Building Patio Tables in Western Red Cedar

hey guys i'm dave trollin welcome to the troll gallery a few months back we built this patio followed that by building these adirondack chairs and while the arms are fairly large we still needed a place to put our beverages or maybe a snack or two in this video i'll show you how i made these tables out of western red cedar and the assembly process i'm trying out never used it on a table before so with that said let's go ahead and take a look at how that went i began with some seated two by fours and rough cut the length of the table legs on the miter saw i mentioned this in the chair building video but as a reminder cedar dust can cause respiratory irritation in some people and i'm one of them since i know it bothers my lungs i was careful to wear my mask at well at least most of the time then it was over to the table saw to rip the two by fours to an inch and five-eighths wide this gave me two legs from each piece of stock and the legs were still oversized now we took it to the planer to take him to size now i don't want to joint her yet but i wasn't too concerned about the parts being perfect for one thing the pieces were fairly short so any twisting or cuffing was minimal the other thing was i'm making patio furniture to go with adirondack chairs it's okay if they're a bit rustic i planed two legs at a time first on one face then turning them 90 degrees and planing the adjoining face after resetting the cutter height i planned the opposite sides and after just a few passes the legs were square and to the correct size [Music] back at the miter saw i squared one end of each leg again working two at a time just for efficiency then i set a stop and cut the legs to their final length it was time to start on the aprons and top pieces this process was very similar starting with rough cutting the lengths at the miter saw then back to the table saw to rip them to width the apron's at three inches and the top slats at two and three quarters since the four quarter cedar i get comes with one smooth face and one rough base i ran all the parts through the planer just to clean up the rough face this was so much faster than when i built the chairs i didn't have a planer then and all the stock had to be belt sanded back at the miter saw i squared one end on all the stock then the aprons were cut to length at 13 inches and the table saw slats cut to 18 inches because of the joinery i'm testing out here i didn't need to leave any extra length for tenons now it's time to get out my vintage craig k2000 pocket hole jig and drill two holes on the inside face of each of the table aprons these will be how the aprons connect to the table legs i set up my router table with a quarter inch round over bit and set the fence in line with the bearing this makes straight cuts easier and safer now i could round over the bottom edge of each of the aprons both inside and out while the top of the apron stayed square [Music] since i had the router table set up i went ahead and rounded over the corners of the legs [Music] next i lined up all four legs and clamped them together and ran the bottom edge along the router fence i turned them 180 degrees and rounded the other edge i turned the pieces 90 degrees clamped them back together and did the remaining two sides as well in hindsight i should have routed the leg bottoms before the edges and that probably would have prevented this blowout a little glue some blue tape and a bit of sanding and the leg was as good as new now it's time to round over the top slats i start with the end grain on both ends and top and bottom of each piece this minimizes the chance of more blowouts happening finally i ran the long edges on the tops to round them over on two pieces per table i also ran one bottom edge since this will be felt on the overhang for some reason i split my pocket hole work into two sections this time i use the jig to drill the holes for the aprons to hold on to the table slats two aprons on each table get three holes one centered and two about two inches in from the ends the other two aprons per table get eight holes two for table top slat these measurements are kind of critical since they're based on the final spacing of the top slats this will make more sense when we get to the assembly process the key here is to make sure that the pocket holes you're putting in now are on the same face as the one you put in earlier unlike the piece you see here and sadly this wasn't the only one i messed up it's a good thing i built some extra stock after replacing the two well questionable pieces i sanded everything with my palm sander at 120 grit i followed that by hitting everything with 150 grit paper on my palm sander including the ends and the round overs and finally i did some touch up by hand with 220 grit paper after all this prep work it's finally time to start assembly i begin with two legs and one apron i wanted the aprons to sit back from the edge but i didn't want them centered on the legs i used a quarter inch spacer to raise the aprons and then added some titebond 3 wood glue since these live outdoors [Applause] i did a quick check to ensure the diagonal measurements were the same showing me that the piece was square then i added two inch and a quarter exterior pocket hole screws on either end to lock the assembly together then i did the same procedure for the other side with two sets of aprons and legs assembled it was time to add the perpendicular sides this was done in the same fashion set the apron on the spacer glue the ends line up the tops and screw them in place once that's done you can flip the assembly over and add the last apron in the same way remember to double check to make sure that the rounded edges of your aprons are facing down i'm happy to say that i got all these assembled correctly this is a good point to do your finishing work when i built the adirondack chairs i use deck finish which usually works well with cedar but i got some feedback saying that after only a few months the chairs were feeling a bit well weathered this time i went with an oil-based spa varnish it's a durable finish and should stay smooth to the touch for a few years hey this is florida and the sun is just brutal on all finishes i brush on three coats of varnish sanding with 320 paper between each coat the painters points or those little yellow pyramids allow me to finish the entire piece at once and not worry about setting it down somewhere i just finished the leg assembly and then moved them to another set inside the shop i picked them up using some long screws in the pocket holes and carried them to where they could dry when i finished the top pieces i set them on these two by four pieces cut at 45 degrees in hindsight i think covering them with packing tape would have minimized the marks on the bottom but they turned out okay and i hope no one looks that close at the finished product time will tell i do have some weird friends the final assembly starts with two slats and a quarter inch spacer place the slats face down on a table with the spaces between them set the leg assembly on top of the legs and it does help to have a few extra slats in place just to help balance the assembly center the slats on the leg assembly side to side and make sure the overhang is even in the front and back a couple of clamps hold everything steady while you're checking and rechecking and re-re-checking your measurements before you drive in your inch and a quarter exterior pocket hole screws you can now work your way out adding slats with your spacers checking to make sure the overhang is even and screwing them in the two outer slats are the ones that have the rounded edges on the bottom edge these are set in place the same way but are fastened through the three pre-drilled holes in the perpendicular aprons and just like that your tables are finished while this simple project got stretched out over a couple of weeks in reality it was only a few hours of work start to finish if the pocket hole screws don't hold up over time i can always rebuild the bases using mortise and tenon joinery but for now we've got these great looking tables and sadly i have some more work to do to refinish the chairs so they look as nice as the tables plans for these tables will be available soon on my website and when they're up i'll attach the link below i'd love to hear what you thought about the project is there something i could have done better faster easier stronger let me know in the comments below and if you enjoyed this video please give us a thumbs up and share with your friends if you'd like to see what's coming up next hit that subscribe button and the bell that way you get notified every time i put a video out but for now have a great day stay safe see you soon [Music] next yeah

Channel: The Trull Gallery

Views: 394

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Trull Gallery, DIY, Woodworking, Wood Shop, Patio Furniture, Cedar Furniture

Id: KBKx-mHeAX0

Length: 13min 4sec (784 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 22 2020