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Pat Germain
09-17-2009, 9:27 AM
I could use some collective advice for a situation currently sitting in my shop. Although it involves a woodworking project, it's mostly a moral delimma.

Back Story:

Early this year my daughter moved into an apartment with a friend. Her roommate's boyfriend wanted to build them a dining table. I admired the kid's enthusiam. But after talking with him briefly, it was apparent he knew very little about woodworking.

Last weekend my daughter asked me if I could pick up said table and perhaps finish it. But there was a bit of a catch. Her roommate and boyfriend had been engaged, then she broke it off. So, Boyfriend said to come and get the table if they wanted it, but he wasn't going to deliver it. (Reasonable, I think.) The pickup operation went suprisingly smooth, although it was a bit awkward.

Current Delimma:

Again, I admire this young man's enthusiasm, but the more I look at his table sitting in my shop, the more I'm wondering what to do with it. It has four, very long legs of douglas fir. These legs were apparently "distressed", but appear overly rough. The top was assembled from some rough, tongue and groove hickory. Around the top is an apron. Underneath, the legs are fastened with carriage bolts, but not very well as the they are very wobbly. The whole table has been covered with much Minwax Dark Walnut stain.

Should I try to make this a functional and acceptable table? Should I build something else and say, "Here ya go"? Should I throw the table away and forget it ever happened? I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks.

JohnT Fitzgerald
09-17-2009, 9:45 AM
Yikes.

Well, I would suggest improving it only where it 'needs' it - i.e. those wobbly legs. Other than that, it's not your project and it should be left as is. Maybe put a coat of poly or lacquer on it, but that's about it. I mean - if (and this is a big if) the roommate and BF reconcile, you don't want you or your daughter to be in the middle of a "what'd he do to my table??" argument.

Then offer to build your daughter a more acceptable/functional table.

Prashun Patel
09-17-2009, 9:51 AM
Relay yr impressions to yr daughter and her roommate and let them decide. If I remember correctly, when I was young and single and in my first apartment, I didn't care WHAT stuff looked like as long as it was free and worked.

If they're fine with you sticking in some pocket screws or additional bolts to temporarily stabilize the legs and throwing on a coat or 2 of poly, I'd do that and call it a day.

Brad Wood
09-17-2009, 10:48 AM
Relay yr impressions to yr daughter and her roommate and let them decide. If I remember correctly, when I was young and single and in my first apartment, I didn't care WHAT stuff looked like as long as it was free and worked.

If they're fine with you sticking in some pocket screws or additional bolts to temporarily stabilize the legs and throwing on a coat or 2 of poly, I'd do that and call it a day.

I'm with Shawn.... ask them

Cliff Rohrabacher
09-17-2009, 11:41 AM
I thinks it's all an issue of translation.
What does she mean by "finish it." ~??

The table was the creation of a person no longer in the picture. So that's a dead issue. Morals are out the window.

Ask her if she likes it with the wobbly legs and heavy stain and overly rough look.

If she does then tighten the legs up and paint it with five coats of poly-
U and let her have it.

Not knowing what she meant by "finish it" makes it hard to understand what is the end goal as she sees it.

Maybe she meant: Make it into a "real table." A table that she can set a family Holiday meal on, have every one over, and trust that it won't end up on the floor and the guest's laps.
In which case it might be that a whole new table is in order.

Scott T Smith
09-17-2009, 11:50 AM
Yikes.

Well, I would suggest improving it only where it 'needs' it - i.e. those wobbly legs. Other than that, it's not your project and it should be left as is. Maybe put a coat of poly or lacquer on it, but that's about it. I mean - if (and this is a big if) the roommate and BF reconcile, you don't want you or your daughter to be in the middle of a "what'd he do to my table??" argument.

Then offer to build your daughter a more acceptable/functional table.


+2 - this is good advice.

Pat Germain
09-17-2009, 11:52 AM
Very good points, gentlemen.

The roommate did indeed ask if I could shorten the legs, make them less rough, then apply a varnish. She even specified a "not shiny" varnish.

So, perhaps I can remove the legs, plane them, cut them down, then reattach them solidly. I can then paint on a few coats of satin poly and call it done!

Thanks, guys!

Pat Germain
09-19-2009, 7:02 PM
What did I get myself into? I've already spent far too many hours trying to do something with this table.

Sheesh, I'm frustrated. This table is actually just a bunch of construction lumber assembled with deck screws. There was no glue and no real joinery anywhere. I would have been better off agreeing to just build my daughter a decent table from scratch.

Note to self: It's hard enough to fix my own mistakes. Don't try to fix someone else's mistakes!

Dan Friedrichs
09-19-2009, 10:11 PM
Pat, the difference in "positivity" between your posts #7 and #8 made me laugh :)

Pat Germain
09-19-2009, 10:30 PM
Pat, the difference in "positivity" between your posts #7 and #8 made me laugh :)

Men plan. God laughs. ;)

Jamie Buxton
09-20-2009, 12:32 AM
What did I get myself into? I've already spent far too many hours trying to do something with this table.

Sheesh, I'm frustrated. This table is actually just a bunch of construction lumber assembled with deck screws. There was no glue and no real joinery anywhere. I would have been better off agreeing to just build my daughter a decent table from scratch.

Note to self: It's hard enough to fix my own mistakes. Don't try to fix someone else's mistakes!

Call your daughter and roommate, and tell them you really don't like this thing they handed you. You're a craftsman, and you don't want to hand them back a POS (okay, say that more politely). What you really want to do is build them a proper table. (That, after all, is what you wanted to do in the first place, isn't it?!)

Pat Germain
09-20-2009, 11:08 AM
Call your daughter and roommate, and tell them you really don't like this thing they handed you. You're a craftsman, and you don't want to hand them back a POS (okay, say that more politely). What you really want to do is build them a proper table. (That, after all, is what you wanted to do in the first place, isn't it?!)

Actually, I don't really want to build them a table. The table I'm working on would really belong to the roommate. I don't think my daughter is really worried about a table.

But I probably should explain what's going on to the two young ladies. Dollars to doughnuts, I could build something out of poplar, paint it black and impress them both. They like that cheap, contemporary look. But, darn-it, I really want to build something I want to build!

Rick Potter
09-20-2009, 1:55 PM
Use bigger deck screws, screw it together, and dunk it it poly. If you keep on making it 'better', it becomes your work. When they want a decent one, they will call.

Remember, all the TV programs can redo a whole house for 2K. This is the kids reality.

Rick Potter

Pat Germain
09-20-2009, 2:24 PM
Good suggestions, Rick. I think I'll screw it back together with some glue hear and there. That way it won't fall apart before I get it into my daughter's apartment.

The big challenge are the stupid legs. They are just 4x4s. There's nothing solid on the table for the legs to fasten to. I'm having to improvise. One leg I got pretty solid. The second, not so much. Sheesh.

curtis rosche
09-20-2009, 2:28 PM
ask the guy who made it to come over and go over the table with you. explain that you want to help his woodworking skills. nicely, point out what is wrong with the table, and ask if he would mind if you fixed it, and offer him the chance to help you. then he can at least learn the right way. otherwise he might go around thinking that what he made was good and ok.

David G Baker
09-20-2009, 3:53 PM
Pat,
Do you use wood to heat your home in the cold months? Probably much easier to build one from scratch and warm your shop or home with the old boyfriend's table. No good deed goes unpunished.

Pat Germain
09-20-2009, 7:34 PM
I don't heat with wood. But you know, David, the word "firewood" did cross my mind. It's supposed to be quite cold tomorrow in Colorado Springs. I was thinking a big bonfire in the back yard would be nice.