BYO Furniture: Sofa Table

Recently we had been looking for a sofa table for quiet some time, but could not find the one we wanted. So we started looking at buffet tables, but the same result - the ones we found were expensive or not what we wanted.  After weeks and days of going from store to store and searching countless websites and ads we were to the point of giving up on our search. One day while picking up supplies at our local builders supply warehouse I said to my wife, why don't we just make our own.  She looked at me with bewilderment - you know the look of doubt with a side-eye.  The conversation went a little something like this.

Me: well I can just build the table.
Her:  hmmmm
Me:  what? you don't think I can do it?
Her: I didn't say that?
Me: I just need to know how long you want it, what color any particular style
Her: ..........
Me:  You still on building the table aren't you?
Her: well ...

That evening, I looked online for design ideas and came across a few that I liked and some that I didn't like. I showed my her the ones I thought were great, but we still couldn't agree on the one that suited our home. She asked a good question though: what will the table legs look like?  Hmmm, i don't have a lathe so I couldn't turn any wood to fashion legs. How about we go to Lowes or Home Depot to see what prefab legs are available? Off we went, we looked at the stores and some other surplus stores, but ultimately came back empty handed.

That night while lying in bed it occurred to me why not look at some some cast iron table legs?  I woke the next day and started searching for cast iron legs.  I ran across some nice antique 1885 Singer Sewing Machine legs. Perfect!!!   So I ordered the legs ($85) from EBay with free shipping and they were delivered in about  three days.

Okay so it has been a few decades since I had to fashion a table from two pieces of wood, but thank God my dad who was a shop teacher taught me well during my childhood. Thanks pops!!!  Anyway,  the choice of wood is poplar. I went to a local building discount store and picked up two planks of poplar at $6.00 a piece.  When building a table and selecting wood you must make sure that they are straight or have very little curves.  After about 1.2 hours of going through the lumber they had I found two that have very little warp to them.  Since dealing with natural growing materials they will not be completely straight/level that's why they make planers. However, I don't own one of these machines - hence the time at the store, but I digress.

The wood came in 8'x8"x1.5" planks - not necessarily wide enough for a table so I had to combine two boards to get the size I wanted.  Joining two pieces of wood together is not a hard thing to accomplish here  are the items you will need:

• Biscuits
• Saw Horse
• Sander
• Router / jigsaw
• Wood glue
• Clamps 
• Rubber mallet
• Drill

You don't really need the biscuits or a biscuit joining too.  Instead take a 1/4 dowel or 5/16  dowel and cut it into 4 inch sections. Measure and mark the holes for the dowels to be inset into the board. Measure and wrap a piece of tape at the two inch mark on the bit this will ensure you have the appropriate depth needed. Please make sure the drill bit is the same diameter of the dowel or you will have trouble inserting the dowel.  Fill each of the holes with wood glue and tap the dowel into place until it stops (2 inches) with the mallet repeat for each hole. Once you have the holes and pegs (biscuits) in place you will need to drill matching holes in the second material that you want to join. 

Tip: to make the correct placement of the holes, place each board on a flat surface, using a daub of paint on the end of each dowel, push the two pieces together - causing the paint to transfer from the dowel to the second board.

On the second piece of material drill the matching holes also at a depth of two inches.  Remove any excess dust or debris from the holes and fill with wood glue.   Run a bead of wood glue along the edge of both pieces of wood this will ensure it is held together securely. Squeeze the boards togethers tightly and clamp together. I do not recommend the clamps with triggers as they cannot give the amount of pressure needed to bond the two pieces of wood.  The excess glue will be forced out of the seams. Immediately wipe off any excess glue with a damp cloth.   After 24 - 48 hours hours the table top can be unclamped and prepared for sanding. 

If you want to get creative or add a decorative edge or flare to your table, you can use a router or simply draw our the design and cut it out using a jigsaw. Using a palm sander or a belt sander with 250 - 600 grain sandpaper sand all sides of the table.  The higher the number in sandpaper the smoother the surface, lower number sand paper used to remove material.  The next step is to make what they call cleats, these are actually braces that spand across the underside of the table to provide strength and support.  You can make these cleats out of scrap wood, but they should be equal in size and length. The two end cleats will act as leg supports.  After a couple of passes with the sander and wiping off the table it is ready for a couple coats of stain.   But not so fast young whipper snapper.. I still have to set the spacing for the legs.  This is where the cleats come in to play.

There are three cleats on this table, one on each end and one in the middle. The two end cleats are placed nine inches from the ends of the table for the leg placement. The top of the cast iron legs have two bolt holes  from the original sewing table so there was no need to try and fabricate them. However, I had to bore out the bolt holes in the cleats.  To do this, simply place the cleat on top of the table leg and using a Sharpie, mark or color in the hole position on the cleat.  Bore out the hole  and make a counter sink so that the head of the bolt is even with the surface of the cleat. The bolt should fit snuggly if done right. 

Flip the table top upside down and mark the positions of the cleats, for this the edge of the cleat is nine inches from each edge of the table.  Insert the bolts (screws) if not already done  run a bead of glue the length of the cleat on the underside table and also on the cleat and fasten with three 1-1/4 inch screws. Repeat for the next leg and middle cleat. Once the cleats are set and the glue has dried the legs can be attached using washers and nuts.  Remember to do a test fitting to determine the bolt length.  The bolts I used are hex bolts because I wanted to make the bolt flat inside the cleat and to have it anchored inside the cleat.

After determining the placement of the cleats and table legs, the table needs to be braced.  The legs are not not strong enough on their own to prevent the table from wobbling. These Singer Sewing legs come with pre-drilled holes. two on the left and right and on bottom center. These are great places to add bracing in order to add stability to the table. You will need to find a place that can fabricate two metal rods with screw ends. Luckily for me the place I chose (Brownsville Welding) did an awesome job. I went to them on a Friday  even though  they were closed the owner met with me and took the material and by Wednesday I had my support bars.

Viola the table is complete. 

fireplace and mantels

In this episode of DIY Adventures we are going to take a look at installing a mantel. But not just any mantel, one the size of a railroad tie.    If you dont know what a railroad tie is, it is the wood slats that lay under the steel rails - don't use a railroad tie as they are carcenoginic and flammable.This was actually done in November of 2017, but I am just getting a moment to post... actually I have several more to post. 

In most parts of the country homes have Fireplaces, those in climates that do not get really cool in the winter usually are not equiped with these little features.  It the focal point of many homes, but ours just seemed blah.   Take a look.---->


When we purchased the house some years ago we had all these ideas to make this our home.  The fireplace was something we wanted to do, but didn't know quite what it was that it needed.  The flipper painted it white using some cheap paint which bubbled up and flaked off after a while causing the red brick to show.  We still have to get a chimney sweeper out to inspect the chimney but that will be later- cause im not climbing up in there and ending up in the 6 o'clock news.

From here on out when I use the word we there it was only I doing the work - the Mrs. was doing Mrs' things and occassionally shaking her head.  So weekend project number 45 ( I really don't know the number just sounded good) update the fireplace.

We thought about doing a full surround with the decorative column and the mantel, but it would look out of place with our current decore and home design. So I suggested a railroad tie.  Now I  have seen them done in other homes and they looked really nice. I did some research on them and found a place that was selling them for about 15.00. That was great, however, I kept reading.  Why did I think that I could just use something that came from outside and looked good for being over 60 years?  Ya' can't.  Why?  as stated at the start of this railroad ties are carcenogenic, soaked with creosote  and other chemicals to protect them from insects and rot, also they are highly flammable - so that's out.  The next best thing was to find timber that would resemble a railroad tie.  I found a 6"x 6"x 8' timber beam at a local surplus and salvage store for about 10.23 with tax.  Always check your salvage yards, they usually have some good stuff at cheap prices. The beam weighed in at about 105lbs  yup a two man (woman / woman & man / man & teen ) job. You will need a couple of saw-horses...I got mine from Harbor Frieght for 8.99 + a 20% off coupon. Coupons are always a good thing!!!

There are a few steps that I did not take pictures of and that is the distressing and staining of the beam. If you want the mantel to have knicks, dings, scratches, you can achieve these by using a heave rock, chains, screw drivers basically anything that will scar the surface. Once you have it distressed as you like choose the color stain.   I did not paint this beam,  but used stain, as stain penetrates the layers of the wood. This will take a few days... so do something in between coats (3-4), make sure you protect the beam incase of rain.   While that was being done, we needed to get the flaking paint off.  Nothing better to remove paint than a paint scraper. I have no idea what type of cheap paint this was, but I grabbed a corner and about two foot section came right off - hmm. After the fireplace was scraped and the residue removed with a damp cloth, we painted the entire fireplace with paint designed to be used for masonry/brick.

Now since all the touchup has been done, it's time to prep the mantel for mounting. You will need the following:

• Hammer drill,
  
• Masonry Bit
• 10" inch lag bolts 
• Sleeves
• Masking tape
• Measuring tape
• Steel ruler
• Level
• Construction adhesive
• Ratchet 
• Angle grinder w/ cutting wheel
• Heat resistant caulk up to 700 degrees
• Rubber mallet.

Measure (starting from the hearth of the fireplace) to find the desired height placement of the mantel.  You will want the first mark to be the bottom of the mantel and then measure again to top of the mantel to find the center. Once you have the center  marked - draw a line from edge to edge. On this line measure about 6 - 7 inches  along the line and mark - these will be your drill points. To secure my mantel I used 5 lag bolts and sleeves positioned at every 10 inches to equally disperse the wieght.  

Make sure your drill bit is larger than the lag bolt to adjust for the sleeve insert that needs to be placed in each hole. Make sure you keep the holes level, if you are off higher or lower it will affect the end project.  Drill each hole, blow out the debris and dust (oh yeah it will be messy) from the holes and insert the sleeves. The sleeves should fit pretty snug if  loose thread the lag nut in the sleeve slightly and then place it in the hole.  Using your level, place it on the lag nuts to verify if it is level. Tighten each lag bolt with the ratchet until it is firmly set ( DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN).  

Once the lag bolts are secured and tightend, using your angle grinder, cut off the head of each lag bolt.  If there are any shards left from the cut, gently grind them out. Measure the length of the proturding lag bolt you will need this to determine your drill depth on the mantel.

Here is a cheat and a great way to get the hole placement right on the back of the mantel.  Find a piece of scrap lumber the same width and length of the mantel. Place a daub of paint on the end of each bolt.  Grab your friend/wife/neighbor/kid someone to help you with this and the next few steps. With help from your partner, place the board against the lag bolts to mark the positions of the holes.  Using the same board clamp it to the back of the mantel, ensure its placement is even on all sides.


Wrap a piece of masking tape around the drill bit according to the measurment take of the extruding lag bolt - this will be your depth gauge.  Once you have all the holes drilled, turn the beam over and give it a few whacks to dislodge any shavings in the holes. Now is a good time to stretch those muscles, hope you been hitting the gym some. With the help of your assistant, do a test fit of the mantel on the lag bolts. Do not attach it all the way - you are just making sure the holes are aligned correctly. Remove the mantel and using the heat resistant caulk, place a liberal amount on either the lag bolt or in the hole in the mantle. The caulk will act as an insulator and protect the mantel from heat when using the fireplace. Take the construction adhesive and  place a liberal amount on the backside of the mantel (make a zig-zag pattern).  Reposition the mantel on the lag bolts and push it into position.  you may need to whack it a few times to get it fully in place.  I know I said use a rubber mallet, but for ours we used a 8lbs sledge hammer to knock it in place. Once it is in place, caulk around the sides of the mantle to fill seal any gaps. After about  a few hours the construction adhesive should be cured and the mantel firmly fixed in place.

Viola, you have a new decorative mantel  that only cost you about $40.00 to do yourself.   We continued to improve our fireplace by adding slate tile (Home Depot - $25.00) to our hearth. We have already covered tiling so I won't go back through the steps.  The tiling only took an hour to complete and our fireplace project is done. Add some stuff like pictures candles  or a clock to cozy up the area.