What to make a table from with your own hands. We make a beautiful and strong country table with our own hands

A table is the second item after a stool that every beginning amateur furniture maker should be able to do. The table can be created from different materials and have unique characteristics. An excellent intention for you would be the desire to make your own product from wood.

A table made of wood is quite easy to create with your own hands; having minimal skills in working with carpentry tools is enough. And the cost of the material will be significantly less than for a table using metal, glass or plastic.

A piece of furniture made with your own hands will most accurately correspond to the wishes of the happy owner, and will be incomparably more pleasing to the eye than what was purchased. And most importantly, when creating a table with your own hands, you acquire important skills in working with the material, which will make the restoration of operational defects much easier.

What can you make a good table from?

A particularly beautiful tabletop can be made from cheap low-grade pine boards, knotty and twisted (without falling knots, rot, fungus, wormholes), which, when well processed, give a wonderful pattern, which can be achieved when working with expensive tree much more expense and effort is required.

When choosing a material, it is important to take care of the strength of the future product. To do this, you should pay attention to the density of the wood.

Soft wood (spruce, pine, chestnut, dogwood) is easily damaged during use, which negatively affects the durability of the table. But scratches and dents can be hidden, although the restoration process will be quite frequent.

Hardwoods (beech, ash, maple, oak, walnut, fruit trees, elm) are quite difficult to process on your own. And you may have to look for experts to work with them. But you will ensure the durability of the product.

External characteristics

It is very important to determine for yourself in advance appearance your future product. The basic rule of a good table is if the structure fits well into the space allocated for it and leaves a lot of free space for those sitting.

It is also important to consider that a table with a rectangular top will accommodate fewer people than a table with a round or oval shape with the same area. And it would be more expedient to make the table for guests in a folding version, which for big holidays unfolds, but in everyday life it is folded. Also, such a folding table will be convenient in the utility room.

Most often you need to select kitchen table. It should be roomy and pleasing to the eye to facilitate the process of working with it. But it should not interfere with movement in the room and in no way interfere with the process of culinary creativity.

Based on this, it is absolutely clear that the size of the table is selected depending on the area of ​​the room. Also, soft wood cannot be used for a kitchen table due to its use in “extreme” conditions.

Choosing the external characteristics of a product is a responsible process, therefore, before starting to personally create a table for a summer house, it is extremely necessary to thoughtfully assess the needs for which this table is being made.

Transferring an idea to paper

When creating a design that is the fruit of your imagination, you will have to develop the diagram and drawings of your table yourself. Why are there so many electronic programs?

After a thorough development process, it is extremely important to transfer the resulting result to paper. For fast and high-quality work, it is very important to use this manual constantly.

Creative process

Preparation of drawings is the last preparatory stage. Next, you can begin the most important part of the work - manufacturing the parts. Do-it-yourself wooden tables are much easier to create if the drawings and diagrams are as informative as possible. This reduces the likelihood of errors to a minimum.

You can personally make a desk, a coffee table or children's version. With some skill, it is possible to create a computer desk. As well as a dining or country model. Each of the options is quite easy to implement.

The canvas for the tabletop and the boards with beams from which the remaining parts will be formed are processed with available tools or, at worst, coarse-grained sandpaper to remove existing defects in the form of unevenness and protruding knots.

The boards are sanded on all sides, including the side edges and corners. If you are creating a canvas from wood cuts, you need to make sure that they are dry enough, and also seal small cracks, discovered after visual inspection. And it’s better to tongue and groove them. To get more reliable adhesion of the canvas and save time on assembling elements.

Transfer the diagram to the finished canvas. The main elements are cut out with a jigsaw and, if necessary, the sections are polished. Protruding support elements are cut off by approximately 3 centimeters. Horizontal cuts are made on both sides of the supports (legs).

The blanks are coated with a preparation that prevents the entry of moisture and pests, and only after final drying is it possible to resume the process of creating a table with your own hands.

Putting the details together

After making all the necessary parts, you can begin the sacred ceremony. Namely, to put together the desired masterpiece. And it could be like round table, as well as any other selected product.

First, you need to assemble the supporting structure using screws and glue (first, thin channels are drilled with a drill to the length of the screw, otherwise there is a possibility of the part splitting). Galvanized screws can be used for connections, as they do not rust, and this is very important for wood products. Or wood glue.

According to the basic rules, the length and width of the frame should be 30-25 cm less than the tabletop.

Additional boards need to be attached to the sides to add rigidity and to hide the place where the legs are attached. Cut chamfers where the legs are installed.

Then the table leg is secured in place with clamps, and holes for the bolts are drilled in the frame. Place the supporting elements in place and secure them with stoppers. Reinforce the structure with wood glue. Then install the tabletop in place for which furniture corners are used. At the very end, all visible screws are hidden with plugs matching the color of the wood.

The final stage. Finishing

A photo of the completed table can be seen below. Achieving this result is surprisingly easy. If desired, you can round either only the corners or the entire end, depending on the type of table. It will be nice to make chamfers on the edges of the tabletop.

Irregularities in the entire structure are sanded down, and mistakes made are hidden using putty. To extend service life with your own hands assembled table it is necessary to cover it with several layers of varnish or stain.

Thus, making a beautiful wooden table with your own hands is a fairly simple leisure activity. And easy to do. The guarantee of obtaining a high-quality, ideal in dimensions and aesthetic result according to your drawings is: strict adherence to the instructions, error-free execution and carefully selected material. And the resulting table will harmoniously fit into the exterior.

Photos of tables with your own hands

A table is the second item after a stool that a novice amateur furniture maker should take on. The design of a simple table is no more complicated than that of a stool; an unpretentious, comfortable table for the country house or for a picnic can be built in half a day using a hacksaw, hammer and drill. But a table made using the same technology and slightly refined can look great at home, on the left in the figure, instead of an expensive one. However, the table also gives greater freedom of creative expression; it can be a significant and even key element of interior design; it is not for nothing that artisanal furniture makers are called carpenters, and not sofa makers, cabinet makers or nightstand makers. Having become proficient in carpentry, it will be possible over time to take on exclusive tables, the rest of the poses. right there.

This article discusses how to make tables from wood. Wood is an environmentally friendly, affordable and easily processed material with remarkable aesthetic advantages. In utilitarian products, it forgives beginners quite serious mistakes, but delicate woodwork requires high skill. Having learned how to make wooden things, it will be much easier to master glass, metal and plastic.

Tool and workshop

To make a table with your own hands, you need a separate living rooms production room: Woodworking is notoriously dusty. In addition, such good means tinting and protecting wood, like stains, emit harmful fumes during the staining process; nitro varnishes too, although to a lesser extent. Therefore, home carpentry should be well ventilated, or better yet, with forced ventilation. You can use the garage, but there will be a lot of sawdust, and it will not be good for the car. Better to work in a barn; if it doesn’t exist yet, then you can build it, and it will be useful for a lot of things on the farm.

An ordinary carpenter's tool, on the left in the figure, will be enough for a start. But the work will go much faster, and the result will be better, if you attract help from modern achievements, on the right there:

• Rotary miter box, pos. 1, allows you to make cuts exactly to size and angle in 2 planes. It is advisable to take it with a complete bow saw, so everything together will be cheaper and the work will be more accurate. A miter box is a universal device, it will always come in handy and it is better to buy it.
• Also universal is a manual jigsaw with a tilting shoe, pos. 2, which allows you to cut at an angle to the vertical plane.
• Disc grinder, pos. 3 and 4, gives a beginner the opportunity in 5-15 minutes to obtain the surface of a wooden surface, which would take an experienced carpenter with sandpaper in hand at least an hour to achieve, and a tape one, pos. 5, also process ends quickly and efficiently; There are also belt sanders for grooves and recesses with a protruding working body. These are already specialized tools, unsuitable for other work, and quite expensive, so it’s better to rent them first. True, craftsmen still successfully brush with grinders, i.e. They artificially age the wood, but this is delicate work.
• It is also preferable to rent at first manual frezer on wood, pos. 6, with a set of cutters. They process shaped edges and select holes and grooves.

In general, a universal household woodworking machine (UBDS) of various modifications is very useful on the farm. It is compact, fits on the table, power supply – 220 V 50/60 Hz 380-500 W. UBDS combines a circular saw, a jointer, a wood lathe and a set of cutters. True, you can’t just turn the table legs on it; the reach of the tailstock caliper is too small. But the caliper itself is just steel round pipe, it is not difficult to lengthen it. The cutter stop remains standard, it is movable, the leg and the long support are sharpened in one setting.

How to choose a tree?

A wooden table can be made from any wood of average resistance to decay, except for the softest species: poplar, aspen, alder, willow, ailanthus. Domestic ones include:

The breeds are listed in order of availability. For example, timber harvesting of horse chestnut, plane tree and juniper is not carried out at all: the former are too valuable for landscaping in the southern regions, and juniper is endangered and protected. Industrial harvests of elm are almost entirely used for shoe lasts, weaving shuttles, etc., and rowan berries are used for weapon stocks; There is no full-fledged plastic replacement for them yet. Stone birch grows very slowly, in limited places, and does not renew itself well, so its harvesting is strictly regulated, and its wood is expensive.

Note: Walnut is especially valuable for furniture - its wood combines high hardness with excellent toughness, the most openwork carving It doesn't hurt the nut. And walnut wood from burls - large growths on the trunk - is not inferior in texture to Karelian birch.

At the beginning of a carpentry career, it is better to limit yourself to pine, birch, oak, acacia and boxwood. The countertop will be pine or oak; birch - on the legs of a pine table; in the countertop it warps a lot from spills. Acacia and boxwood make excellent dowels, see below.

For a pine tabletop made from boards, you can and even should use low-grade cheap boards - knotty, twisted ones. But, of course, without falling knots, cracks, wormholes and traces of rot in the form of spots of unnatural color: black, gray, blue, green, in general, not similar to this tree. For example, traces of rot on black (ebony) wood may be whitish or yellowish.

Why is there substandard quality on the countertop? Perhaps also unedged, which needs to be finished using a circular saw and jointer? And after skillful processing, they turn out to be layers of remarkable beauty, on the left in Fig. Manufacturers do not like such wood: the production cycle is delayed and waste increases. But for yourself, doing it yourself is not so scary compared to the result.

Wooden pot

Commercial pine has a clearly defined wood zonation in the form tree rings growth; other conifers and many deciduous species also have it. On the cut of the board, the rings form the so-called. hump in the form of thin concentric arcs. If the top of the tree is directed across the face of the board, as in Fig. in the center, then when joining the shield for the tabletop (see below), the boards are oriented with their humps alternately up and down, from below in Fig. If the humps are directed towards the end of the board (on the right in the figure), then the boards are placed in the shield with their humps in one direction. These subtleties are necessary so that during operation the tabletop does not crack or warp.

Varnishes, paints, impregnation, glue

A free way to protect wood from rotting is used motor oil, but for what you eat, this is not the best option. Impregnation with water-polymer emulsion (WPE) twice, with a break of 3-5 days, would be optimal; it will provide protection to the table for the entire duration of its life. Even birch plywood impregnated with EPE is suitable for furniture front panels: coated with varnish on top, it does not delaminate.

Old furniture nitrocellulose varnishes NTs-218 and NTs-2144 with solvent No. 647 are gradually going out of use: they are superior to acrylic varnishes in all respects water based; In addition, they are safe to use. Also, glues, bone carpentry and BF-2 with alcohol are inferior to PVA; True, to obtain a high-quality seam, the latter requires applying glue to both surfaces, keeping them touch-free before joining and keeping them under pressure for 1-3 days, but in home production this is acceptable for yourself.

Wood for furniture can be tinted in advance and protected with stain, which allows you to make beautiful typesetting parts; an example will be given below. To tint the assembled units, you can use paints based on the same varnish and artistic (not painting!) dyes: oil in tubes for NC varnishes and acrylic water-based for the same varnish.

First, prepare the “painting”: take 30-50 ml of varnish and squeeze 1-1.5 cm of paint into it while continuously stirring thoroughly with a painting brush. The paint is stored in a tightly closed bottle and added to the varnish to the desired tone; A test for it is made on a piece of wood, the tone is determined by the complete drying of the varnish. Colored varnishes based on NC and oil paints can be mixed according to the mixing rules oil paints for painting; acrylic - no restrictions.

First steps

The country table is the first of the homemade ones. If there are 1-2 brick pallets left from the construction site, then a table made from pallets will be the first of the first. Not only because it is extremely simple, but also because it is very useful on the farm.

From one pallet, sanded, impregnated and varnished, you get a garden table like a coffee table, on the left in Fig. If you have a pair in stock, you can make a wall-mounted work desk-rack out of them in literally half an hour, in the center and on the right. You can also weave chains for it yourself from soft wire, covered with a PVC tube or, better, heat-shrinkable. To fully raise the tabletop, small tools are placed on the shelf of a wall pallet.

With a little more work, one pallet is used to make a collapsible cutting table for the dacha, allowing you to move the summer-autumn harvesting campaign outside without littering with husks and without trampling on stalks. For the winter, this table is assembled into a compact package. The design is clear from Fig; Place a bucket under the hatch in the countertop.

The next one in order of complexity is known to everyone country table- goats, colloquially goat. Its structure of 40 mm boards is shown on the left in the figure, and in addition to it is a bench of the same device. And on the right is a country folding table based on the same principle. It has articulated joints (M8-M12 bolts, washers and nuts with locknuts); in the place marked in green, a stop boss is placed on nails between the crossbars of the tabletop. When folded, this table fits in the trunk of a car, so it’s also suitable for going on a picnic. If this is not expected, or the trunk is larger, the tabletop can be made longer.

Finally, a gazebo table also does not require any special tools or skills, see fig. below. The material is the same magpie board and some inexpensive fasteners.

One step closer to art...

To advance in table building, you now need to learn some of the basics of carpentry. A table, in general, consists of a table top, its supporting frame, possibly with niches and/or mechanisms, or simply a plate - a base - legs, and the nodes that hold everything together. Let's go through them starting with the connections along with the legs, because... their fastening is the weakest point of the table.

Connections and legs

At first, we need to master the connection on dowels - round wooden bosses, see fig. Dowel joints are assembled using quick-drying glue that does not require curing: wood glue, BF-2, acrylic. Sometimes, to connect thin boards, instead of dowels, nails with bitten off heads are used, pos. 4, but this is bad: the wood dries out, but the metal does not, and over time the connection becomes loose.

For dowels, use thin-layered wood that is stronger than both parts being connected, i.e. the hardest rocks. A pine table on birch legs can be connected with oak or beech dowels. There are ready-made round sticks for cutting dowels on sale; Before use, the edges of the dowels are chamfered. Plastic dowels are also sold, but they are intended exclusively for detachable connections, e.g. inserts in sliding tables.

Legs for tables industrial production fastened with detachable drawers, see fig. on right. The item marked in yellow is the simplest, cheapest and worst. Buyers of Shiroptrebov Soviet furniture are well aware of its shortcomings and complete lack of advantages, let it remain there. Reliable, holds well, except for the legs, and the boards of the underframe, drawers with mortise jibs, “green” pos. They also require the least cost, but are quite labor-intensive, so they are rarely used in industry, but just right for an amateur. The drawbar with a shaped steel jib, at the top right in the figure, is even stronger; In this way, you can attach legs with a round head and any legs in general, but you need purchased shaped parts made of high-quality steel.

Note: The legs are attached to the round table as shown below in Fig.

Detachable legs are needed not only for ease of storage and transportation. In a small apartment with a narrow corridor, it is often simply impossible to push a table with legs into the living room, no matter how you turn it. Modern apartments are more spacious, and in one-story private houses the table can be brought in/out through the window, so in such cases the strength and durability of a table with tightly secured legs comes to the fore.

For tables on rectangular base the heads of the legs for blind fastening must also be rectangular, pos. 1 in Fig. By the way, the drawers can also be one-piece: then the legs have dowels that pass through a mortise wooden jib. From the inside, the dowels are cut flush and wedged with dogwood or boxwood wedges inserted across the grain of the jib wood. Assembled with glue, such a connection is so strong and durable that you can fight with these 200-year-old tables by grabbing the legs.

Enough quality tables on turned legs simply assembled on dowels, pos. 2. For tables simpler legs made from timber and secured with self-tapping screws after attaching the tabletop to the tabletop, pos. 3. Even simpler and lighter are the legs from a pair of boards each, pos. 4 and 5. To prevent them from clinging to the floor, you need to put thrust bearings on them below or put the table on wheels.

Tabletop

The easiest, but not the cheapest, option is to order a countertop made of laminated chipboard (chipboard, laminate). Laminated chipboard for countertops is produced in the form of so-called. postforming - slabs 3.6x1.2 m thick 20-60 mm with decorative coating. The upper edge of the postforming plate is rounded, the lower edge has a drip tray, see fig. Modern furniture laminate is completely environmentally friendly, no matter what those who don’t want to forget the furniture, which stank of phenol for months, gossip about.

Postforming is well purchased by small furniture enterprises. They always have his waste; They will gladly cut your tabletop to size for you at an affordable price if the company has a jig cutting machine. Perhaps such an order will be accepted by a single individual entrepreneur if he is sitting idle. The finished slab will be edged, i.e. cover the end PVC edging(edge). If you do the edging yourself (sometimes they ask for an absurd extra payment for edging), then keep in mind:

• The upper and lower flanges of the edging have different profiles, see on the left in Fig. Mix it up and there will always be a dirt edging on the table.
• The edging must be taken exactly according to the thickness of the slab. You can put a 24 mm edging on a 25 mm slab, but it will soon slide off.
• The groove for the edging ridge must be selected using a manual disk cutter; No one seems to have done it properly with a saw yet.
• Before installing the edging, apply to the surface of the end thin layer silicone sealant and the “sausage” is squeezed into the groove; in this case, the silicone will also act as a lubricant, without which the edge ridge may simply become wrinkled.
• The comb is inserted into the groove with light blows of the mallet, gradually moving along the contour. The tabletop should lie face up on the support; squeezed out excess silicone is immediately wiped off with a clean rag lightly moistened with table vinegar.

Plank tabletops are held together in plank frames with wedges and spacers - wedges. It’s quite possible to make the vamps yourself; You need 3-4 per tabletop. The boards (cheeks) of the weim are wrapped in polyethylene so that the shield does not stick to them. In Fig. for example, the process of making a round tabletop; The rectangular one is put together in the same way, only cutting it to size is easier. The shield is attached to the tabletop using glue and dowels (see below); if the boards are tongue-and-groove, dowels are not needed. When rallying on PVA, the next plot is kept until the applied glue comes off before installing it in the clamp.

Countertops are often assembled without rims on a plaza - a flat surface covered with plastic film. It will not be possible to assemble a good board panel on the plaza: either it will come out cracked, or the boards will stand on end when assembling it. But stacked countertops from fragments are obtained into in capable hands simply wonderful. For example, at pos. 1-3 fig. – tabletop made from sawing waste, tinted with stain. And at pos. 4-5 The base of the tabletop was the platform itself, made of thick plywood. The tile and its chips are glued with tile adhesive, then the depressions are filled with grout, the surface is varnished and the outline is outlined with a wooden strip edge.

Note: These examples do not illustrate all the possibilities of making inlaid artistic tabletops with your own hands.

Underframe

The table base with non-removable legs is a simple wooden frame, on the left in Fig. Niches and parts of mechanisms are not involved in the power circuit. If the table is longer than 1.2 m, or the tabletop is removable/extendable, or large operating loads are expected (for example, a work table), the underframe is reinforced with stiffening ribs in the center. If the legs are attached with drawers, then the underframe is made at the same time as the tabletop to create a single power circuit, on the right in Fig.

Without frame

Tables without an underframe are also known, in which the tabletop and legs work in a single supporting system. Very durable, e.g. plywood table on the left in the figure; its connections are dowel. Unfortunately, this is not an economical design for an amateur: the sidewalls cannot be assembled from pieces, they must be solid. In mass production, the waste is not very large, but a sheet of plywood with a thickness of 24 mm or more will be used in one piece for large sidewalls, and another 1 piece for smaller ones. The table on the right is quite possible to make with your own hands: load-bearing frame made; connections - in a tenon with a tightening bolt and half a tree. However, the tabletop in this case should be round or square, with rounded or right corners.

... and we find ourselves in the kitchen

Exactly. The kitchen table is the next in order of complexity after the simplest country tables. It should already meet the requirements of apartment ergonomics, dimensions - 75 cm in height for people of average size; the width of the place for 1 eater/rider is 60-80 cm, depending on its corpulence, the width of the tabletop is at least 70 cm. The aesthetic appearance is very desirable, but is not decisive: suddenly you messed up with the decoration, that’s why the tablecloth. The countertop should be easy to clean, durable, and resistant to spilled heat from hot dishes.

All these requirements will be satisfied by a table made of laminated chipboard on metal legs; They are also sold separately in sets of 4 pieces, with fasteners, on the left in Fig. Factory-made table legs are usually equipped with height-adjustable heels. A table, the manufacture of which will be reduced to screwing the leg sockets with confirmatory screws, will cost 30-50% less than a completely purchased one, and in appearance it will not be inferior to it, on the right in Fig.

If you're not too lazy to put your hands to it, steel legs you can do it yourself. This is not only a cheaper, but also a more durable option: the sockets of the branded legs are cast from rather fragile silumin, the fastenings weaken over time and need to be tightened. You can cut out the nests yourself from good steel, and weld the very legs into them.

In a larger kitchen, there may be room for a larger table. In such a case, follow up. rice. Rustic style kitchen table plans. This table is “rustic” not only in appearance: it does not have a single nail or metal fasteners at all. Just wood and glue. A connoisseur, seeing this, nods his head in understanding and approval, and the design is simple and accessible to a beginner. True, in addition to the tabletop, you will also have to assemble the panels for the sidewalls, but in this case the extra work is worth it.

Kruglyashi

Table with round table top appropriate in any room if it fits there. But a tabletop made of boards in this case is not the best the best option: due to the presence of sharp corners, it is without a frame, which is very complex and labor-intensive, and is susceptible to splitting. Composite countertops made from small fragments, like the one described above from waste, are free from this drawback; Unlike laminate roundels, they are decorative, stylish, unique and practically free.

There are even more sharp corners in a finely-set countertop, but here the “broom law” comes into play. Not the American Senator Venik, who loves democracy in Russia to the point of complete oblivion about it at home, but that broom that is used to sweep away trash. As you know, it is impossible to break it (the broom, not the senator) tied up, but even a child will break twig after twig. So here, thanks to the ease of distributing loads between small fragments, a table top assembled from them works like a solid slab, and after assembly you can cut it even “Zu”.

Note: The idea of ​​the senator-broom, sorry, Broom, was brought to mind by the statement of his compatriot Samuel Clemens, world famous as Mark Twain: “I assert, and I undertake to prove it, that Mr. Cooper has no more imagination than a bull. But not the bull that moos in the pasture, but the one that supports the bridge.”

How to make a semi-folding round table is shown in the figure; On the right there are the tabletop dimensions and assembly order. And in Fig. Above on the right is a small round table for the hallway, according to the old classification - a business table. Its feature is the minimum number of connections; assembly with glue. Any round piece will fit on the tabletop, from a cut tree stump to a cardboard one, made according to the method of making cardboard shelves, but the underframe must be durable, made of wood (two-hundred-piece board) or laminated chipboard.

Let's go further: to the living room

Table in main room at home should suit the whole house. At the same time, with the modern desire for laconic design (which also saves costs on living space), the table should, for the time being, not be conspicuous and take up less space. Therefore, one of the most popular pieces of furniture these days has become a transforming table.

The simplest transformable table, which, despite all its transformations, remains a table and does not turn into a closet or bed - a table-bedside table; It is quite possible to make it yourself “from scratch”. There are 2 options that are most common here. On the left in Fig. – the table is unfoldable, it has a record ratio of occupied space in expanded and collapsed form. These are most often placed in studio apartments perpendicular to the wall on the border of the kitchen and living areas. With the tabletop wings lowered, it will serve as a bar. By lifting the wings one at a time, you can get a kitchen or everyday dining table, and when fully deployed (in the center), it will provide space for a fairly crowded banquet.

For a bachelor living in a small apartment, a folding table-bedside table, on the right in Fig. It's basically 2 small round ones. folding tables, described above, connected by a rectangular insert. You can have lunch with one folded one, because, unlike the previous option, there is somewhere to put your legs. And having unfolded, hold romantic evening with a beautiful stranger or soulful gatherings with friends.

All the above qualities are combined in transforming coffee and dining tables with a mechanism. The variety of transformation mechanisms is great, but for tables, which are always tables, they mainly come down to 2 types: elevator (pantograph) and book. How they both work, see the video:

Theoretically, a book is more stable than an elevator, although a lot depends on the quality of execution. Book lovers are more popular because a book-like mechanism can still be made independently, but an elevator outside production conditions is unlikely.

How the book-table unfolds is shown step by step in Fig. on right. To make it yourself, you need to know that the key unit is the damping-balancing elastic link. Quite expensive branded designs use very softly operating gas dampers (gas lifts), but for an amateur it is better to opt for a spring damper, and not because gas lift is much more expensive.

The fact is that the gas lift must be coordinated within fairly narrow limits with the kinematics of the lever system, the weight of the tabletop, underframe and the dead weight of the levers. If the balance of the entire system does not fit into its characteristics, the mechanism simply will not work. And the spring can always be tightened/loosened; as a last resort, replace it. In general, an unsuccessful homemade transforming table with gas lifts can rarely be “brought to fruition,” but a spring table almost always does. If you still decide to suffer with a homemade acrobat table, in Fig. – drawings of the spring transformation mechanism.

Without the presence of drilling, turning and metal milling machines or access to them, most parts of the transformation mechanism will have to be ordered. Then its production will cost a little about $40, and you can buy a good ready-made one for $50-$60. A factory-made transforming coffee table rarely costs less than $200, so even in this situation the savings are significant.

The transforming table is made to fit the mechanism. One of the most popular are Mazetti transformation mechanisms, due to their good quality at a moderate price for this class of products. In addition, Mazetti mechanisms are produced in a supporting frame (inset in the center in the figure), which greatly simplifies installation. Other pos. in Fig. show the structure and dimensions of the table for this mechanism.

For a strong feast

Whatever you say, a normal family with children, friends and relatives cannot do without crowded gatherings at the table, and here a transforming table will not always help out. However, we will leave more or less full banquet tables for the living room, as they say, for later: these are products of a higher order of complexity; primarily due to the sliding mechanism.

By the way, the good old “sliders” with wooden guides and wooden sliders of the tabletop halves (item 1 in the figure) are quite convenient and reliable when properly executed; in addition, you can make them yourself, but such a process requires a special detailed description. Modern sliding mechanisms with telescopic guides for full extension, pos. 2, allow you to use not 1, but up to 3-5 inserts, which increases the table capacity by 6-10 people, respectively, but they are quite expensive, and their installation requires a description no less voluminous.

There are banquet tables with folding inserts, pos. 3. In elite models, when moving the halves of the tabletop apart, the inserts lift, unfold and put in place or put back into the underframe very complex mechanism, but manual versions are available for making at home.

As for banquet tables with retractable individual tables, arranged like a keyboard stand in a computer desk, they cannot be called popular: by leaning forward (and how can this be avoided if the house has no servants?), we get the board back into the table and our portion of the treat - for festive clothes.

But let's not talk about sad things. Let us remember that the table is not always moved apart, and you can use an extension, but a solid table is in any case more reliable. Therefore, in the series of pictures below there is a way to make a very durable and inexpensive dining table, and see how it looks “alive” on the left in the picture. at first.

In addition

You often want to paint a table, or any furniture, in more than just stripes or paint it artistically. To protect the design from external influences and to ensure the possibility of refinishing the varnish if necessary, the paint should not be applied, but rather rubbed into the wood before varnishing. The technique of painting by rubbing paint in layers is called glazing. So in conclusion, we offer a master class on glazing wood.

Video: master class on wood glazing

The kitchen table is the same age as the kitchen itself. Probably even older than her: in parking lots and settlements primitive people large flat stones were found near the hearths, which served as cutting, serving and dining tables; they contained remains of food and food. In this article we will look at how to make a kitchen table with your own hands completely at home. This will not only allow you to save a certain amount (in general, not ruinous), but will also provide an opportunity to acquire initial carpentry skills, which may turn out to be much more significant in the future. The most common types are used in kitchen tables furniture joints, but its design forgives rather serious flaws in operation. There are also great-looking types of kitchen tables, for the manufacture of which it is enough to be able to saw off a piece of board and tighten a screw.

A table in the kitchen also provides considerable opportunities for creative self-expression: much less skill is needed here than imagination, and failure will not ruin the entire interior. The samples of original kitchen tables in the photo below are quite accessible for making with your own hands, but first you need to get a feel for the design and material at a basic level, which is what we will try to help the reader with.

There are at least 15 different ways to make a kitchen table, including artistic forging and casting from homemade artificial marble. However, firstly, we will limit ourselves to kitchen tables made of wood, as a material that allows us to obtain the desired result with the least amount of labor, Money and time.

Secondly, we will deal with tables with rectangular or rounded corners. A round table requires 1.6-2.2 times more usable space than a rectangular table for the same number of eaters. Moreover, the first meaning refers to the case when the hostess is deprived of a free approach to him and must be served over the shoulder of the person sitting. This already falls into the category of parodies of the rules of good manners. Like, how should you tilt the plate when finishing the soup: towards you or away from you? Answer: depending on what you want to pour on yourself or the tablecloth. In addition, a round table in a small kitchen is stronger than a rectangular table of the same capacity, wedged into the so-called. functionality triangle, see below.

Dimensions and ergonomics

The height of the kitchen table is normal, 700-780 mm, counting from the floor to the top surface of the tabletop. For people of average height, the optimal table height is 750-760 mm. But with the dimensions of the kitchen table in plan, the situation is more complicated.

The essence is in the same triangle of functionality: refrigerator-sink-stove. Ideally, it should be rectangular isosceles with legs of 1.2-1.6 m each. However, the ergonomics of the kitchen are spoiled much more than a slight deviation from these proportions by wedging dining area to the hypotenuse. Simply: the hostess bent over the sink or stove and pressed her seductive forms against her husband’s cheek just when he brought the spoon to his mouth. Therefore, it is advisable to make the table in the kitchen, especially of economical layouts, smaller, as long as it is comfortable for the eaters.

The minimum acceptable dimensions of a family kitchen table in plan are considered to be 600x900 mm. For single people, let's say a table is 450x750 mm, like in railway cars. In this case, in a “micro-kitchen” or kitchen area of ​​a small-sized one-room apartment, it is also permissible to make it a wall-mounted folding one, see below. But optimal sizes kitchen table tops are considered (650-800) x (1100-1400) mm, depending on the available usable area and the build of the users.

Which one to do

Traditional kitchen table - on the base, pos. 1 in Fig. The underframe is the supporting frame of their boards placed on edge - the tsar. The drawers can be tightly fastened to the table legs, and the tabletop can be placed loosely on them; those. its fastenings only prevent horizontal displacement. This kitchen-sized table is simpler in design and stronger, but it is more difficult to bring in/take out, especially if the passage to the kitchen is narrow. The second option is that the drawers are tightly fastened to the tabletop, and the legs are detachable. In this case, the tabletop needs to be durable and not made of anything suitable for use. case, the material, and the design is more complicated. But there are no problems with bringing in/out. Both of these options for a classic kitchen table will be discussed in more detail below.

The table on the base can also be artistically designed, pos. 2. Making an artistic kitchen table is not as difficult as it might seem. The basis of its design - turned shaped legs - can be easily obtained from commercially available railing balusters (see below). For a novice craftsman who knows how to use a jigsaw, a figured sawed-off drawer does not pose a problem. What remains is a molding - a shaped chamfer on the lower edges of the drawers. For this, you can rent a manual milling machine with a cutter of the profile you like; with it, the work itself on setting up the molding takes less than an hour, plus 10-15 minutes of training on some kind of trim.

No less common in kitchens are tables of beam construction, pos. 3. Even in their simplest design (see 2 options below) they are more attractive than tables with a base. However, to implement them in design high class(item 4) requires well-equipped carpentry and solid manufacturing skills. Beam tables require more material, but their undeniable advantage is that they can be made completely collapsible without tools (also see below).

Tables with a load-bearing tabletop without an underframe (item 5) are also very often found in kitchens. In a factory-made version, this is perhaps the cheapest type of good quality kitchen tables. A set of legs for such a table + a postforming tabletop (see below) will cost about 2,500 rubles, and assembly will take at most half an evening. But when making such a table completely independently, a beginner will encounter some significant nuances, see below.

Tables-books, they are also tables-pedestals, pos. 6, initially created a sensation due to its compactness when folded and the ability to be used in a half-fold version, but then there was a period of some disappointment. Firstly, no matter how you sit at such a table, your legs feel uncomfortable. Secondly, in the first samples, the rotary support lock was the simplest, consisting of a pair of 50x20 bars, attached with a gap equal to the thickness of the support to the underside of the tabletop. The outer faces of the bars were often removed with a wedge so that the support would not cling to them when unfolding the table. However, if you accidentally pry the tabletop with your knee, the lock is immediately released. Therefore, such tables could not do without a hodgepodge of cutlets and mashed potatoes on the trousers and the floor, but they are reliable and easy to use mechanical lock turned out to be very complicated and expensive. Nevertheless, both amateur craftsmen and serious manufacturers are improving this, in principle, very promising design, which will be the subject of a special section in this publication.

Wall-mounted folding tables (item 7) are rarely found in very tiny kitchenettes. Most often - among busy bachelors who are accustomed to doing everything while standing, even sleeping on the carpet in front of their bosses, because... have all the disadvantages of book-tables with virtually no room for improvement. Serving tables (item 8) are used much more often on the farm, but this is a separate class of furniture with its own specific qualities and manufacturing technology, so here we will limit ourselves to just mentioning them.

Technological subtleties and innovations

The kitchen table, firstly, is made from wood species or materials that are little or not subject to shrinkage when dried: oak, hornbeam, wenge, laminated chipboard, MDF. Ordinary industrial wood in a kitchen atmosphere with its fluctuations in temperature, humidity and organic vapors in the air begins to warp and crack after 5-7 years, even if impregnated and varnished. On the other hand, the dimensions of the kitchen table are small. This leads to some features of its manufacture, which ultimately make it possible to simplify the work.

Tabletop

This is the main detail of any table. For a homemade table in the kitchen best option– buy a ready-made postforming countertop; they are available in a wide range of colors, textures and sizes. Postforming is a profiled laminated chipboard with rounded edges, finished to look like wood or other material. The advantages of postforming in relation to a kitchen table are as follows:

Postforming is good technologically for simplicity and speed of work. But countertops made from boards, the so-called, look much more solid. solid wood or furniture panels. Joining boards into an array is quite delicate and painstaking work; for this purpose, special devices are used - clamps. If you want to try your hand at making furniture from solid wood, we offer a selection of videos:

How to assemble a furniture panel with your own hands:

How to make a panel top for a kitchen table:

How to make a tabletop from wood end cuts:

In the last video, the material is junk, but you can achieve the look - cool oligarchs will salivate.

Dowels, confirmations and dowels

Traditionally, wooden furniture is assembled on dowels. The dowel connection is invisible and cheap; Just in case, let us remind you what it is and how it is done, see fig. To connect wooden parts, wooden dowels are used, which dry out along with the connected parts; The laminated chipboard, which practically does not dry out, is connected with plastic dowels. Corner plastic dowels are rarely used, because... often break. Connections with wooden dowels are usually glued.

It is often difficult for novice craftsmen to achieve accurate markings for the dowel connection. Tricks, such as marking with bitten nails (item 4 in the figure), do not always help, and it is impossible to remake an incorrectly marked dowel connection; both parts go to waste. Therefore, it is better for beginners to assemble their first products using Euro-furniture screws - confirmed ones. This is more expensive, but does not require special skills, because... the confirmation hole in both parts, compressed with a clamp, is drilled in one go, see fig.

Parts made of laminated chipboard or dense thin-layer wood, connected with confirmats, last for many years. All the designs described below can be assembled both on dowels and on confirmations. However, in the latter case, the following rules must be observed:

• Use furniture grades for wood, not plumbing grades for plastic. They differ at first glance: furniture slots have a hexagon slot, and plumbing slots have a Phillips screwdriver.
• The diameter of the body of the confirmat without thread when attached to the end should be no more than 1/5-1/3 (as an extreme case) of the thickness of the attached part.
• The height of the confirmation neck should correspond to the thickness of the main part.
• The penetration of the threaded part of the confirmat into the attached part must be at least 5-6 full diameters of the confirmat.
• The hole (blind hole) for the confirmat is drilled to its full length with the head.
• Use only a twist drill for wood.
• The main drill must be inserted into a mandrel that exactly matches its diameter and screw size.
• Drill holes for confirmations with a main drill of a diameter equal to the diameter of the confirmation by thread.

In practice, it is not difficult for even a perfect “teapot” to fulfill these conditions:

1. Based on the thickness of the part, we determine the diameter of the body of the confirmat without thread;
2. There is a lot of information on confirmatories on the Internet, from which you can, knowing the diameter of the screw body, the thickness of the main part and the drilling depth, determine the required standard size. It is better to immediately open pictures for the request “furniture screw (or confirmation) drawings dimensions”;
3. We are looking for a retail outlet where the seller, when asked to show furniture confirmations, shows them exactly;
4. We say: “I need so many of such and such a standard size and a drill with a mandrel for them.” They may offer a solid drill just for this confirmation, it will be cheaper.

And a little more about dowels. It is best to place a detachable (freely applied) tabletop of a classic kitchen table on them. Incl. and for such purposes, plastic dowels with a round head or dowels with a cap and different types grooves on the long recessed and short protruding parts, see fig. on right. Thick tabletops are attached first, approx. from 20 mm; the second ones are thinner.

Various tables

Classic

Classic tables on the underframe along with the legs (item 1 in the figure) are traditionally connected (assembled) using tongue-and-groove joints, which is quite complex and labor-intensive. A modern tool - a drill with a twist drill for wood and a screwdriver - in combination with legs, the section of the heads of which is not less than 60x60 mm (for balusters the heads are usually from 100x100 mm), allows for a kitchen table with plan dimensions of up to approx. 750x1500 mm can be made by connecting with wood screws at an angle, pos. 3. In any case, the outer sides of the drawers should be 1.5 cm away from the outer surfaces of the heads of the legs, this is necessary for overall strength. The minimum permissible height of the kitchen table drawers is 120 mm; thickness – 30 mm.

It is highly advisable to reinforce the connection with oblique screws with diagonal ties in the corners (item 4, above) from the same board as the drawers. If the tabletop is not intended to be removed unless absolutely necessary, then the labor-intensive installation of it on dowels can be abandoned. Then, at the corners of the finished supporting frame, scraps of the same board - crackers - are cut into the drawers and the tabletop is attached to them from the bottom with self-tapping screws, pos. 4 below.

The tabletop of a classic table with detachable legs should be at least 24 mm thick (chipboard, plywood) or 30 mm thick (solid wood). Countertops made from other materials, e.g. artificial stone, suitable for tables on the base along with the legs, are not applicable here. Due to the large difference in thermal expansion modules between them and wood, the table will soon become loose.

Next, the drawers are attached to the tabletop with long confirmations right through the end, on the left in the figure, with sizing with wood glue or PVA. It is difficult to achieve accurate assembly using ordinary wood screws, because... they are without a neck to keep the joint from moving.

The next point is that jibs in the corners (also in the figure) are required, wooden mortise ones or ready-made steel overhead ones. The legs at the corners are attached in the usual ways, on the right in Fig.

Desk drawer

A drawer is a classic structural module of a classic kitchen table. The guides for the table drawer are the same as for the drawers of the bedside table, chest of drawers, and closet. Since a large weight load is not expected in this case, and the smooth movement of the drawer and the ability to fully extend it are not of great importance, you can use inexpensive roller guides on which the keyboard boards of computer desks run.

The structure of a furniture box is shown on the left in Fig. It is not necessary to assemble its tray the old fashioned way on a box tenon (on the right in the figure); you can use self-tapping screws into the ends of the boards. The thickness of the boards for the drawer sides is 12-20 mm. The plywood bottom is often fastened with a furniture stapler, but this is not entirely reliable. It is better to attach it with self-tapping screws through the cranial bars along the contour of the bottom. The front of the drawer can overlap the front side of the table or fit flush into it, it doesn’t matter.

To install the drawer in the table, an opening is cut out in the longitudinal front drawer according to the cross-sectional dimensions of the drawer tray, plus allowances on the sides for the guides (indicated in the specifications for them), plus another 3 mm along the contour. Then the side support boards are installed to secure the guides. They are attached to the longitudinal frames from the inside using backing bars. There is no need to fasten it to the tabletop; it will become loose. Next, the box is assembled, attached to it and to the supporting boards, respectively. the guide parts push the drawer into place, that's all.

Quite simple

A completely simple but good-looking kitchen table with a classic look can be made on a supporting frame made of boards, see fig. on right. Its length, if the drawer section is at least 120x20 mm, can be increased to 1100 mm. Tabletop – any weight up to 15 kg. The angle of inclination of the legs from the vertical is 15-20 degrees, this is one fundamental point in this design. The second is transverse ties made of 50x15 timber, they give the entire structure the necessary rigidity. So, although this table looks classic, in fact it is already a beam table.

Beam

Drawings of a pair of kitchen tables with a beam structure are given in Fig. Above - completely collapsible without tools. The tabletop is structurally any, placed on dowels, although the style of this table (rustic) is fully consistent only with a tabletop made of solid wood. An option for attaching it from the bottom without dowels to cranial bars shown in the inset center right.

In this product, a beginner may find the bottom bandage (longitudinal tie) with a beveled through groove for the wedge to be a stumbling block. In fact, everything is very simple: the bottom bandage is assembled with glue from 3 layers of 10 mm plywood or boards. How to make beamed kitchen tables of this type, you can watch the following video:

Video: DIY table by components

The table, drawings of which are shown below, has 2 features. First, all material is boards with a width of 120 mm, timber is not used. The second is that only a tray is provided for the tabletop, and it can be made of glass, plywood with a mosaic of tiles or its fragments, etc. The gap between the board of the tabletop and the frame of the tray is prone to clogging, but removing the tabletop for cleaning is also easy. So whether it’s rustic or modern, whether it’s a kitchen table, boudoir or coffee table, you decide for yourself.

Without table support

Factory-made kitchen tables without bases are usually produced with postforming countertops, pos. 1 in Fig. Those who want to make something similar on their own wooden table top will face the following tricks.

First, a table stand is still needed, because wooden beam from 50x50, pos. 2. The fact is that mechanical stress in boards always flows to the corners, where they are distributed very unevenly. But the wood under all 3 fastening points of the leg frame must be tensioned approximately equally, otherwise the fastening will loosen on its own. Timber piping expands the fan of stress in a given place to an acceptable value, but it is impossible to replace continuous piping with corner pads; they will be of no use.

The second is the material of the countertop. Standard threaded sockets for mounting leg frames (item 3) are designed for laminated chipboard or dense, fine-grained wood. If the tabletop is made of pine, etc. layered rather soft wood, then the nests can, having torn the layers, crawl back out already during the installation of the clips. And the probability that this will happen when someone accidentally pushes the table is close to 100%

And the third is the leg clips themselves. In cheap sets of parts for tables without tabletops from “alternative” manufacturers, they are most often made of silumin, pos. 4. And silumin, as you know, is very, very fragile. In general, if you like such tables, it will be easier to buy a ready-made one with a guarantee. Most likely, and cheaper than assembling a kit for self-assembly at retail.

Books and Cheburashkas

The disadvantages of the table-book of the original design (see figure on the right) have already been mentioned above. In Fig. Below is a drawing of the design of a table-book (conventionally, only one rotary support is shown without the wings of the tabletop), which eliminates them in an amateurish, but effective manner. Simply, the width of the rotary support is reduced by more than half compared to the wing span of the tabletop (350 and 720 mm, respectively). Now the support rotates 90 degrees, so you can sit comfortably as you wish. The support, located in the working position along the longitudinal axis of the tabletop, holds it even better than an oblique one, and in order to lift the tabletop until the upper support bar comes out of the simplest clamp (see above), you need to raise your knees so that it will be very uncomfortable for yourself. Overall stability is ensured by the legs of the cabinet section, which must be made as long as possible, but not less than 600 mm. Otherwise, the swivel supports must be brought down in height to the floor level.

A fundamentally similar solution was applied to the wall folding table(items 1 and 2 in the next figure), but here the bevel of the hanging angle of the support works for operational reliability. Which is quite applicable in the previous one. case: there are no contraindications for performing that support in the form of a trapezoid converging downward.

A proprietary solution to the problems of a book-table is removable legs stored in the cabinet. Placing them is not much more troublesome than catching them swivel support clamp on the table top. Such a table-book is, of course, more expensive, but its operational reliability is complete: there is no latch, because it's simply not needed.

The next step in the evolution of the book-table is a design with a larger cabinet and one leg on each wing of the table top. There are half as many legs, which means the whole table is cheaper. Its stability has only increased due to the expansion of the cabinet, it is generally comfortable to sit, and there is more space in the cabinet (which is always in short supply in the kitchen).

Consumers liked such kitchen tables so much that they were already given the nickname - Cheburashka table. Probably, remembering from the cartoon: “Here, we built, built, and finally built it.” A folding kitchen table as it should be.

Alternative

If your kitchen is combined with a living room or you plan to combine them, then you don’t need to think about a kitchen table; it’s better to replace it with a column. You can not only drink at the bar counter, you can also eat there. The point of such a replacement is that at least half of the dining area goes beyond the kitchen, and the rest is used sporadically and does not wedge itself into the functional triangle. Result? See fig. It is more convenient to work and dine in a 5-meter kitchenette with a bar counter, which separates the apartment zones, than in an 8-9-meter Brezhnevka kitchen. Don't believe it? Let's do the math.

The kitchen table does not stand on its own. To plant the eaters, you need to add 400 mm along the contour, and another 300-350 for the approach. As a result, a 900x600 mm table requires approx. 2.5 sq. m of “living space”, and the table is 1200x700 mm and all 3.5 sq. m. It is very, very difficult to push such a thick piece into a kitchen of normal size without crushing the soft-boiled functional triangle. Here, even if two people sit at the counter from the kitchen side, the functional triangle is not disturbed, and the hostess is within easy reach of everything.

One of the famous culinary experts once said: “The kitchen is conservative, like the digestive tract.” Here, of course, he bent and overdid it. Something like a stove, refrigerator, food processor and the microwave is not found in our stomachs, although the kitchen is really conservative. But even in the most conservative sphere, at some point there comes a time that requires fundamental changes.

What is a loft style table

A table is a necessary piece of furniture at home and at work. The horizontal surface, raised above the floor level, ensures a comfortable stay for a person in a sitting position. Throughout the history of mankind, this accessory of existence has undergone various design changes: at first it was quite primitive, and later it even became a luxury item.

In the 60s of the last century, in the wake of alternating economic crises, empty production areas appeared. The premises began to be occupied by various creative associations, which filled the interior with homemade household items. This is how the loft design style was born (this word translates as attic).

Today it has become fashionable again to make tables in the loft style. Of course, this style does not mean creating designer models from attic trash. The basic idea is that the supporting structure (legs, box frame) is made of metal, and the tabletop is made of irregularly shaped decorative boards.

Coffee table in loft style

The comfortable height of this furniture does not exceed 300–350 mm. In the apartment, the coffee table is not surrounded by chairs; it is moved closer to the sofa. If the kitchen interior design is made in the loft style, then such a table against the general background will look quite harmonious.

I'll tell you how to make a loft-style table with your own hands. To do this, you need to prepare the appropriate tools and materials.

Tools

In my workshop I found everything necessary tools to make a loft-style table with your own hands:

• drill for drilling holes in metal;
• screwdriver for fastening wooden parts;
• an air compressor with a gun for cleaning the working surface from small debris and drying the painted parts of the supporting frame;
• welding machine for welding a metal pedestal;
• jigsaw for processing the ends of the tabletop;
• brushes for primer, paint and varnish;
• tray for paint and primer;
• angle machine for cutting corners and strips;
• hammer;
• tape measure and metal ruler;
• level;
• chisel for cleaning wood;
• screwdriver;
• a set of clamps for fixing parts during welding work.

Materials

• two Oak planks 30 mm thick and 1200 mm long;
• equal-flange steel corner 32 × 32 × 1210 m;
• steel strip 50 mm wide and 800 mm long;
• screws;
• primer for metal;
• dye;
• abrasive wheel;
• furniture varnish.

In order to make it clear how to make a loft table yourself, I decided to present my actions in the form of instructions.

Step-by-step instructions for assembling a wooden coffee table in the loft style

I assembled the loft-style table with my own hands in two stages:

• making a metal pedestal,
• installation of countertops.

Making a pedestal

1. On a piece of paper I drew a sketch of a pedestal from a metal corner.
2. Using an angle machine with an abrasive wheel, I cut the metal into pieces according to the drawing.
3. The ends of the corners were cut at an angle of 45º.
4. Using a welding machine, I welded two horizontal frames.
5. I used a workbench to weld the metal frame. I fixed the structural parts with clamps.
6. The corners of the lower frame were placed with a vertical shelf up, and the elements of the upper belt of the pedestal were assembled with vertical shelves down.
7. Placed between the frames vertical racks and connected them by welding to the frames.
8. I welded two transverse metal strips into the upper frame at a distance of 300 mm from the edges of the frame.
9. I sanded the weld seams with an angle grinder.
10. Having placed the metal case on the floor, I checked the horizontalness of the upper frame of the pedestal with a level.
11. I applied primer to the frame of the pedestal with a brush.
12. After 12 hours, all the metal was covered with gray paint.
13. Using a drill, I drilled 4 holes with a diameter of 4 mm in the strips.

If there is no opportunity and experience in handling welding, then it is better to order the manufacture of a metal frame in a metalworking workshop.

Fastening the table top

I secured the tabletop boards as follows:

Labor costs and cost of manufacturing a loft coffee table

• two oak boards 30 mm thick with an area of ​​1.8 m2 - 800 rubles;
• 2 steel corners 32 × 32 mm with a wall thickness of 4 mm and a total length of 12.1 m (1 linear meter costs 55 rubles) - 665 rubles;
• steel strip 50 × 800 mm – 100 rubles;
• electricity – 200 rubles;
• can of soil GF-021 0.9 kg – 70 rubles;
• jar of enamel for metal 0.9 kg – 320 rubles;
• tube with furniture varnish (aerosol) – 100 rubles.

The total cost was 2255 rubles.

It took me no more than 16 hours to make the table, not counting the time for drying the paint and varnish.

If you order a pedestal from a workshop, the cost will increase by about 30%.

In this video you can see various models loft style tables:

Tables in this style usually have uneven surfaces with wide cracks. This can cause small breakable objects to fall to the floor or simply get stuck between the boards of the countertop. However, these inconveniences are more than compensated for by the unusual design of the furniture.

Making a table is a great simple project for a beginning woodworker, but it can also be quite a challenging job for more experienced woodworkers. The simplest table consists of a tabletop, legs and a supporting frame. With a little bit of lumber for these elements, you can create a table that suits your needs perfectly.

Steps

Part 1

Designing a table model

Check out the different table options to decide what kind of table you want to make. There are a lot various types tables, so take the time to choose your specific project wisely. Go online and look for photos of tables, paying attention to the style of each item. Also possible ideas can be found in furniture catalogs and carpentry magazines.

• Base your choice on your own needs, such as what you'll be using your new desk for and how much space you have for it.
• Perhaps you are looking for a large, rustic dining table. Or you want to make a small coffee table or an elegant bedside table.

1. Make a sketch of the table on paper. Use a pencil and ruler to draw your ideal table. Don't worry about exact sizes just yet. Just imagine what your table should look like when finished. Give it the features you need, and only then think about the size.

   • When the approximate design of the table is ready, mark the appropriate dimensions on it with a pencil. The specific sizes of lumber you plan to use can be found at hardware stores.
   • The size of the table will depend on its type. For example, a dining table is usually noticeably larger than a bedside table.

2. Calculate how much lumber you will need. Break down your desk design into its basic elements. A simple table will have elements such as a table top, legs and a support frame connecting them. If you plan to equip the table with additional elements, do not forget to take into account the materials for them.,

   • For example, try making a table with a tabletop from three boards with a cross-section of 5 cm x 30 cm and a length of 150 cm, legs from four pieces of timber with a cross-section of 10 cm x 10 cm and a length of 70 cm, and a support frame from two boards with a cross-section of 5 cm x 10 cm and 75 cm long, as well as two boards with a section of 5 cm x 10 cm and a length of 145 cm.
   • Purchase additional lumber for any additional pieces you want to add to your table. For example, you can add leg crossbars to increase the strength of the table or provide sliding tabletop elements.

3. To make a table that will last, choose inexpensive but durable wood, such as pine. Pine is not a particularly hard wood, but it is easy for beginners to work with. You can easily make a table from it that will last for decades. Also, durable tables are often made from solid maple and cherry.

   • Consider other inexpensive wood options. For example, construction grade fir can be used to make tables. Also, good furniture is made from poplar, but this wood is more difficult to stain with stain.
   • For outdoor furniture It is better to opt for mahogany, cypress or specially treated wood, such as pine, impregnated with preservatives under pressure.

4. Buy lumber and cut it into pieces. Once you know exactly what you need, go to a hardware store and buy lumber. Many stores can even cut materials to your size, so don’t be lazy to ask about this service. This will reduce the amount of work ahead so that you can start assembling the table right away.

   • If you have a workbench, a vise, a circular saw or a regular hand saw, you can cut the wood yourself. When working with a saw, be sure to wear polycarbonate safety glasses and a respirator.

5. Mark the position of the support frame on the underside of the tabletop. The support frame is attached to the table top and table legs, preventing these parts from moving. From the edges of the tabletop, measure approximately 2.5 cm deep. Then, with a pencil, draw a line here that will mark the place where the support frame is attached to the tabletop.

   • Having a 2.5 cm indent will prevent a situation where the support frame sticks out from under the tabletop. In addition, this way you leave a little more space under the table for free movement of the legs between its legs and, in general, improves the appearance of the table.
   • If you have not yet cut the wood for the supporting frame, to calculate the dimensions of its parts, use the dimensions of the tabletop (length and width), taking into account the required distance from the edge and the cross-section of the boards used.

6. Glue the support frame to the tabletop and clamp it in a vice. Place the supporting frame pieces along the previously drawn lines. You will have two long pieces along the edges along the table and two short pieces across it (and inside the long pieces). Coat the inside of the pieces with an even layer of wood glue to secure them to the tabletop. Secure the pieces with a vice overnight to prevent them from moving.

   • You can also securely attach these parts to the tabletop using self-tapping screws. In this case, use a deep drilling machine to pre-create basting holes for the screws.
   • Alternatively, you can first attach the legs to the table and then connect them to the support frame using self-tapping screws. To make the legs stronger, you can additionally attach corner ties inside the support frame.

Part 3

Attaching the legs

1. Cut legs of the required length from the timber. Attaching the legs is the most difficult operation in making a table. If you do not attach the legs well, you will not end up with a strong and reliable table, but rather a flimsy, unstable structure. Start by measuring the exact length of each leg and sawing off the corresponding pieces of beams with a saw.

   • Even if your materials were cut at a shop, the pieces may still be slightly uneven. Check their size before attaching the legs to the table.
   • If you are making the legs yourself, first rough cut the pieces with a circular saw. Then fold the legs evenly, clamp them in a vice and, if necessary, trim them to the same size.

2. Glue the legs at the corners of the support frame. The legs must be placed in the corners of the support frame, where its parts fit together. Apply adhesive in the corners to the inside of the support frames and the underside of the tabletop. Then place the legs in the corners and secure with a vice.

   • You can wait for the glue to dry, but this is not necessary. Just keep the legs securely in place with a vice so they don't move when you use the screws to secure them.

3. Drill pilot holes in the support frame and table legs. The screws should be centered on each area where the leg meets the support frame. Drill holes from the side of the support frame towards the leg. Use a drill bit with a diameter of about 6mm (but thinner than the screws used) to make the first pilot hole in the wood of the leg. Repeat the same on the other side of the support frame. In total you will have 8 basting holes.

   • If you want to additionally fasten the legs with crossbars, the process will be somewhat more complicated. You will need a circular saw to make grooves on each leg that are slightly less than half the thickness of the timber. On each leg it will be necessary to make 2 grooves (one on each side where the crossbars will be attached.

4. Attach the table legs to the support frame with self-tapping screws. Use two screws with a diameter of about 7 mm for each leg. Screw the screws through the support frame into the legs. Use a ratchet screwdriver for this.

   • Do not screw in self-tapping screws with a drill. They can go very tightly and accidentally break off.
   • Make sure the legs are level and at right angles to the tabletop before driving the screws into them.

5. Wait for the glue you used to completely dry and set. Read the manufacturer's instructions that came with the adhesive to find out how long you'll have to wait. If you leave the table alone overnight, you can be sure that the glue will dry. Usually the table can be turned into the correct position even before this time.

6. Turn the table over on its legs to check its stability. Carefully turn the table over. It can get quite heavy! Place it on the floor and try to rock it. If the table is wobbly, it means the legs are not perfect enough. They may be different lengths - in which case you will need to flip the table back over and shorten the legs to the same length.

   • Although the legs can be cut with a circular saw or hacksaw, it is easy to make a mistake and shorten them too much. Instead, it's best to sand down some of the legs a bit with 80-grit sandpaper and then sand them down with 220-grit sandpaper.
   • The position of the legs themselves can also create problems. Make sure they fit snugly against the tabletop and support frame. If necessary, unscrew the screws and correct the position of the legs.

Part 4

Wood sanding and tinting

1. Sand the table with 80 grit sandpaper. This is a coarse sandpaper, so it will make the wood a little rough, which is completely normal. Just think about what the finished table will look like! If you look closely at the wood, you will notice the direction of its grain (lines). Sand the entire surface of the wood in the direction of the grain (including the underside of the table and legs).

   • Stains are different. Oil-based compositions penetrate wood well and create a fairly lasting result. Water-soluble stains are easy to apply, but do not absorb evenly into the wood. Gel stains are quite thick and create a strong tinting effect.
   • To properly treat wood with stain, treat only one side of the table at a time.

2. When the first coat of stain has dried, apply a second coat. Let the first coat of stain dry overnight before painting the wood again. It is likely that the first coat of stain will look dull and uneven. Cover the table with another coat of stain exactly as you did before, then let it dry again. When you return to the table again, it should be ready.

   • Before leaving the table to dry, wipe off any excess stain. This will allow you to achieve a uniform toning effect without too dark spots.

• Search the Internet for patterns for making tables. A variety of detailed diagrams can be downloaded for free or purchased for a small fee.
• Create the table you want! For the table you can use not only different types of wood, but also other materials. For example, the table legs can be made of pipes, and the tabletop itself can be made of metal or glass.
• Collecting wooden furniture, be sure to drill pilot holes, especially in wood 2.5 cm thick or less, to prevent it from cracking.
• Consider reusing lumber. This may require more effort in designing and shading the table, but will often result in a more interesting final result.
• Fasten wood exclusively with self-tapping screws. Nails hold less well and can lead to cracks. In addition, the self-tapping screw will be easier to unscrew if you make a mistake.

Warnings

• Be careful when working with tools! If not handled correctly, a drill or other piece of equipment can be quite dangerous.
• Be sure to use protective equipment while working with tools. Wear earplugs and safety glasses. Wear a dust mask and avoid wearing long clothing that could get caught on tools.
• Many tinting products contain toxic substances that evaporate during use, so work with them in a respirator and in a well-ventilated room.