Dining Room Farm Table

Moving into the new house our dining area was smaller than that of the old place. So we sold our old dining set and discussed what we wanted to replace it. Of course I told my wife I'll build the table so lets pick out the chairs. We wanted a farm style table with a modern twist. We wanted color and something to tie in the cabinetry in the new house and the china cabinet I made my wife for her wedding gift. We found some upholstered chairs at Ashleys home furniture in four different colors with a dark stain which was perfect for our scheme. Lots to this about but the final outcome turned out perfect.

We searched through some table leg manufacturer catalogs and found a leg we both liked. We made the purchase and I was off and running. The legs as you can see weren't turned legs but they had that modern style we wanted. I used a router to create the mortises for the table apron tenons.

Here I have glued up one of the end assemblies. I did it in stages to make the glue up as a whole a lot easier. I glued up the two end assemblies and then the middle aprons with the cross member. Finally I glued the end assemblies to the mid aprons for the final base assembly.

The table is only 3' by 5' so I only needed cross member. Of course a dovetail joint was used even though you'll never see it once the table is finished.

Here is the table base at final glue up. The frame and legs are all made out of soft Maple. The apron has a small 1/4" bead on the bottom.

Here is the table base at final glue up. The frame and legs are all made out of soft Maple. The apron has a small 1/4" bead on the bottom.

The top. In true farm table style it would be constructed with beadboard ends and field boards glued up with small chamfers on each edge creating a V groove between each. 5/4 Red Oak was used which ties it into the china cabinet. The final stain would be stained to match.

Here it is after final sanding and assembly. Ready for finish.

I decided to antique the legs a little using a rub-thru method. The base was sprayed with black sanding sealer the all the edges were sanded through to expose the natural wood beneath. After the whole base was cleared using a pre-catalyzed satin lacquer.

The top was stained in a fruitwood stain and cleared with Pre-catalyzed satin lacquer. Turned out perfect.