2x4 table

[Jim Grill]

After seeing some of the work posted by others recently I'm almost ashamed to post this, but what the heck.

My wife wanted a table for our bird cage so they could be close to the window. We have an old house with wide pine plank floors and she wanted it to match and look like an antique.

I secretly had a bet with a neighbor woodworker whether or not one could successfully build furniture out of construction grade 2x4's from the big box. I accepted the challenge and went for an arts and crafts style, open joinery concept that I hastily sketched on a napkin with a crayon.

The one thing that could help save my reputation is that all the mortise and through tenon joinery was cut by hand. The finish was an attempt at making it look old. I used shellac with dark wax and steel wool over a mix of old oil stains I had on the shelf. It didn't turn out as well as it could have. Maybe next time.

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The top has been expanding and contracting across the grain nearly 3/8 of an inch since I completed it. I left a lot of room for movement both in the bread board ends and in the shop made clips that hold the top on. The groove for the clips is 1/2" deep and the clips go about 1/4" into the groove allowing lots of room for movement. The bread board ends were required to keep the top from becoming a potato chip, which it did immediately after the glue up.

I think I won the bet. I think this table will stay together through the seasons.

I learned plenty about mortise and tenon joinery and may use this as a prototype for another similar table that I'll make out of white oak or mahogany.

[John Schreiber]

That's nice fine woodworking and the product looks great. Shows that you don't have to use fine wood to make a fine product.

[Jim Grill]

Thank you, John. It isn't that bad, is it? :)

[glenn bradley]

I see no need to worry about posting that. It looks great, overcomes your wood movement problem and matches the environment like the client (that would be the LOYL) wanted. Great work.

[Steve Beadle]

I like the look of it. You made something beautiful and functional out of inexpensive materials. It reminds me of some trestle coffee tables I once made out of yellow pine and also Douglas fir. The wood is kind of difficult to finish to the highest standards, but then my standards aren't all that high. You did a good job!

Steve

[Todd Jensen]

Inspirational Jim. I better not let my wife see this or she'll wonder why I'm not making use of all that scrap wood in the garage. Nice work, thanks for sharing.

[Pat Germain]

I also think it turned out pretty nice, Jim. If you make any other project from the same kind of lumber, I would politely suggest planing it down a little to make it appear just slightly more refined and less like lumber. Cutting the "breadboard" edges on the top a little more narrow might also help in this area.

Overall, a very nice project.

[Gary Herrmann]

Nothing to be ashamed of there. You definitely met the challenge. Well done.

[Bob Noles]

Jim,

Don't sell that pine or your talents short. You did an EXCELLENT job on that table and met the desired goal with perfection in my opinion. I too live in an old house and we refinished our heart pine floors a couple of years ago and love the pine look. I do much of my woodworking using pine and have become a fan of it. There is a warmth and character about pine that no other wood can offer.

Great job and thanks for sharing.

[Jim Grill]

I would politely suggest planing it down a little to make it appear just slightly more refined and less like lumber. Cutting the "breadboard" edges on the top a little more narrow might also help in this area.

Overall, a very nice project.

Thanks everyone. I feel a lot better about the 2x4 table. I felt silly spending all the hours that I spent on it since it was 2x4's. LOML does love it.

Good tip, Pat. I tried to cope with the dimension thing by planing the top and bread board ends to 7/8 and all the other stock to 5/8. The legs are 1-1/4 square. I think the picture makes it seem larger than that with no point of reference to see how big or small it is. I do think it's a bit top heavy looking though.

[Randal Stevenson]

Haven't worked with pine for fine furniture yet, just house projects. But this one makes the quetion pop up for me.

As a lot of these 2x4"s are "kiln" dried, but not to fine furniture level, how long would one have to wait for them to stabilize (for less movement)?

Would he have been better off with recycled lumber, from someplace like habitat restore?

Excellent project, I just want to learn this before I make some new carriage doors for the garage. I want to get rid of those old plywood things. And I was thinking either recycled pine, or new cedar.

[Jim Grill]

This was my first time to work with construction grade pine. It is supposed to be kiln dried. I think they might drive it by the kiln on the way to the borg. I let the wood sit for about a week in the garage, which at that time was pretty dry and still a little chilly at nights.

I anticipated movement and worked quickly to get the pieces together after milling. The top turned into a giant potato chip right after glue up. I exposed it to a little humidity on the concave side and air dried it over night on stickers then went straight to work on the breadboard ends and got a coat of finish on it. Since the finish went on the movement has tamed.

I think with any soft wood you have to work with the wood movement and allow for it. Getting a finish on quickly will help deal with weather movement in a non-heated or cooled garage setting.

I made a pine coffee table quite a few years ago and neglected to finish the bottom and the thing twisted like mad. It was pretty funny looking.

[Pat Germain]

I just remembered the first set of living room furniture my wife and I ever bought was made from 2X4s and 2x6s. It had a dark stain, a sloppy varnish job and some inexpensive cushions. Obviously, the objective was function over form and price was of utmost concern. Since we had a toddler then, durability was also important and it was durable.

That furniture set was commercially produced and not nearly as nice looking as your table, Jim. In fact, I still have one of the end tables in the basement. It looks likes it was built by a Cub Scout. :D

[Jim Becker]

That'll work out just fine, Jim. One of our cages is on a similar size table, also with a shelf under it. (The larger cage is free-standing) It's not the material that counts, either...it's what you do with it and that's a fine accommodation for the master(s) of the house!!!

[Zahid Naqvi]

Jim, if I had made something similar I would have no problems posting it ;) I think you did the 2X4s proud :D

[Charles Jackson III]

Very nice table!