  

Project number one: coffee table.  Our $10 Ikea coffee table had seen it's better days (I don't think those things are meant to stand cross continental moves), and everything I liked was so expensive, so I decided to save some moolah and make my own.  

I clearly keep my workspace very organized.  Don't mind the peanut butter and spaghetti squash…let's just focus on the legs.  I ordered them from hairpinlegsforless.com.  They were on sale, which is always a win.  

For the wood, I got an 8ft 1x8 and cut it into three 28in pieces (for the center).  Then I got an 8ft 1x4 and cut it into two 2 ft pieces (for the ends), and two 16in pieces (underneath braces).  Does that make sense at all?  

Note: These measurements are all approximate, we actually measured and made exact cuts in the store.

For the stain, I first applied a wood conditioner by Minwax and then did two coats of Rustoleum Wood Stain in the color Wheat.  These days, I'm into the rustic wood look, so I'm very happy with the way this turned out.  

For the second project, I decided to make a desk.  Since we got the new bed we needed something to do with the wood that had been supporting our mattress on the old metal frame.  Waste not want not, right?  That project required a saw, and since I'm super cheap I went with a basic saw.  The only thing that that money saving did was make me reallllly want a wood shop because sawing with a cheap saw sucked.  

I used a total of seven 1x4s that had been previously cut to 59 inches.  The width of the desk came out to 25 inches.  This all happened to work perfectly because we wanted an oversized desk.  I didn't get an underneath picture, but I simply sawed some extra boards into three 22in pieces and used them as braces on the inside of each leg and in the middle of the desk.  

I can't remember the name of the stain, but it was either Ipswich Pine or Golden Oak, and both are by Minwax.  

I applied three coats, and let each sit for about five minutes before wiping it off.  

The final shade is so natural, and I love it.  I wish it was my desk instead of Ralph's but maybe I can talk him into sharing.  

Once I get the polyurethane on both pieces, and get them set up in the living room and office I will take pictures to share.  Until then, I'm going to go dream up some other stuff to build.