Driftwood and Tile Table

I built a kitchen table several years ago and people rave about it so I thought I should post the design and details. This table is large, heavy and a now permanent fixture in our kitchen. You should only make one of these if you don't plan to move it often. It is heavy...but pretty darn cool looking!

This project wasn't difficult, if you try it please comment below with your thoughts on how the design can be improved or post pictures of your table project.

Download PDF Plans

Steps


Find some driftwood! I found a large driftwood log that was between 7" - 10" in diameter on a beach on the Saint John River. This is very old wood and I have no idea what type it is. Make sure you dry the wood thoroughly. This might take several weeks or longer depending on how wet the wood is when you find it. My opinion is that the uglier the wood is the more character the table will have.

Trim the legs to the right length. Trim all of the legs to the same length and level them as best as you can. They won't be perfectly level probably but that can be corrected later. Use a reciprocating saw with a long blade, hand saw or chain saw for this task.

 Attach the sqaure leg base to the leg. In order to secure the leg to the table you will need a piece of wood attached to the top of the leg so that you can bolt that to the table. I used left over 3/4" plywood and screwed and glued the piece to the top of the leg. Use long, large screws and good glue or epoxy since the legs will take a lot of stress. I used thickened epoxy and 4 screws per leg.

Cut the table top.  The table size can be whatever you want for your space. We host a lot of dinners so wanted it larger than normal. Cut your 3/4" plywood to the correct size (and adjust other measurements as required if it is different than my size).

Attach Bottom boards. The 1/3" pine board around the outside gives a lot of extra strength to the table. Make sure you attach it with good glue (or epoxy) and plenty of screws so that it is strongly attached.

Attach the legs to the tabletop. Use lag bolts to bolt the legs to the tabletop. Make sure that the head of your bolts are sunk flush with the top of the table. Use bolts so that you can tighten the legs as materials shrink or move.

Attach decorative trim to the table edge. Make sure that the trim is higher than the top of the plywood, the height of your tile, so that the tile will butt against the trim at the same level.

Tile and Grout. I used 12" ceramic floor tile and made the pattern shown. Any tile should be fine. I like the floor tile because it is practically bomb proof. We hardly ever use coasters for our pots or hot dishes, we cut directly on it, etc. (note that there is a chance that the tile will crack if you put hot items on cold tile but we haven't had that issue).

Put felt pads under the legs. This table is heavy and it will scratch your floor. Use felt pads! They will also help keep it from wobbling if your legs aren't perfectly cut (which is harder to do than you think because of the wonky shape of the logs)

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions about this project.

New home for loft bed plans

I recently received some great feedback on my original loft bed plans. To make them easier to find and navigate I have created a new, more permanent home, for the updated plans here:
http://www.afloat.ca/p/loft-bed-plans.html

Please reference this new location for the most up to date version of the plans. If you have your own contribution to this page or any other of my posts, please send them to me or add a comment. I really appreciate the feedback!

Also, I appreciate any linking to the plans. Spread the URL around!

Thanks.

--Andrew

Driftwood bench project

My wife found some driftwood at the beach and thought it would make for a nice bench.

This is what I came up with.

This is a very simple bench but very functional and heavy duty.

The driftwood included a large 8' 4" plank (2" thick and 15 1/2" wide), a couple of 6" logs and an old beat up 1x6 plank.

I simply cut the logs to 15 3/4" length and tied them together with the 1x6. These were fastened to the plank with 4" spikes.

The Thing weighs a ton but makes for a great rustic looking campfire bench.

Finished!

All loft bed posts

I've completed the bed finally and my daughter couldn't be happier with it. I uploaded some pictures of some of the details in case that helps someone fill in the gaps of my plans.

http://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.jefferies/BedPics?feat=directlink

Loft bed plans

All Loft Bed posts

Here is the loft bed plan that I've come up with. Please feel free to use this as you like. If you re-publish these plans please reference my blog URL. I hope someone finds these helpful. Email me or post a comment if there is something that is unclear. I'll posts some pictures of the different parts of the bed too. Hopefully that will clarify.






Materials & Cut list
5 Rungs - 19" (1x5 pine)
5 posts - 80 1/4" (4x4 spruce)
8 end boards - 48 3/4 (1x5 pine)
4 side boards - 75"
2 side boards - 55"
2 side mattress supports - 75" (1x2 pine)
2 side mattress supports - 40" (1x2 pine)
1 bottom plywood for mattress support 40x75 (3/4" plywood)
4 bottom supports - 40" (1x3 pine)
12 screws - 1 1/4"
20 screws - 2"
60 stove bolts - 4"
60 screw cover knobs - 3/4" (or whatever size holes you have)

Notes

• Counter sink stove bolts and cover holes with knobs so that bolts aren't sticking out. I used a 3/4" bit to countersink.
  
• Glue and screw the support rails on to give added strength
• The bottom supports can be out of any size wood and the plywood could be skipped if you add more bottom support rungs.

Loft bed saga

All loft bed posts

We decided that our daughter needed a loft bed. She has a relatively small bedroom and a loft bed would give her an area under her bed for playing and storing things.

I looked at a lot of loft beds that are on the market and really didn't see anything I liked. They were either overpriced (for the value) or they were flimsy. For example, Ikea has a couple that I looked at (see left) but I just didn't like the construction or quality.

I decided that I would build one instead. I figured that I could build on that was cheaper and that would last. I think I was successful on both accounts.

There are some plans online for purchase but I decided to design my own. In retrospect I probably should have just bought a set because it was a bit of a pain getting some of the details worked out but I'm happy with the end result. The bed looks great and could hold a herd of elephants.

The basic design uses 4x4 spruce posts and 1x4 pine board for most of the horizontals. Over the next few posts I will detail the design and construction.