Renovated Outdoor Table

Four years ago we bought a cheap garden table. The wooden table top did not stand the weather. It was not much fun lunching on it.

The metal frame and legs however were all that remained in an acceptable state. Instead of buying an expensive high-quality new table, I decided to make a new wooden top. It turned out to cut the price by more than two --well, not counting the two week-ends spent on the construction ;-).

With only basic power tools and limited joinery skills, I still wanted to build a stylish object.


Photos:

1. Inauguration lunch on the finished product
2. Finished product
3. Old table top strained by the weather
4. Old table top detail

A good preparation was important for the success. It took some time but saved a big lot later.

First, I visited a nearby sawmill, and inquired about several things:

• Available varieties of weather-resistant woods they sell, and in which sizes (width, thickness, maximum length, price).
• They had "ipé" wood, a very heavy, resistant and durable neotropical wood. I hope that "durable" is more "green" than "tropical"... Time will tell.
• They also advised me to oil it with an ad-hoc oil used for wooden decks. Not cheap, but a really good product.
• They could rectify the surface with a jointer (aka surface planer), producing a much smoother surface, at the cost of a slight reduction of the thickness, and a small extra fee.
• They could also cut the boards to desired length for no extra fee.

• I wanted a lattice design, with some spaces to drain the rainwater, so the rectified width of the boards matters.
• I made several designs (with OpenOffice Draw which is largely enough for this purpose). After a painless vote, one was chosen. I added more details, such as making sure that overall top size would fit to the salvaged metal frame and legs.

Then it was about having the wood cut to wanted size. It took time and two more visits to the sawmill, but this was worth the effort because I obtained exactly what I expected:

• I went back to the sawmill, not forgetting to take a copy of my sketch (thinking it is always better to be able to explain the purpose of what you ask for). It turned out to be a good idea, because the rectified width they told me before was slightly wrong, so I had to quickly revise the measurements on the sketch.
• They needed "some time" to prepare the wood, because they usually work for much bigger contracts, hundreds of square meters, so my 2 square meters had a lower priority. I fully understand that.
• After that "time" I came back again to the sawmill where a kind and helpful employee, who had already rectified the thickness and width, made the final cuts in front of me, and, finally, sold me the proper oil.

Photos:

1. The various designs
2. The chosen design
3. At the sawmill

Photos:

1. The wood, on two fold-down trestles, which will be very useful for the construction (you can use a table instead).
2. The salvaged steel frame and feet.
3. The oil.
4. 4x steel plates and associated screws (shameful solution when you have no joinery basic skills), and 4 latches (to attach the top to the frame).
5. Brass rings, used as spacers. Inner diameter must allow the dowels to cross them.
6. Power tools: sander, saw (for rounded corners), drill.
7. Misc:
   
   • Protection glasses and gloves (esp. during sanding)
   • measuring tools
   • dowel kit: dowel center and brad point drill bit
   • sand paper (and sand block)
   • hammer (at best, plastic hammer) or mallet
   • dowels

Done now, because the lattice design makes it harder later, and also to remove splinters which would be annoying during the work.

If the sketch and the cut were correct, everything should fit. Time to check that.

We will use a lot of dowels, so let's build a tool to mark the holes.

The tool is made of scrap wood, two dowels, and two dowel centers (the middle one was not needed).

• The space between the two dowels must be exactly equal to the width of the boards.
• The distance between the dowel and the next dowel center must be exactly the same, on both ends (D1).
• The distance between the dowel center pin and the base board must be exactly the half of the boards thickness (D2).

The precision of this tool is very important.

Now the tool is used to mark:

• the ends of each middle board (3rd photo)
• the ends of the two short side boards (3rd photo)
• the sides of the two long side boards (4th photo); for this, remove one of the dowels of the tool

Photos:

1. Drill all holes where marked. Watch for good alignment.
2. Insert dowels into short side boards.
3. Assemble long with short side boards, and screw the metal plates. Then leave tightened to the short side boards only.

Photos:

1. Insert all dowels into short side board, add brass rings as spacers.
2. Connect short side to middle boards.
3. Carefully push using a plastic hammer. Finally tighten the long sides to the short sides, and tighten the screws to the metal plates.

Round the angles using the saw and sander. Then:

1. With masking tape, protect the wood around the metal plates.
2. Paint the metal plates. Hey, we don't wan them too visible!

Photos:

1. Center the metal frame on the upside-down top, and mark the feet positions on the wood with a pencil.
2. Tighten the latches. I needed to raise them slightly, so I improvised a spacer with rings and masking tape.

Spread the oil on every sides, following instructions on the can (here: two layers, at a 30' interval).

I noticed a 2mm gap between the top of the frame and the top of the feet. I wanted the wood to rest also on the frame, so I needed a 2mm thick spacer.

2mm-thick L-profiled plastic bars were used to fill this gap. Contact glue was used.

Then, the wooden table top could be placed on the frame, and the latches engaged into the feet.

Well, the table has a modern and stylish look, very much as hoped.

The oil gives a silky aspect.

Having lunch is again a pleasure.

The wood must be periodically oiled, approx 2x per year. In addition, the table should be protected by a waterproof cover sheet, against snow during winter, and against rain during long rainy periods.