The Table

Doug recently tackled a HUGE project. Literally and figuratively.  A friend commissioned Doug to build him a table, after seeing our table that Doug built. 

In case you hadn't read the post- Doug built this table. The top is wood from his grandparents house.

The friend had some trees cut from his property, and was wanting to build a table with them, and after seeing the design of Doug's table, asked Doug to build his table.  Doug loves wood working projects, helping friends, and really liked the story behind the wood being used- so he was all in. 

This was no small feat.  First of all, the table was going to be 14 feet long . . . really 14 feet long!!!!  Second of all- there was a "small" amount of pressure in that. . . these boards had quite a history and what was delivered- was all there was.  If Doug messed up. . . it's not like he could go to Lowe's and get more.  These boards were literally one of a kind, and he had all he was going to get.  Third: Doug knew this table had a lot of meaning for the family and he wanted to build them something they could appreciate and would value.  It had to be well made, in order to last the test of time.  

It started with running each board through the planer (a machine that removes a thin layer of wood to get them all the same thickness).  I think he ran each one through the planer about 8 total times?  A lot.  This step required a lot of help from Andrew and I because the boards were super heavy and really couldn't be handled by one person. I mean- each board was probably 75 pounds or so, and 16-18 feet long.  They weren't exactly easy to pick up and move around.  This step also resulted in a lot of picking through the stack and determining which board was going to be used for the top/legs/parts.  

After the boards were planed, we began straightening them.  These boards were not like the straight ones you get from the home improvement store.  They had to be made straight.  I think Doug disliked this stage the most, I know I did.  It was the most stressful.  We had to run each board through the saw, getting each board to be the same width and squared up.  It was sooooo hard because we had these gigantically long boards that sort of had a mind of their own.  There was more than one temper tantrum as we worked to figure the method out.  There was a point where I thought Doug might either: be defeated by this wood, or lose his mind.  Getting through this stage was such a relief.  It was so stressful because again . . . if we messed up we didn't have an entire supply at Lowe's to go pick out a new board.  We had what we had.  And during this stage we did have some tricky moments.  

Here is the method we used to get the boards straightened up.  It doesn't look super exciting. 

After we got all the boards straightened out, we finally started putting the top together.  I missed the picture of this stage.  If you are not familiar with woodworking- most of these terms won't mean much to you- but basically- Doug put the top boards together in such a way that you can barely see where each board is screwed together.  By using biscuits, LOTS of wood glue (which my kids LOVED because it was fun letting it dry on our hands and pulling off) and pocket screws, you can hardly tell how he attached the boards together.  There are about 90 biscuits and 90 pocket screws holding the top together. 

This is obviously before they were screwed together.  I was starting to get excited when we got to this stage.  It was finally starting to look like it could eventually become a table.

At this point . . . I tapped out a bit on the amount of help I was providing. The next parts were the hardest for me to work with Doug because . . . his perfectionist nature really started shining.  Which is exactly what people who ask him to build things for them, want.  They don't want me, and my "it's close enough" attitude.  Everything had to be PERFECT.  Like . . . perrrffeecctttt.  A teacher friend was telling me- away from Doug- that he kept pointing out something to her that was wrong with the table and she still couldn't find it- even after he pointed it out to her.  She said- "He might be his own worst enemy."  Amen sister. A.Men.

Finally, it started looking like a real table!!!! 

Before I show the finished product let me give you some stats: 

It took approximately 20 weeks, on average 3- 4 hours a week (some weeks WAY more, some weeks less). 

It took Doug, me, Andrew (helped moving boards, sanding, holding boards, fetching tools), Alexa (helped glue, clean, fetch tools), a fellow teacher that does wood working on the side and was able to offer several expert ideas that really saved the day, another fellow teacher (putting the poly finish on it), plus students (sanding and moving this beast to it's home).  This was really a community effort- and if it weren't for all the extra help. . . it would never have gotten finished.  

Supplies: 200+ screws, 2 quarts of poly, 90 biscuits, 3 1/2 inch dowel rods, too many sanding pads to keep up with, 16 or so boards. 

And here is the final product.  Well- wait, one more thing: y'all . . . this table is GORGEOUS!  Doug totally hit it out of the park.  I don't want to sound all cheesey, but seeing this table and knowing he did this...  It was his vision and skill and dedication that made this a piece of art.  It's amazing.  Unfortunately- my picture taking is not, and does not do it the justice it deserves.