Cindy & Bryan's Wood Shop
2x4 Coffee Table
This is the project that started it all. Our first idea was to make a dining room table, but before diving headfirst into a project that large and chance ruining a lot of expensive wood, we started small with 2x4s. 2x4s are relatively cheap, but we splurged for the "nice" ones since they were straight and easier to work with. We followed plans by Ana White for this project with minor modifications.
We started by cutting up all the boards to length. Not knowing any quick tricks, we measured and cut every board. Today we would measure once and set up a stop block so we can have the same length cut every time ... but you have to start somewhere!
Cindy did a lot of research on how to assemble tables and found that a lot of people used pocket holes instead of glue to join the top boards. We drilled pocket holes in the boards and laid them out just to make sure we were headed in the right direction.
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Everything looked good to us so we screwed it all together.
The pocket holes worked out well. We used a slightly under-powered drill to drive the screws, but it was all we had at the time. Only time will tell to see how it holds up, but there are probably more than enough screws to hold a cup of coffee and a laptop.
Next steps were to sand, stain and seal the table.
We were pleasantly surprised with the way the stain turned out. It was oil based which may be why it took in such a dramatic way, but we haven't been able to replicate it quite the same since. Perhaps we need to build with more 2x4s?
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This was a great first project. The table is extremely heavy and will last forever. The top is only secured by a few corner brackets so if it becomes damaged we can just make new one to replace it.
This was a great first project. The table is extremely heavy and will last forever. The top is only secured by a few corner brackets so if it becomes damaged we can just make new one to replace it.
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We went on to build many more things after this project and were happy we found a new hobby. Please go to the Project Gallery if you would like to see more!
