There is a story behind this table. I built it last year along with a matching full sized loft bed with a wardrobe on one end. These were stored away in a one room cabin that we were leasing. The misses wanted the table to seat four for dinner and yet function as both a desk and craft table. My own hope was that it would be strong enough to hold the misses when she inevitably stood on the table to make the bed.

Like the loft bed, the table was built entirely out of reclaimed lumber and scraps, which means the aggravation of surface defects is greater than when working with new material. The frame is hemlock, the trim and drawer pulls are alder, and the top is is A-C sanded plywood. The drawers are built out of birch plywood with luan underlayment for the bottoms. The finish on the top was built with 3 coats of sanding sealer and four coats of satin polyurethane. Yes it took well over a week for the last coat of poly to cure, but water beads up on the surface. The frame was given just the three coats of sanding sealer finish.

When it was first finished, the frame and top of the table were quite white in contrast to the alder trim. Already, the hemlock of the frame and fir of the top have begun to patina gold and will continue to darken. When it came home from the cabin it was cleaned with lemon oil, which enhanced the finish just a little and I decided to share it here.

I will use miterlock or dovetail joints for heaveir applications but these light duty drawers were done with efficient rabbit and dado joints. The narrow drawers are done without guides. The center drawer was given maple slides on each side and an additional support in the center. They are properly sized and slide efficiently without hanging up or slipping about in the pocket. The middle drawer can be pulled out to hold a keyboard or laptop at comfortable working height without tilting appreciably.

The reason for the gussets is to support the table top from sagging and the legs from splaying under potentially heavy loads. The purpose of the design of the leg assembly was to prevent the hemlock legs from warping out of position over time or working loose as the table was moved about the room.  These factors were especially important on the loft bed it was built to match.

 

Launch Gallery