Within the last several years, I've been trying to incorporate woodworking back into my life. Over a year ago, I started on my latest project -a dining room table. While surfing online one day, I found this great solid cherry arts and crafts style table... but it was sooooo expensive! So, I decided to try and build it myself. (This picture is from the furniture maker website.)
So, the first thing I did was to sit down and create a set of plans. I cleared out my living room, and marked out how much room 6 chairs would take out, and from that I determined what the length, width, and heighth of the table should be. Then, I started working out the dimensions of the table top, legs, and supporting pieces... Even though I had the picture to use as a reference point, this was definitely the hardest part, since I didn't want anything to look to heavy, or worse, too light. This is a CAD screenshot of the plans, as they were being developed.
Now, the table is basically done. I still need to apply finish to the legs and supporting pieces (which I'll do when it's a little warmer in my garage), but otherwise I'm about done! Here are some pics:
View of the underside:
I wish I had taken pictures as I built the table, but unfortunately I didn't... I had a lot of fun on this, and am a little bummed it's over. But now I need to figure out some matching chairs. I've found some chairs online that I love, but no big surprise, they're way more than I'm willing to pay! The chair issue is to be continued...