First DIY Project: Table Tops

[Andadams]

Over the long weekend I took on my first little DIY project. As part of my lounge room furniture I wanted black iron frame coffee table and side table with timber tops. Although the price of these complete pieces was far outside of my budget. With a bit of searching around online I found the right black iron frame furniture from Ikea that I could alter by making my own timber tops & shelves.

After a lengthy shopping trip at Bunnings, a small domestic over how much timber I would need and kitted out with my partners power tools, I was ready to roll.

Spending the entire long weekend, cutting, joining, sanding my fingers off, staining and lacquering, I’m pretty happy with the results.

What may seem like a real simple project to some, I’m happy I gave it a good crack. I'm also half way through making similar updates to our TV unit, which will have a timber top and timber shelf.  

[Maddie]

Great idea!

[boris]

Looks really good! I'm planning a dining table made from hardwood timber and metal legs. The only concern I have is joining the timber together for the top. I've done a bit of research and a biscuit join looks to be the go. Is this how you joined the top????

[Andadams]

Thanks Boris!

I used 8mm dowels for my joinery. There seems to be plenty of debate over biscuit vs dowels. When I was researching, dowels were coming out as the stronger join, but there is more room for error in alignment. 

Look forward to seeing your progress on your table, I'm still debating on our table look.

[aly]

Looks fantastic @Andadams - simple, clean look with the texture of the wood, great!

[ProjectPete]

I suggest biscuit joins @boris. They're simple to work with and are more forgiving as like @Andadams said, dowel joints rely on absolute alignment.

Strength wise I wouldn't see a great difference between the two and as I'm sure your dining table will have cross beam support, it's not something you need to over consider.

[boris]

@Andadams cheers for the suggestion. My dad was suggesting biscuit joins. Not sure what I'll do. 

[boris]

Thanks Pete!