Engrave Tavern Table

here is my new instructable hope you will enjoy it !

what's up everyone.

This is my new instructables, it's a project i've made a few years ago during my holidays. since the time i've made it, i've improve my skill and that's why during this tutorial i will show you my mistakes and i will tell you how you can do better.

First, the purpose was to replace my old and ugly glass coffee table by a wood coffee table. when i've made this table, i was playing a lot to The elder scroll V : skyrim and i really want to make a table that can take place in an old tavern , someplace where you can find old warrior drinking beer into a wood mug with a fire pit and stuff like that.

And so i've made the litle scrawl you can see up there.

i wanted to make a round table with a tree engraving and for the base i wanted to use a wooden stump or some tree branches. finally you will see that some time it's good to change your base idea and let the inspiration guiding you :)

so now let's talk about woods. i wanted to sculpt the table and for me,the best wood to do that is the lime tree. i've talk to a professional wood seller and a friend of mine who is an incredible artiste, he know how to sculpt, how to paint etc and they told me that some other woods are good to do what i want but that other wood were very expansive plus the color was not good enough to me. The lime tree got a clear color and the graining isn't to visible perfect for what i have in mind :).

one more thing : this table wasn't made for tutorial, every time i build something, i take photos because i like to show my friends and family how I've made it. so it's possible that i haven't all the pictures to explain all the steps. i hope it's not a problem for you; i will try to explain how I've done this, the best way i can.

please be kind with me :)

as you can see I've choose the wood directly out of the sawmill.

For this project i really wanted to do it the from A to Z. if i could cut the tree by myself i would have done it but i couldn't ....

anyway the first step is to plane those pieces of wood.

to do that, I've used a belt sander ... lot of work ! lot of dust ( as you can see on pic 5 ) and really hard !
it work's ( see on pic 6 ) but now that i know new techniques and new tool that can make this step easier i assure you i won't use belt sander again to plane wood.

The new technique and the new tools :

i'm not really friendly with English, i know what i have to explain but it's hard to find the good words so, i've found this video on youtube. of course it's not from me but it show what i want to explain. so once again i hope you will be nice with me and forgive me.

when the "plane step" is done i use my circular saw to cut difference sizes of wood pieces.

see you on the next step

So i've all the parts sanded and cut, then i can assembly the table top.

to do this i use round wood stick to make the assembly more stronger. Of course i also use wood glue.

i use my drill press to drill holes into the side of my wood parts. i take my hammer to put the wood stick back in the hole, add some wood glue and i clamp the wood part.

repeating this step i got my table top almost done :)

the thickness of my table top is 6 cm, so i use 16 mm diameter wood sticks. if you want to make the same table as mine be sure to choose the right diameter. if the thickness of your wood is smaller then maybe you have to change the wood stick size.

Now how can i improve this step ? just by using a biscuit joiner.

when i discovered this tool i was "WAOUH THIS IS AWESOME" and guys i can tell you this is really awesome i call that tool a "work changer" because it clearly change how i work the wood and how i think. How i envisage the assembly of my future furniture.

Once again the video is not from me but it work better than me trying to explain how it works ;)

If you want to buy one of this tool you have 3 choices depending on your budget.

The DEWALT machine / the MAKITA machine got the same price : 250€ in france ( more or less )

And the original brand : LAMELLO : 400€ in france / the most expansive brand.

Anyway the dewalt and the makita both got the best notation and the best review on the web.

i have already warned you, but i say it again, for this step i don't have all the necessary pictures to show how I've done this part but i will try to explain how I've made it.

so all the parts are glued together. i need to trace a circle under my table top and cut it with my jigsaw to get the final shape.

to do that i create a quick and simple compass with a wood cleat, a pencil and a nail :)

i want a very strong table not something made in china so i decide to reinforce the table top with an hexagon made of wood. i use my radial saw to cut the wood cleat at 30°.

I glued it together using a strap to tighten the six woods part together.

if you have a biscuit joiner use it now to consolidate the assembly of the hexagon.

then i screw the hexagon in the center of the table top. i have also made some metal parts to consolidate the assembly.

when everything is done i take my jigsaw to cut the circle .

table top is now 60% done :).

do you remember my first drawing ? the first idea i've got to the table foot ?

Ok forget it, that was not a good idea. My grandmother always said " appetite comes with eating" i say something like " ideas come with working" and that's what happen.

when i was reinforcing the table top i got an idea for the foot table. and here i told you how to do that.

You have to make 2 other hexagons at the exact same sizes as the first one.

then you have to choose the height of the table and cut ( following your size ) 6 pine wood parts.

for example my wood parts measure 20x40 cm with a thickness of 2.5 cm.

you can see on pic 4 that I've sand the pine wood but to do it I've buy a new sander :) that sander will be use to finish the table on the next step.

now screw those parts at the exterior of the hexagon. one part for on size of the hexagon.

ATTENTION : you can not screw the last hexagon on the top of the pine wood parts because if you do this you won't be able to place the table top on the foot.

the pine wood parts will blocked the hexagon screw on the table top and doing that it will also block the table top.

And yes you get it now! the table top can be take out of the foot table - easier to transport the table. the table top is "just" laid on the foot. trust me the table top is heavy enough to avoid movement.

my foot and my knee can testify of it xD

here, there is no way to improve the foot it's simple/light but strong.

for my table i want something unique and something "spiritual" something that can calm the spirit and make the room more zen :)

so first idea for the table : a tree of life. why did i choose that, because the tree of life symbolize the birth of the life, and the strength of life. also for me it symbolize the nature and the peace. Nature is beautiful, self-managed, there are place on this earth where the man haven't put the foot and it's a good thing ! i think Human create more troubles than he solution it. anyway as you can notice tree of life is important to me, i leave in nature with trees, grassland, animals and i can't imagine live my nature for the pollution of cities ^^.

I think if my mind is healthy the life is good and all goes well ! and i can keep moving forward. this is why i burn this on my table, it's a reminder and by doing this, taking the time to do it i honor my values and i immortalize them.

I've choose the infinite knot motif for the same reasons.

well i won't annoy you more longer with that ^^.

so I've print the pictures i want on different A4 paper sheets, use tape so assemble it and then i place it on the table top.

i use my wood burning tool to trace the contour of the tree, to do that i burn the paper and the wood in the same time. when all the contour are done i draw the tree :) the tree take me 6 hours to be done completely :)

same step for the foots and 10 more hours ...

and it's done ! you got your table 100¨% finished.

congrats !

what can i tell you more ?

my table top is as smooth as a baby skin, I've used my orbital sander with a sand paper of grain 240 to obtain that finish.

You can choose what ever you want to personalize your table.

In this instructable i'm not giving sizes because you can choose the sizes you want for your table. experiment and show me what you have done :)

You can paint or stain the tree if you want more customization options

the purpose of this website is to teach how we make our projects so i hope my instructable is enough detailed to teach you how to make your own table. feel free to ask me what ever you want except the files for the tree because i've lost them ........ what a dumb i know ><

as you have certainly notice there is a new contest, if you enjoy this instructable vote for me :)

The purpose of instructable is to teach and help people so ...

... seeing the interrogations in the comments, i'm adding this step to show you some photos taking 15 min ago showing me "sitting" and playing on the table.

It's a coffee table the height is equal to 40 or 45 cm so YES the knees can be in contact with the edge of the table top depending of your position around the table but it's not an awkward position.

thanks for your reading :)