Farm / harvest table build - Woodworking Talk

Woodford · 02-24-2012, 12:34 PM

I'm sure you see this a lot, but newby here... I've thumbed around in this forum for a while now picking up all the tips and know how's I could. I'm new to wood working, as in made a few basic supports and structures but no furniture builds - that's about to change!

Anyways, I'm looking to build about 10 simple rustic looking farm tables for my wedding. I live in central Florida and can't seem to find any hardwood boards suitable for a table build. At my disposal. Now is what can be found in Lowes/Home depot..

Table design: 8-10' wide, at least 44" deep and standard 30" high.

My problem is that I wanted a thicker table top than the nominal thickness of 1" boards that I can find at home department stores. Suggestions on finding adequate lumber for job, or how to make available boards from said stores work would be much appreciated. I'm ok with using a thinner table top if your opinions support that it would look ok, but would prefer 1" to 1.5" actual thickness of table top.

Thanks in advance!

firemedic · 02-24-2012, 12:42 PM

There's a lot more to consider for a table that size other than thickness of the top.

As for lumber steer clear of the box stores. Try these links below. Your best bet will be small one man operations for quality/price.

Good luck,

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...l(s)-Directory

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=28357

http://www.woodfinder.com/

~tom "Ignorance is not a lack of intelligence - it's a lack of know-how"

Woodford · 02-24-2012, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firemedic

There's a lot more to consider for a table that size other than thickness of the top.

As for lumber steer clear of the box stores. Try these links below. Your best bet will be small one man operations for quality/price.

Good luck,

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...l(s)-Directory

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=28357

http://www.woodfinder.com/

~tom "Ignorance is not a lack of intelligence - it's a lack of know-how"

Those links are exactly what I needed! Thank you very much!

firemedic · 02-24-2012, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodford

Those links are exactly what I needed! Thank you very much!

Simply googled "sawmill central Florida"

~tom "Ignorance is not a lack of intelligence - it's a lack of know-how"

cabinetman · 02-24-2012, 05:56 PM

You're going to build all those tables just for a wedding? What's your plans for them afterward? Do you have a plan for the overall table design?

If you resign yourself to buy at a home center, you could use 2x Pine, which is actually 1.5" thick, and widths up to 2x12 (11.25").

.

6SpeedSD · 02-24-2012, 11:17 PM

Why not just use 1x's for the top, with MDF underneath to build up the thickness, and edge trim the whole table to cover the MDF? I'm sure I didn't use the proper terms for all that, but I think I got the idea across. That will put you at 1.5" total thickness. Would be some super heavy tables though.

Woodford · 02-29-2012, 07:43 AM

I got in touch with Bob Hughes at the Old General Store from one of the links that was posted in this thread. Bob was a great person to chat with and has a very nice old general store - the smell in there was incredible. He had a wide range of wood types to choose from.

Anyways, I picked up several cypress boards for this table. Some boards will need a little work but that's the fun part right? They are currently 1" thick so the table will be approximately 7/8" or so thick when done which will be a good look for the design I have in mind.

I'm so glad I did a little research and joined this site for some professional opinions prior to buying box store lumber! this forum rocks.

Pictures to come of my first build...