Although the variety of furniture in stores strikes the imagination, connoisseurs of exclusivity often resort to its self-made. Explained by the desire to get a special thing, not similar to any typical model. To try their hand at carpentry craft, novice craftsmen master the table with their own hands – because of the elementary design of such furniture is the easiest to make. The task will prove feasible even in the absence of basic experience in carpentry, especially if you choose a competently made drawing and study the step-by-step master class.
How to choose materials
The table is best made of wood, which can be supplemented with glass, epoxy, mosaic, metal – everything depends only on the imagination and practical skills of the master. Today it is not difficult to find any, even exotic wood, but experienced furniture makers distinguish several species:
- Oak. The most famous and sought-after properties – durability, noble appearance. Self-made table from this material will become a worthy decoration of the interior. The wood is heavy, it is expensive.
- Beech. Make a table of this wood with your own hands will be quite simple, as it is easy to process. In terms of strength, resistance to wear and tear, beech is close to oak, but it is cheaper. It is necessary to take into account that this material is afraid of moisture.
- Walnut. Beautiful pattern, a large selection of shades, durability, relatively low cost – this kind of wood is loved by many furniture makers. Self-made tables made of walnut are beautiful, lightweight, but they can become lighter due to exposure to direct sunlight.
- Cherry. The wood has a rich, pleasant color, an unobtrusive pattern, and high durability. If you want to make a beautiful table, you should choose a solid cherry – the investment will be justified.
- Alder. Warm shade, unusual pattern, easy processing, sufficient strength – solid wood is loved by craftsmen. Homemade tables made of alder always look aristocratic, without heavy weight.
- Pine. The most accessible, easy to process, has a beautiful pattern and color. However, the material has a low durability, unsteadiness to wear.
- Maple. Those who want to make a table in the Scandinavian style, this wood suits best due to its almost white color, elegant pattern. To preserve the shade, it is recommended to cover the wood with a special oil of white color.
In addition to these species, hornbeam, larch, yew, birch, ash, basswood and cedar are used in furniture production. Determined with the type of wood, you should pick up and the materials themselves – board, beam or solid wood. So, the wooden legs of furniture are better made of timber, and table tops are made of board, solid wood.
Necessary tools
For a simple, fast assembly of the table with their own hands prepare electric, measuring, hand tools, as well as – tooling, consumables. Everything you need can be purchased in advance or rented.
Of the electrical equipment will be required:
- jigsaw;
- screwdriver;
- drill;
- grinder.
Hand tools will also be needed:
- a saw or wood hacksaw;
- Phillips and flat screwdrivers;
- planer, planer;
- wire cutters, pliers;
- hammer;
- furniture stapler (if you plan the inserts of plywood, fiberboard or upholstery tabletop).
Measuring tools must be purchased in advance:
- ruler with a length of not less than 1 meter;
- tape measure;
- caliper.
Do not forget about the equipment – you will need:
- workbench with a vice, a clamp.
- wood and metal drill bits with a diameter of 2 to 12 mm;
- wood drill bits with diameter from 20 to 130 mm;
- for straight through holes – Forstner drills;
- bit set;
- fasteners (plates, screws, T-nuts or Z-brackets – depending on the chosen construction);
- woodworking glue, paint and varnish materials, putty;
- a plier – for sawing at an angle.
All this is needed to make the elements and assemble the table with minimal loss of time and effort. If you plan to finish with mosaics, glass, resin or other materials, you will additionally need tooling, tools to work with them.
Types of designs and dimensions
Regardless of whether you need to make a large table in the kitchen or a small coffee table in the living room, first you should determine the type of its design, the future dimensions. There is a simple classification according to the shape of the base:
- With four legs, a tabletop of any shape is a popular table design.
- With two X-shaped legs, the shape of the table top – rectangular.
- With one leg, round or oval tabletop.
- Design options. Dining table made of solid wood or assembled from bars, boards. The number of legs, their type, location, shape can be very different.
All designs are also distinguished by the materials used to make the tabletop. It can be a table made of solid wood or a model with finishes from other materials – metal, glass, tiles, mosaics. As for the dimensions, you should be guided by the typical dimensions of the furniture, it will facilitate the work.
Creating a sketch and a drawing
It is necessary to distinguish between a sketch and a drawing. At the first stage, just a sketch of the table is created – a drawing that will display all the features of the future furniture (shape, color, finish). You can make it by hand. Alternatively, you can use graphics editors, including online services. On the basis of the sketch, a drawing of the wood table is created.
If there is a desire to make furniture completely by yourself, it is worth to arm yourself with paper, a ruler, a pencil and an eraser. Or use online services, if you do not have special programs installed on your computer. Before you start modeling, you need to carefully study the design features of the chosen model – what elements it consists of, where and how to connect the parts, how difficult the table is to make. The last point is important, because the level of complexity of the work must match the experience, the availability of the right tools, fasteners and consumables.
To create a correct drawing, and to it the detailing, you need to:
- determine all the dimensions of the table;
- take into account the thickness of materials;
- calculate the size of each part;
- draw a schematic representation of the construction on a scale, indicating the dimensions, not forgetting to subtract the thickness of a beam or board;
- make separate drawings of the fastening points for the elements;
- make a map of cutting, drilling materials.
Some of this work may seem too difficult. In this case, it is easy to find ready-made drawings. They, as well as diagrams of the step-by-step assembly, are traditionally placed on the thematic online resources.
A step by step algorithm of work
Regardless of whether the master is going to make a table from a bar, board or solid wood, oval or square, with 4 or 2 legs, the algorithm will be similar. The first step is to saw all the necessary parts. Since the drawing with the dimensions of each element is already ready, you can start making a wooden table with your own hands. If the legs are planned metal – the best option would be steel, aluminum pipe of a suitable cross section. But it is easier to make the legs for the table out of a bar with your own hands. For this purpose, you will need a bar with a cross section of at least 5 × 5 cm. Even easier to find ready-made balusters.
The second element is the tabletop. Speaking about how to make a table out of wood with your own hands, you can mention different forms and types of table tops. The easiest way to make it rectangular or square. Use a board, a bar, an array, even sawn wood, glass, other decorative materials. The main thing is to cut them to the same size, to fasten them together – most often for this purpose use special glue and wooden dowels.
At this stage, it is important to remember about a strict sequence of actions:
- making, fitting all elements;
- sanding;
- priming;
- sanding.
At the second stage we assemble the table. To properly do everything yourself, you need to adhere to a certain scheme:
- fix the legs to produce a pair of cross planks, using screws and glue;
- fix pairs of legs to the long cross boards;
- to connect the frame and worktop use screws.
The last stage is the finishing. Dining table with their own hands made of wood is almost ready. It remains to give it a beautiful appearance. Immediately it is necessary to hide all the places of fasteners, using a special putty for wood. It is applied so that the composition completely closed the recesses, smoothing the surface. Then everything is sanded, brought to perfect smoothness with a grinder.
Next – the application of paint compositions. Those who know how to make wooden tables, will name quite a few types of coatings. These are colorless or tinted varnish (acrylic, organo-soluble), paint, oils, waxes. Paint and varnish, after which the surface is covered with a transparent varnish, does not lose its popularity. It is better to apply coatings on the tabletop with a brush.
How to make round and oval tabletops
It is possible to make an oval or round tabletop at home, if you have a circular saw. You will also need various additional materials – depending on the shape of the product. If you need to get a perfect circle, perform the following steps:
- determine the radius of the tabletop.
- cut the board to the desired length.
- on the workbench secure worktop blanks.
- to its center self-tapping screw (but so that it can be removed later) fasten the board. It should be free to rotate around its axis.
- the saw is attached to the free edge of the board.
- with the rotation of the board cut a neat circle.
To get a neat table top oval shape, you need a full-size template. It is drawn on a dense, light material, easy to handle. This can be organolit or thin plywood, thick cardboard and so on. The steps are as follows:
- On a rectangular sheet draw two perpendicular lines, then two more, intersecting at an angle (you get a “snowflake”).
- On each of the 8 axes mark the desired length (radius of the tabletop).
- Exposed to the same length of the compasses set at the point marked on one of the perpendicular axes, an arc connect the two inclined axes, located next to each other.
- The same manipulation is done on the second side.
- From a point on the vertical axis a straight line to the point of intersection of the inclined axis with the arc is plotted. The same steps are performed on the other side.
- The compasses are placed at the intersection point of this straight line and the horizontal axis, set up so as to continue the arc.
In this way you can draw a neat oval template, according to which the tabletop is cut out. Using these recommendations, you can without unnecessary difficulties make a table that will fit perfectly into the interior, will last for many years, will not cease to please with its functionality, durability, beauty.
