Round Table: Part Two

So after getting a few questions about the round table I made, I figured I would just create a new post to make things a little easier. While making the table I discovered some of the cuts to be wrong (blog post about it here). Here's the cuts I found wrong more specifically:

A) 4 - 1x2 @ 28 1/2" (1x2 Part of the Legs)

B) 4 - 1x3 @ 28 1/2" (1x3 Part of the Legs)

The table is supposed to be 30 inches high and if you buy the pre-cut unfinished feet from Lowe's or Home Depot like I did which are 4 3/4 inches themselves, then the table without a top is already going to be over 33 inches tall. In the picture diagram that she created in step one of the table it says 23 3/4 inches, which I just happened to discover. That would have been handy while building huh? haha. I think I cut mine slightly longer than that. My table sits at around 32 inches, which works just fine.

The other trouble I had with the table was finding a table top! Every store we went to sold a 48 inch pine table top for over $200. I wasn't about to pay that when I could have gotten the real table from Pottery Barn for not much more. So with a little creative brainstorming between JJ and myself we decided to cut the top out of a sheet of Oak plywood which ran around $40 (I think). We also had to buy a router to round out the edges. That cost about $60.

JJ was the table top guy so I'll try and describe from memory what he did. He first pulled an old school move from elementary school to draw a perfect circle. He picked a point in the middle of the board and attached a string that he cut out to be 24 inches and drew the circumference. Well, actually he used a board, not a string. Why? I'm not sure because a string would have been so much easier, but I walked out too late to tell him, haha. He then used the jigsaw to cut a rough edge around the circle line. Followed by the router to give the plywood a smooth, fancy-schmancy look. Here's a picture after the routed edge:

 

So, it was $40 for the oak plywood, which we had extra to use for other projects, and $60 for the router which we can also use on other projects. A much cheaper and stronger solution than a $200 dollar PINE top.

Since we were using pine for the rest of the table I put a wood conditioner on it before to harden it  up a bit. For stain, we used a custom Minwax color from Lowe's. We wanted to match the bamboo blinds we have in the kitchen. I put to coats on with a rag and followed it with spray polyurethane also by Minwax. And let me tell you, I will never put polyurethane on any other way. The spray went on so easy and dried super fast! It's more expensive but so worth it.

So after all this, at least this way we both get credit for building the table, me the bottom and JJ the top.