Project Information
So long time coming but I finally got this patio bar done for my sister. I found an old cedar barn door and some 4×8 posts at the yard debris drop off one day and thought it looked like some table pieces. A year later waiting for it to dry out and ta-da - a table.
Since I had gotten the top and legs from the dump basically, I decided to make all the rest from reclaimed or recycled wood as well. That gave me some oak baseboards, ripped down and box joined for the top banding and the kick plates for the tenon pegs, poplar pegs, fir feet and mounting brackets from some reclaimed 2×6 and 2×4's, reclaimed cedar 1×6 for the brace, and some pine from my daughter's switchback book case scraps to round out the mounting bracket.
Thanks to a Christmas present of some chisels and cool new mallet from my sister and bro-in-law, I had made my first through tenons for the brace, slowly chipping away and squaring up. The legs were too big to fit in my drill press so I did it the old fashioned way. Took some time getting through all that 4×8 for the tenon, then another spell to build the bigger mortise for the inside brace to fully rest into, but it makes a really strong knock down joint. I loved it. Thanks Lis and Kirk!
Warm cherry from General Finish and I top coated with their Arm-R-Seal, a wipe on urethane and oil finish that is the smoothest and best finish I've ever used to date. Can't recommend it highly enough. sanded between coats with 400 - 600 grit and final buff with some brown paper bag, a trick I read here on the LJ forums. Thanks guys.
The top is a cedar and one of the edge board was very prone to splinter. Left some rough spots. Also since it was an old door, not really square so the edging had a few gaps that needed filling. After reading some LJ posts, I picked up some of that nasty looking "Plastic Wood". It looks terrible out of the tube, but since it can be tinted with oil stains it worked great filling in the gaps and leaving a darker but otherwise unnoticeable fill. After the topcoat all that blended in and the splinter effect was sealed in as well.
The last pic is at my sister's house with her son, Eli, showing how to properly stock a great patio bar.
Since I had gotten the top and legs from the dump basically, I decided to make all the rest from reclaimed or recycled wood as well. That gave me some oak baseboards, ripped down and box joined for the top banding and the kick plates for the tenon pegs, poplar pegs, fir feet and mounting brackets from some reclaimed 2×6 and 2×4's, reclaimed cedar 1×6 for the brace, and some pine from my daughter's switchback book case scraps to round out the mounting bracket.
Thanks to a Christmas present of some chisels and cool new mallet from my sister and bro-in-law, I had made my first through tenons for the brace, slowly chipping away and squaring up. The legs were too big to fit in my drill press so I did it the old fashioned way. Took some time getting through all that 4×8 for the tenon, then another spell to build the bigger mortise for the inside brace to fully rest into, but it makes a really strong knock down joint. I loved it. Thanks Lis and Kirk!
Warm cherry from General Finish and I top coated with their Arm-R-Seal, a wipe on urethane and oil finish that is the smoothest and best finish I've ever used to date. Can't recommend it highly enough. sanded between coats with 400 - 600 grit and final buff with some brown paper bag, a trick I read here on the LJ forums. Thanks guys.
The top is a cedar and one of the edge board was very prone to splinter. Left some rough spots. Also since it was an old door, not really square so the edging had a few gaps that needed filling. After reading some LJ posts, I picked up some of that nasty looking "Plastic Wood". It looks terrible out of the tube, but since it can be tinted with oil stains it worked great filling in the gaps and leaving a darker but otherwise unnoticeable fill. After the topcoat all that blended in and the splinter effect was sealed in as well.
The last pic is at my sister's house with her son, Eli, showing how to properly stock a great patio bar.