The kitchen table is the same age as the kitchen itself. Probably even older than her: at the sites and in the settlements of primitive people, large flat stones were found near the hearths, which served as cutting, distributing and dining tables; on them the remnants of food and food were preserved. In this article, we will see how to make a kitchen table with your own hands completely at home. This will not only save a certain amount (in general, not ruinous), but will also provide an opportunity to acquire the initial carpentry skills, which in the future may turn out to be much more significant. In kitchen tables, the most common types of furniture connections are used, but its design forgives rather gross flaws in work. There are also great-looking types of kitchen tables, for the manufacture of which it is enough to be able to saw off a piece of board and wrap a screw.
The table in the kitchen also provides considerable opportunities for creative self-expression: skills are needed here much less than fantasies, and failure will not spoil the entire interior. Samples of the original kitchen tables in the photo below are quite accessible for DIY, but first you need to feel the design and material at a basic level, which we will try to help the reader with.
There are at least 15 different ways to make a kitchen table, including artistic forging and casting from homemade artificial marble. However, we, firstly, will limit ourselves to kitchen tables made of wood, as a material that allows you to get the desired result with the lowest costs of labor, money and time.
Secondly, we will deal with tables with rectangular or rounded corners. A round table requires 1.6-2.2 times more usable area than a rectangular table for the same number of eaters. Moreover, the first meaning refers to the case when the hostess is deprived of a free approach to it and you need to serve it on the table over the shoulder of the person sitting. This already belongs to the category of parodies on the rules of good taste. Like, how should you tilt the plate when eating the soup: towards yourself or away from you? Answer: depending on what you want to pour over, yourself or a tablecloth. In addition, a round table in a small kitchen is stronger than a rectangular one of the same capacity, wedged into the so-called. functionality triangle, see below.
Dimensions and ergonomics
The height of the kitchen table is normal, 700-780 mm, counting from the floor to the top surface of the countertop. For people of average height, the table height of 750-760 mm is considered optimal. But with the size of the kitchen table in terms of the situation is more complicated.
The essence is in the very triangle of functionality: refrigerator-sink-stove. Ideally, it should be rectangular isosceles with legs of 1.2-1.6 m. However, the ergonomics of the kitchen are much stronger than some deviation from these proportions, spoils the wedging of the dining area into the hypotenuse. Simply: the hostess bent over the sink or stove, and rested her seductive forms on the cheek of the missus just when he raised the spoon to his mouth. Therefore, it is advisable to make the table in the kitchen, especially economical layouts, smaller, if only it would be convenient for the eaters.
The minimum allowable size of a family kitchen table in terms of is considered to be 600x900 mm. For singles, let's say a table 450x750 mm, as in railway cars. In this case, it is also permissible to make it a wall-mounted folding one in the “microkitchen” or kitchen area of a small-sized odnushka, see below. But the optimal dimensions of the kitchen tabletop are (650-800) x (1100-1400) mm, depending on the available usable area and the complexion of users.
What to do
Traditional kitchen table - on the underframe pos. 1 in fig. The underframe is the supporting frame of their boards placed on the edge - the tsarg. The drawers can be tightly fastened to the legs of the table, and the tabletop is freely placed on them; those. its fastenings prevent only horizontal displacement. Such a kitchen-sized table is structurally simpler and stronger, but it is more difficult to bring it in / out, especially if the passage to the kitchen is narrow. The second option - the sides are tightly fastened to the tabletop, and the legs are detachable. The countertop in this case needs a strong one and not from any suitable in the previous. case, material, and the design is more complicated. But there are no problems with skid / carry out. Both of these options for the classic kitchen table will be discussed in more detail below.
The table on the underframe can also be artistically designed, pos. 2. Making an artistic kitchen table is not at all as difficult as it might seem. The basis of its design - turned shaped legs - perfectly turns out from commercially available railing balusters (see below). The curly washed down tsarg for a novice master who knows how to handle an electric jigsaw is not a problem. There remains a mow - a shaped chamfer on the lower edges of the tsargs. For her, you can rent a manual milling machine with a milling cutter of a profile you like, with it the work on aiming the moulding takes less than an hour plus 10-15 minutes of training on some kind of pruning.
No less common in kitchens are tables of a beam structure, pos. 3. They are also in the simplest version (see 2 options below) more attractive than tables with underframes. However, a well-equipped carpentry and solid manufacturing skills are required to complete them in a high-end design (item 4). Beam tables require more material consumption, but their undeniable advantage is that they can be made completely collapsible without tools (also see below).
Tables with a load-bearing top without a base (pos. 5) are also very common in kitchens. In the factory version, this is perhaps the cheapest type of good quality kitchen tables. A set of legs for such a table + a postforming table top (see below) will cost about 2500 rubles, and assembly will take half an evening at most. But with a completely independent manufacture of such a table, a beginner will encounter some significant nuances, see below.
Tables-books, they are tables-pedestals, pos. 6 initially made a splash due to its compactness when folded and the possibility of using it in half, but then there was a period of some disappointment. Firstly, no matter how you sit at such a table, your legs are uncomfortable. Secondly, in the first samples, the latch of the swivel support was the simplest, from a pair of 50x20 bars attached with a gap equal to the thickness of the support to the underside of the table top. The outer faces of the bars were often removed on a wedge so that the support would not cling to them when the table was unfolded. However, if you accidentally pry the countertop with your knee, the latch is immediately released. Therefore, without a hodgepodge with meatballs and mashed potatoes on trousers and the floor, such tables could not do, and a reliable and easy-to-use mechanical lock turned out to be very complicated and expensive. Nevertheless, both amateur craftsmen and serious manufacturers are improving this, in principle, very promising design, to which a special section will be devoted further in this publication.
Wall-mounted folding tables, (pos. 7), are occasionally found in very tiny kitchenettes. Most often - among busy bachelors, who are used to doing everything standing up, even sleeping on the carpet in front of the authorities, because. have all the shortcomings of book tables with little or no room for improvement. Serving tables (pos. 8) are used much more often on the farm, but this is a separate class of furniture with its own specific qualities and features of manufacturing technology, so here we will limit ourselves to mentioning them.
Technological subtleties and innovations
The kitchen table, firstly, is made of wood species or materials that are little or not at all subject to shrinkage during drying: oak, hornbeam, wenge, laminated chipboard, MDF. Ordinary commercial wood in the kitchen atmosphere with its fluctuations in temperature, humidity and organic vapors in the air in 5-7 years begins to warp and crack even when impregnated and under varnish. On the other hand, the size of the kitchen table is small. From this follow some features of its manufacture, ultimately allowing to simplify the work.
table top
This is the main detail of any table. For a homemade table in the kitchen, the best option is to buy a finished postforming tabletop, they are available in a wide range of colors, textures and sizes. Postforming is a profiled chipboard with rounded ribs, finished to look like wood or other material. The advantages of postforming in relation to the kitchen table are as follows:
Postforming is good technologically, for simplicity and speed of work. But unlike the example, tabletops cohesive from boards look more solid, the so-called. solid wood or furniture boards. Rallying boards into an array is a rather delicate and painstaking work; for this, special devices are used - clamps. If you have a desire to try your hand at making solid wood furniture, we offer a selection of videos:
How to assemble a furniture board with your own hands:
How to make a shield kitchen table top:
How to make a tabletop from the end cuts of a tree:
In the last video, the material is junk, but the appearance can be achieved - the cool oligarchs will salivate.
Dowels, confirmations and dowels
Traditionally, wooden furniture is assembled on dowels. The dowel connection is invisible and cheap; just in case, we recall what it is and how it is done, see fig. To connect wooden parts, wooden dowels are used, which dry out together with the connected parts; practically non-drying chipboard is connected with plastic dowels. Corner plastic dowels are of little use, because. often break. Joints with wooden dowels are usually glued.
It is often difficult for novice craftsmen to achieve accurate markings for a dowel connection. Tricks, like marking with bitten nails (item 4 in the figure), do not always help, and it is impossible to redo an incorrectly marked dowel connection, both parts go to waste. Therefore, it is better for beginners to assemble their first products on furniture euroscrews - confirmations. This is more expensive, but does not require special skills, because. the hole for confirmation in both parts, compressed by a clamp, is drilled in one go, see fig.
Details made of laminated chipboard or dense thin-layer wood, connected by confirmers, last for many years. All the designs described below can be assembled both on dowels and on confirmations. However, in the latter case, the following rules must be observed:
- Use exactly furniture for wood, and not plumbing confirmations for plastic. They differ at first sight: in furniture slots for a hexagon, and in plumbing for a Phillips screwdriver.
- The diameter of the body of the confirmation without thread when fastened to the end should be no more than 1/5-1/3 (extreme case) of the thickness of the attached part.
- The height of the neck of the confirmation must correspond to the thickness of the main part.
- The depth of the threaded part of the confirmat into the attached part must be at least 5-6 full diameters of the confirmat.
- The hole (blind hole) for confirmation is drilled to its full length with a head.
- The main drill should only be used with a twist drill for wood.
- The main drill must be filled into a mandrel that exactly matches its diameter and screw size.
- Holes for confirmations should be drilled with a main drill with a diameter equal to the diameter of the confirmation on the thread.
In practice, it is not difficult for even a perfect “teapot” to fulfill these conditions:
- By the thickness of the part, we determine the diameter of the body of the confirmant without thread;
- There is a lot of information on the Internet about confirmations, according to which, knowing the diameter of the screw body, the thickness of the main part and the drilling depth, you can determine the required size. It is better to immediately open the pictures on request "furniture screw (or confirmation) drawings dimensions";
- We are looking for a point of sale where the seller, when asked to show furniture confirmations, shows exactly them;
- We say: "I need so much of such and such a size and a drill with a mandrel for them." They can offer a solid drill just for such a confirmation, it will be cheaper.
And a little more about dowels. It is best to put a detachable (freely imposed) countertop of a classic kitchen table on them. Incl. and for such purposes, plastic dowels with a rounded head or dowels with a hat and various types of corrugation on the long recessed and short protruding parts are produced, see fig. on right. Thick worktops, approx. from 20 mm; the second - which are thinner.
Different tables
Classic
Classic tables on the underframe along with the legs (item 1 in the figure) are traditionally connected (assembled) on tongue-and-groove joints, which is rather complicated and time-consuming. A modern tool - a drill with a twist drill for wood and a screwdriver - in combination with legs, the section of the heads of which is not less than 60x60 mm (for head balusters, usually from 100x100 mm), allows for a kitchen table with dimensions in plan up to approx. 750x1500 mm to do with the connection with wood screws obliquely, pos. 3. In any case, the outer faces of the tsarg should be 1.5 cm from the outer surfaces of the leg caps, which is necessary for overall strength. The minimum allowable height of the kitchen table tsarg is 120 mm; thickness - 30 mm.
It is highly desirable to reinforce the oblique connection with self-tapping screws with diagonal ties in the corners (pos. 4, above) from the same board as the drawers. If the countertop is not supposed to be removed without extreme necessity, then the time-consuming putting it on the dowels can be abandoned. Then, at the corners of the finished supporting frame, cuts of the same board - crackers - are cut into the drawers and the tabletop is attached to them from the underside with self-tapping screws, pos. 4 below.
The tabletop of a classic table with detachable legs should be at least 24 mm thick (chipboard, plywood) or 30 mm thick (solid wood). Worktops made of other materials, e.g. artificial stone, suitable for tables on the underframe along with the legs are not applicable here. Due to the large difference between their thermal expansion modules and wood, the table will soon loosen.
Further, the drawers are attached to the countertop with long confirmations through the end, on the left in the figure, with gluing with carpentry glue or PVA. With the help of conventional wood screws, it is difficult to achieve accurate assembly, because. they are without a neck that holds the joint from displacement.
The next moment - the jibs in the corners (in the same place in the figure) are necessary, wooden mortise or ready-made steel invoices. The legs at the corners are attached in the usual way, on the right in fig.
Desk drawer
A drawer is a classic constructive module of a classic kitchen table. The guides for the drawer of the table are taken the same as for the drawers of the nightstand, chest of drawers, cabinet. Since a large weight load is not expected in this case, and the smoothness of the drawer and the possibility of its full extension are not of great importance, you can use inexpensive roller guides on which the keyboard boards of computer tables go.
The device of a furniture box is shown on the left in fig. It is not necessary to assemble its tray in the old fashioned way on a box spike (on the right in the figure), you can use self-tapping screws in the ends of the boards. The thickness of the boards for the side of the box is 12-20 mm. The plywood bottom is often fixed with a furniture stapler, but this is not entirely reliable. It is better to attach with screws through the cranial bars along the contour of the bottom. The front of the drawer can lean on the front side of the table or go flush into it, it doesn't matter.
To install the drawer in the table, in the longitudinal front drawer, an opening is cut out according to the dimensions of the cross section of the drawer tray, plus allowances on the sides for the guides (indicated in the specification for them), plus another 3 mm along the contour. Then the side support boards are installed for attaching the guides. They are attached to the longitudinal sides from the inside with the help of backing bars. It is not necessary to fasten it to the tabletop, it will loosen. Next, the box is assembled, attached to it and to the support boards, respectively. rail parts, push the box into place, that's all.
Very simple
A perfectly simple but good looking kitchen table with a classic look can be made on a supporting frame of planks, see fig. on right. Its length, if the section of the tsarg is at least 120x20 mm, can be increased to 1100 mm. Tabletop - any weight up to 15 kg. The angle of inclination of the legs from the vertical is 15-20 degrees, this is one fundamental point in this design. The second is transverse screeds made of 50x15 timber, they give the entire structure the necessary rigidity. So, although this table looks classic, in fact it is already a beam.
Beam
Drawings of a pair of kitchen tables of a beam structure are given in fig. Above - completely collapsible without tools. The tabletop is structurally any, placed on dowels, although the style of this table (rustic) is fully consistent only with a tabletop made of solid wood. A variant of its fastening from the underside without dowels on the cranial bars is shown in the inset in the center on the right.
In this product, the lower dressing (longitudinal screed) with a beveled through groove for the wedge may seem like a stumbling block to a beginner. In fact, everything is very simple: the bottom dressing is assembled on glue from 3 layers of 10 mm plywood or board. How beam kitchen tables of this type are made, you can watch the following video:
Video: do-it-yourself table by components
The table, the drawings of which are below in the figure, has 2 features. First, all the material is a board with a width of 120 mm or more, timber is not used. The second is that only a tray is provided under the tabletop, and it can also be glass, plywood with a mosaic of tiles or its fragments, etc. The gap between the tabletop board and the frame of the tray is prone to clogging, but it is also easy to remove the tabletop for cleaning. So is it rustic or modern, is it a kitchen table, boudoir or coffee table, you decide for yourself.
Without pedestal
Factory kitchen tables without table tops are usually produced with postforming worktops, pos. 1 in fig. Those who want to make something similar on their own under a wooden tabletop will face the following tricks.
First, a table-top is still needed, from a wooden bar from 50x50, pos. 2. The fact is that the mechanical stresses in the boards always flow to the corners, where they are distributed very unevenly. But the wood under all 3 fastening points of the leg clip must be tense approximately the same, otherwise the fastening will loosen by itself. The strapping from the beam expands the stress fan in this place to an acceptable value, but it is impossible to replace the continuous strapping with corner plates, there will be no sense from them.
The second is the material of the countertop. The standard threaded sockets for mounting the leg clips (item 3) are designed for chipboard or dense thin-layered wood. If the countertop is made of pine, etc. layered rather soft wood, then the nests can, having broken the layers, crawl back already during the installation of the clips. And the probability that this will happen when someone inadvertently pushes the table is close to 100%.
And the third - the clips of the legs themselves. In cheap sets of parts for tables without understands from "alternative" manufacturers, they are most often silumin, pos. 4. And silumin, as you know, is very, very fragile. In general, if you like such tables, it will be easier to buy ready-made with a guarantee. Most likely, and cheaper than recruiting a kit for self-assembly at retail.
Books and cheburashki
The shortcomings of the table-book of the original design (see the figure on the right) have already been mentioned above. On fig. below is a drawing of the design of the table-book (conditionally shown is only one swivel support without the wings of the tabletop), eliminating them amateurishly, but effectively. Simply, the width of the swivel support is more than doubled compared to the wing span of the tabletop (350 and 720 mm, respectively). Now the support rotates 90 degrees, it has become comfortable to sit as you like. The support, located in the working position along the longitudinal axis of the tabletop, holds it even better than the oblique one, and in order to raise the tabletop until the top bar of the support comes out of the simplest latch (see above), the knees must be pulled up so that it will be very uncomfortable. General stability is provided by the legs of the pedestal section, which must be made as long as possible, but not less than 600 mm. Otherwise, the swivel supports must be brought down in height to the floor level.
A fundamentally similar solution was also used in the wall-mounted folding table (pos. 1 and 2 in the next figure), but here the bevel of the hanging angle of the support already works for operational reliability. Which is quite applicable in the previous. case: there are no contraindications for the implementation of that support in the form of a trapezium converging downwards.
A proprietary solution to the problems of a table-book is detachable legs stored in a cabinet. Putting them up is not much more troublesome than catching the latch on the table top with a swivel support. Such a table-book turns out, of course, more expensive, but its operational reliability is complete: there is no latch, because. it's just not needed.
The next step in the evolution of the book table is a design with a cabinet of greater width and 1 leg for each wing of the tabletop. The legs are half the size, so the whole table is cheaper. Its stability has only increased due to the expansion of the cabinet, it is generally comfortable to sit, and there is more space in the cabinet (which is always lacking in the kitchen).
Consumers liked such kitchen tables so much that they were already given the nickname - Cheburashka table. Probably, remembering from the cartoon: "Here, we built, built, and finally built." Folding kitchen table, as it should be.
Alternative
If your kitchen is combined with the living room or you plan to combine them, then you don’t need to think about the kitchen table, it is better to replace it with a column. At the bar, you can not only drink, you can also eat on it. The meaning of such a replacement is that at least half of the dining area generally goes beyond the kitchen, and the rest is used sporadically and does not wedge into a functional triangle. Result? See fig. It is more convenient to work and dine in a 5-meter kitchenette in the bar counter - a separator of apartment zones than in an 8-9-meter Brezhnevka kitchen. Can't believe it? Let's count.
The kitchen table does not stand on its own. To land the eaters, you need to add 400 mm along the contour, and another 300-350 for the approach. As a result, a table of 900x600 mm requires approx. 2.5 sq. m of "living space", and the table is 1200x700 mm and all 3.5 sq. m. It is very, very difficult to push such a thick slice into a kitchen of ordinary sizes without crushing the functional triangle softly. Here, even if two people sit at the counter from the side of the kitchen, the functional triangle is not violated, and the hostess is just a stone's throw away.
One of the famous culinary specialists once said: "The kitchen is conservative, like the digestive tract." Here he, of course, bent and bent. Something like a stove, refrigerator, food processor and microwave is not found in our stomach, although the kitchen is really conservative. But even in the most conservative sphere, sometimes there comes a moment that requires fundamental changes.
Furniture stores sell a huge variety of coffee tables: round, square, glass, wooden of any color and completely different cost. But all the tables are similar to each other, like twin brothers. It is very difficult to find an interior item that would not be like all the others. We invite you to create a magnificent, elegant and compact coffee table made of glass and wood with your own hands. Having such an interior detail, you will get great satisfaction from owning a completely unique item.
The table will bring comfort to your life: now you don't have to get up from the sofa to get a cup of coffee and the TV remote control - just turn the tabletop and voila!
The tabletop can be any of your choice: transparent glass, which reflects the sunbeams, or colored glass, suitable for the interior of your living room. If the glass does not fit the style of the room, then you can replace it with chipboard. The swivel stem is achieved by using rollers from a skateboard.
Tabletop made of ordinary glass is very fragile, it requires special attention. In order not to think about how it would not break into many dangerous fragments, we recommend using tempered glass of at least 10 mm, which will be cut and processed by a specialized company. Alternatively, you can buy a ready-made round countertop. Taking this little precaution will allow you not to worry that your child will hit the table while playing and get hurt.
The base of the coffee table is made from natural wood, the recommended thickness is 40 mm. and width 120 mm. The legs are 350 mm high. From leg to center length 450 mm.
On the planks that we plan to make vertical, draw the markings at an angle of 120 degrees, then cut them off. You have to try very hard to make the edges clear and even, otherwise a not very beautiful view will show through the countertop, so we recommend using a circular saw. As a result, we get beautiful strips with smooth edges.
The wooden frame is connected to each other with the help of furniture dowels and wood glue.
The horizontal part that is visible through the countertop must be properly assembled. To do this, first mark one of the planks with a pencil and drill a hole perpendicular to the cut.
We insert any sharp object into the hole of the first bar. It can be an ordinary nail wrapped with electrical tape, then squeeze them together; this will allow you to see the mark of the nail on the second bar and you will see the exact place to drill the dowel hole.
Then all the strips must be checked for symmetry.
All planks must be carefully machined with a fine-grained machine to avoid nicks that can cause injury.
To achieve the smoothness of the planks, you can open the surface in several layers of varnish, using an ordinary soft sponge. Each time the varnish is opened, we must alternate with grinding, otherwise the layers of varnish that we did before can raise the pile. The varnish must be allowed to dry completely.
The next step is to assemble the base. Where there are connections, it is necessary to smear with glue, then pull them together and leave for a day. The glue must dry.
However, just gluing the planks of the table may not be enough. For reliability, on the reverse side of the junction, you need to fix it with a metal plate. The frame is ready!
Next, we begin to install the rollers from the skateboard. You do not need to buy a whole skateboard for this, rollers can be purchased at any store that sells sporting goods.
The rollers must stand strictly at a distance of 100 mm from the edge of the table and are fixed parallel to their slats. If done incorrectly, you run the risk of getting an uneven countertop that will move out when you turn to the side. If everything is done correctly. but the tabletop still does not spin smoothly, then you can make a small hole in the center and put a metal or wooden rod with a large round hat there.
A do-it-yourself kitchen table is both an opportunity to save money and a way to provide the kitchen with unique furniture that fits perfectly into the available space. However, it is important to correctly determine the dimensions and shape of the future structure.
How to make a wooden dining table
A table made of solid wood is beautiful, natural and, as a rule, expensive. But buying such a table is not necessary, because you can make it yourself with no less quality and for much less money.
So, to make a dining table with your own hands, you will need:
- 4 things. baluster legs for the table, 73 cm high and not too thin;
- For the tabletop: 4 dry edged wooden boards 1 m long (for a table 60 cm wide);
- For the frame: 2 boards 80 cm long and 2 boards 40 cm long.
Prepare tools: planer, grinder or grinder, jigsaw for cutting boards, circular saw, drill (with 8 mm drill), screwdriver, sandpaper, self-tapping screws (30 mm), wood glue, dowels, clamps (preferably). And, of course, a pencil, tape measure, gloves and goggles will come in handy.
To finish the table, you will need varnish, stain or paint along with a primer. Let's make the table first. To do this, you need to accurately fit all 4 boards to the same length - 100 cm. If your boards were not sawn at the sawmill, then they also need to be trimmed in width and thickness. Then they need to be carefully polished with a planer. The better you sand the wood, the smoother the countertop will be. Work the edges well so that the boards fit as tightly as possible to each other.
We will connect the boards not with screws and nails, but with glue and dowels (chops). To do this, we make the same marks on the edges of all boards in increments of 10-15 cm and drill holes for the dowels with an 8 mm drill. Then we sand the edges and apply wood glue to them and into the holes made. Now we drive the chopsticks processed with the same glue into the holes and connect all 4 bars in turn. We remove excess glue on the surface with sandpaper and grind it, as well as all edges with a planer. At this stage, you can go over the countertop with a metal sponge to give the wood texture.
So, the tabletop is ready. Now you need to fasten the legs and make a base for it.
To do this, you need to evenly fasten the balusters with short transverse boards with glue and screws. The glue dries for at least 12 hours.
We fasten the legs to the long crossbars and drill holes in them in order to install the countertop later.
After the glue in the frame dries, you can proceed to install the countertop on it (frame).
If you want to make the table longer and wider, then you need to strengthen the table with two additional cross bars, as shown in the photo.
So, the table is almost ready, it remains only to treat it with varnish or stain or paint it, having previously primed it.
What color to paint the table? Start from personal preferences and the color of the rest of the furniture. Below is the most versatile option - the table top and legs are stained.
You can see the main mistakes of staining a tree with your own hands in this video.
If you like gloss, then the surface of the table can be stained, and varnished on top (example in the photo below), or simply varnished.
You can paint the legs white, and stain the countertop to get a design like in the next photo.
How to make a kitchen table from chipboard
A do-it-yourself kitchen table made of laminated chipboard is a practical and budget solution. Such countertops are covered with decorative plastic, which is resistant to abrasion. In a typical version, the dimensions of the tabletop canvas are 3000x600x36 (26) mm, but today it will not be difficult to purchase a chipboard sheet sawn to the desired dimensions or negotiate in a furniture workshop to sell a suitable trim.
You will also need:
- Connecting and end strips;
- end edges;
- Ties.
Even if you get a countertop of the right size, you will need to additionally process the ends - this will make the result more attractive, as well as ensure that the base is protected from moisture. For these purposes, you can use a special furniture edging based on polyvinyl chloride or glue an edge tape. The edging option is considered more practical for a dining table and suitable for home craftsmen.
For the kitchen table, you will also need appropriate supports - you can buy the legs separately or give preference to the finished base. It all depends on which option your drawings provide. The most common option is round legs D = 60 mm and 71 cm high. They can be collapsible, adjustable in height, and also differ in design - matte, painted, shiny.
In our case, these will be shiny chrome-plated legs-rods with a diameter of 60 mm, as well as a tabletop made of white chipboard 36 mm thick and a white plastic mortise T-shaped edging with girths is matched to it.
So, how to make a dining table with a chipboard top:
- The marking is applied to the material according to the drawing. Rounding corners must have a radius of 60 mm or more.
- The tabletop is shaped with a jigsaw.
A saw with reversible teeth should be used, otherwise the plastic coating may be chipped. First, the corner of the chipboard is cut with a jigsaw with a margin of 2 mm, and then it is finally rounded off with a grinder.
- A groove for furniture edging is milled.
- The edging is stuffed. Before this, the ends of the product must be covered with silicone sealant. The sealant is laid both in the edging and on the top side of the countertop. A rubber mallet is used to stuff the piping. Then the excess sealant is removed.
- The legs are attached. To do this, markings are made with a pencil on the back of the table top. In most cases, the legs are placed 100 mm from the edge.
To fasten the holders, self-tapping screws with a countersunk head about 20 mm long are used. After that, the legs are put on the holders and fixed with a hex key - that's it, your new table is ready.
How to correctly determine the dimensions
According to the principles described above, tables can be made larger or smaller in length and width. How to choose the best size for your family?
If we are talking about a standard kitchen with dimensions from 6 to 8 squares, then the drawings will show a typical design with a height of 750 mm and a perimeter of 800 * 500 ... 1200 * 600 mm.
A do-it-yourself dining table should be calculated for a certain number of people. Usually it corresponds to the number of residents - 3-9, but a couple of free places are still added for guests. For large companies, a good solution will be.
Calculations are carried out as follows: the number of persons is multiplied by 60 (“working” perimeter per person). As for the width of the countertop, here we follow the recommendations of experts - its optimal values are from 800 to 1100 mm. Narrow tables are difficult to serve, and wide tables are uncomfortable for those sitting.
If you decide to make the kitchen table oval (round) with your own hands, then you will have to calculate the circumference - diameter * 3.14.
Form Selection Rules
The shape of the kitchen table plays a significant role in the perception of space. Universal design - a rectangle or square with right angles. It is balanced and can be installed close to the wall or in the center of the room, saving space.
Oval models are also quite comfortable and beautiful, but they do not differ in large capacity - the most dimensional product will accommodate no more than 8 people. In addition, they require large areas - more than 8 square meters. meters, because you can’t put them against the wall.
It can also be called a universal and traditional option, suitable for both very and large kitchens. But it has less capacity than a rectangular table.
The best option is a rectangular table with rounded corners. How to make such a table from chipboard with your own hands, we have already described above.
Furniture care rules
After the dining table is made, you will need to take care of the long service life of the product.
So, furniture made of wood, polished and lacquered, needs careful care, as it can be easily scratched. In addition, traces of contact with hot are possible here. A universal polishing composition is selected as the basic care for wood.
If we are talking about a countertop made of MDF or chipboard with a plastic coating, then caring for it is not difficult and consists in regular washing with detergents.
Do not forget that kitchen furniture must be moved away from heaters and from walls bordering the street. Direct sunlight will also be harmful to wooden furniture.
Coffee table - at first glance, not the most necessary furniture. Therefore, its acquisition is endlessly delayed. But it is precisely such items that make the interior truly cozy and comfortable. Therefore, we share ideas that will tell you how to make a stylish coffee table with your own hands and not go broke.
1. Democratic and accessible
To make such a table, you will need a pair of metal or plastic boxes and two large boards. Be sure to securely fasten the structure.
2. For the smartest
Books with beautiful covers and a small glass for the tabletop - that's all the materials for such a coffee table. Books must be glued together, and the glass can be fixed on them with silicone glue, which becomes transparent after drying.
3. Ordered chaos
A coffee table made of flat elements fastened together in a chaotic manner is an idea that is easy to implement. Wooden saw cuts, parts of boards, large books are suitable.
4. Industrial style
A reel for industrial cables is a thing that cannot be found on every corner. But if you are still lucky enough to become the owner of this item, you can make an excellent coffee table out of it.
5. Table for motorists
A coffee table made from a car tire will last for many years. But it is desirable to use the tire without damage. It remains only to paint it, fix the countertop and legs.
6. Wooden table almost free
Ordinary pallets, which can be purchased for a penny, are an excellent material for making furniture. A little imagination, and the wooden coffee table is ready.
7. The second life of old boxes
Another way to become the owner of a coffee table made of natural wood is to use old boxes as a material for its manufacture. Four large drawers fastened together form a stylish table.
8. Extravagant chic
Especially original, but at the same time luxurious, looks like a coffee table on asymmetrical legs. The tabletop is made of a thick board or a wooden saw cut.
9. From the cottage - to the living room
A large wooden barrel easily turns into a coffee table. It must be cut into two parts, and then attach the countertop and legs to one of them.
10. Roomy and functional table out of the box
A household box made of plastic or wood can also be used as a coffee table. In order for the table to be mobile, you can fix small wheels on its bottom.
11. Warm table
An old heating radiator is a reliable basis that will help you make a coffee table with your own hands. You just need to paint it in the desired color, attach the wheels and put thick glass on top.
12. From the interior door
An interior door that has served its time becomes a material for making a coffee table with your own hands. It must be cut into several parts and fastened together.
13. If it’s a pity to quit and it’s hard to carry
An old suitcase can become an original coffee table top. You just need to attach legs to it.
14. Brutal elegance
An affordable option for making legs for a coffee table is ordinary plastic or metal pipes connected by fittings. Such furniture will perfectly fit into the interior in loft style.
15. From an ordinary wooden beam
A wooden beam, folded in a checkerboard pattern, will become a countertop for a homemade coffee table. Legs can be made of thick metal wire.
To make the interior look harmonious, it is necessary to take care not only of the details, but also of the decoration of the room. Continuing the theme -
Even if furniture production is far from your area, making a country table with your own hands to gather with family and friends on warm summer evenings is quite a feasible task.
Its main advantage, in contrast to the purchased one, is undoubted savings. It is not necessary to make a table from scratch: simply by assembling purchased parts, you will save 30-50% of the cost. If it is possible to use materials left over from construction or repair, the costs will be limited to the purchase of fittings.
To choose a design, you need to decide where the product will be used.
Using cheap non-standard boards for a country or kitchen table - substandard - you will get advantages that are not available for mass production. Sounds doubtful? But this is true: knots, due to which the boards are rejected, have interesting decorative properties. If you succeed in emphasizing them successfully, you will become the author of a completely unique design product, which is a pity to leave in the garden in the rain.
Making a country table with your own hands to gather with family and friends on warm summer evenings is quite a feasible task.
To choose a design, you need to decide where the product will be used: on a grassy lawn under a tree, to complement an arbor, to stand in a workshop or in a house.
The simplest country table can be assembled in a few hours with a minimum of materials, but it will not last long either. To get a product that will be really pleasant to use, you need to carefully prepare the boards and perform all technical operations at each stage with high quality.
Its main advantage, in contrast to the purchased one, is undoubted savings.
If you find a large stump in the woods, it can make an easy-to-make garden table. It is only required to remove the bark from the stump, make an even cut along the top, sand it, treat it with an antiseptic and varnish it. It is enough to nail or screw a finished furniture board to the "leg" from the stump - and you're done.
Worktops made of boards fastened at the bottom with transverse slats look good. If you prefer a glued worktop, you can do it yourself, but this will require a lot of effort.
If you succeed in emphasizing them successfully, you will become the author of a completely unique design product, which is a pity to leave in the garden in the rain.
It is difficult for a novice master to fix the legs securely, so try to choose a design by correctly evaluating your skills and taking into account the cost of labor and time. The easiest way to make cruciform and L-shaped legs. To attach straight legs - you need to carefully connect the parts.
One of the coziest options for a garden is a collapsible table with benches that can be installed in a gazebo or on a veranda. It is not difficult to perform it, the main thing is to choose high-quality materials and properly prepare them for work.
The simplest country table can be assembled in a few hours with a minimum of materials, but it will not last long either.
How to choose a tree?
For a garden or kitchen table, wood of many species is suitable, both soft (pine, spruce, cedar, fir) and hard (oak, birch, ash, walnut, maple, apple, pear, acacia, etc.). The exception is too soft woods wood (poplar, alder, aspen, willow).
One of the main parameters of the suitability of wood for making furniture is resistance to decay: the species listed above meet this requirement.
If you do not plan to engage in furniture work all the time or are just starting to practice, give preference to the most common types of wood - pine and birch.
Worktops made of boards fastened at the bottom with transverse slats look good.
It is possible to use wood of different species for the table top, frame and legs. At the assembly stage, you will need dowels: they are usually made from acacia or boxwood. Birch wood has an inexpressive pattern and can be significantly warped due to spilled liquid - it is better not to use it as a countertop material, but due to the hardness of this breed, legs can be made from it.
The countertop is best made of oak or pine. If you know how to brush wood, the surface of the kitchen table can become a real work of art. Brushing lends itself to soft wood: the wood is burned with a gas burner, and the soft fibers are removed with an iron brush. Work is best done in the yard due to the large amount of dust. If you managed to burn the wood evenly, the result will please you. The brush can be tinted with stains, stains, artistic acrylic paint diluted with water. Of course, wood brushing is not required: it is only a finishing option.
If you prefer a glued worktop, you can do it yourself, but this will require a lot of effort.
The choice of paints and varnishes and glue
Before proceeding with the installation, the boards must be protected from decay. The tree must be impregnated with a water-polymer emulsion (WPE): the treatment is carried out twice with an interval of 3-5 days. This is enough for the product to last a long time.
Some models require glue. Along with special carpentry adhesives (BF-2, etc.), building PVA can be used: it is applied to both surfaces to be glued, dried to a “tack”, then the parts are connected and kept under pressure for up to three days.
It is difficult for a novice master to fix the legs securely, so try to choose a design by correctly evaluating your skills and taking into account the cost of labor and time.
The choice of paint and varnish materials is determined by where the product is planned to be used: in the yard or indoors. For a garden table that is inevitably exposed to precipitation, alkyd, alkyd-urethane, nitrocellulose varnishes and oil paints are suitable. For the kitchen table, as well as for any furniture that is constantly in the room, it is better to use acrylic paints and varnishes: they are more environmentally friendly and do not have a strong smell. Lacquers marked with the "blue angel" mark are recommended for children's furniture and toys.
If you decide to cover the wood with stain, paint or just tinted varnish, this must be done before assembly. Material compatibility must be considered. The lacquer is tinted with a paint of a suitable composition: if the lacquer is alkyd, the paint should be oily, if you use acrylic lacquer, it can only be tinted with acrylic paint. First, a small amount of varnish is thoroughly mixed in a separate container with paint, and then the resulting mixture is added to a larger volume of varnish.
One of the coziest options for a garden is a collapsible table with benches that can be installed in a gazebo or on a veranda.
What tools are needed
For work you will need:
- hacksaw,
- circular saw or jigsaw;
- drill;
- screwdriver;
- hammer (if you decide to use nails).
For a garden or kitchen table, wood of many species is suitable.
This list includes only the most necessary tools, but in order to make the work more comfortable and the finished product look aesthetically pleasing, it is advisable to buy or rent a rotary miter box, an eccentric grinder and a milling machine.
The rotary miter box makes it possible to make cuts exactly at the right angle. An eccentric sander will allow you to prepare parts simply, quickly and efficiently: you will sand the boards in an hour, instead of doing it all day manually with sandpaper. For high-quality processing of the ends, a belt grinder is useful, and a milling machine allows you to select a tree for the necessary grooves and process the edges.
If you do not plan to engage in furniture work all the time or are just starting to practice.
Homemade pallet table
A spectacular rustic table can be constructed from pallets (wooden pallets). If you are a happy owner of such a container, especially a double-deck pallet, just disassemble it: there is no problem in purchasing boards!
Think it's always better to buy new boards? You probably have not worked with wood before: raw wood cannot be used (the product deforms after a few months), and dry boards are much more expensive. To dry raw wood boards, they are stacked in a well-ventilated area: this necessary process will delay your project by 4-6 months! A good option for the kitchen table can be the already mentioned rejected boards, also dry.
It is possible to use wood of different species for the table top, frame and legs.
Let's go back to the pallets: they are dismantled. Now at your disposal are strong boards with different patterns and colors, it is possible that from trees of different species. These features should not be considered as disadvantages: they will give the product a zest: you just need to create an interesting composition from them, alternating boards of a similar shade.
The sides of the pallet will make an excellent frame, and the remaining planks will be used to assemble the countertop.
Work is best done in the yard due to the large amount of dust.
To make the legs, you will need a bar with a thickness of at least 5 cm. All the details must be prepared: sanding strictly along the fibers with sandpaper, first coarse (No120-150), then finer grit (No400-600), carefully removing dust.
Some boards can be painted with acrylic or oil paint. Loft style fans can use stencils in the form of numbers or simple graphic symbols. Boards with a beautiful natural pattern “morim” or simply varnished. After staining or the first layer of acrylic lacquer, the soft fibers rise; they need to be sanded with medium grit sandpaper and a new coat of varnish applied.
A spectacular rustic table can be constructed from pallets (wooden pallets).
If a non-aqueous varnish is used, it is enough to apply 2-3 layers, and if acrylic, the number of layers can reach up to ten.
A good option for the kitchen table can be rejected boards, also dry.
We fasten the tabletop boards with planks, which we place at the joints of the boards. Using a drill, a screwdriver and self-tapping screws, we fasten the boards to the planks (we use two self-tapping screws at the joints, one on solid boards). The use of a drill is necessary so that when screwing in the screws, the wood does not crack. We assemble the frame from the prepared sidewalls of the pallets. Using a drill bit suitable for self-tapping screws, we drill holes at the joints. We coat the joints with glue and fix with self-tapping screws. We install the legs: simply fasten the boards to the frame, screwing in the screws diagonally. To strengthen the structure, we make jumpers at the bottom in a similar way.
To make the legs, you need a bar with a thickness of at least 5 cm.
Wooden table with glued top
For a glued worktop, you need to choose boards of the same width. If the table is intended for a workshop and its appearance is not of great importance, you can use old floorboards: there are already grooves there. To make the grooves yourself, you need a milling machine.
To assemble the countertop, a flat surface is required. We simply coat the sidewalls with glue, join the boards without gaps and tighten the resulting structure with clamps. Depending on the glue used, the countertop should dry from 1 to 3 days. If everything is done correctly, you will get a countertop with a completely flat surface without cracks. It remains to work out the ends - first trim with a jigsaw, and then sand. In the absence of a belt grinder, this must be done manually - with sandpaper, first large, then medium grit.
After varnishing the parts, you can proceed to the installation, which consists of several stages.
If you don’t want to mess around with glue and clamps, you can use a ready-made furniture board from a hardware store. Then the countertop remains covered with a transparent or tinted varnish.
For a good result, you need to apply 5-7 (for acrylic varnish up to 10) layers. After each third layer, the working surface of the countertop must be sanded with fine-grained sandpaper, carefully removing dust with a damp cloth. At the varnishing stage, it is important not to rush: each layer of varnish should dry well.
It remains to make the legs of a garden or kitchen table: let's focus on the option with L-shaped legs. You will need boards with a thickness of at least 22-25 mm.
For a glued worktop, you need to choose boards of the same width.
L-shaped legs consist of two parts connected at an angle of 90. On the boards to be joined, it is necessary to make a selection, coat the joint with wood glue, and then install self-tapping screws.
When the glue dries, cover the legs with varnish and after drying, simply fasten them to the countertop with screws.
The connection of the legs with the tabletop has several options.
Table with straight legs
To make straight legs, it is enough to file a thick beam into pieces of the same length. The connection of such legs with the tabletop has several options.
In order for the straight legs to be installed securely, at home, you can use the connection on the dowels. You can make them yourself from acacia wood or buy ready-made ones. To assemble dowel joints, you need quick-drying wood glue (BF-2).
To make straight legs, it is enough to file a thick beam into pieces of the same length.
Table with X-shaped legs
Sequence of work.
- On the inside of the tabletop, we fasten two strips on each side with self-tapping screws.
- To make the table look good, the edges of the planks must first be cut at an angle of 52.
- We fasten the paired planks so that the legs fit, we make laps of 2-3 mm on each side.
- We lay the boards on a flat surface, crossing them at the right angle. We measure the distance between the ends of the boards: it should correspond to the width of the table.
- We circle the intersection with chalk: here it is necessary to choose half the thickness of the boards so that after assembly they lie in the same plane.
- We coat the recesses with glue and place the parts under the press for 1-3 days. For greater reliability, the connection can be strengthened with self-tapping screws.
- We varnish the legs.
- It remains to attach them to the tabletop, placing them in the grooves formed by the slats - and the table for giving with your own hands is ready.
X-shaped legs are made of bars or boards with a thickness of at least 50 mm.
Table with benches
The best solution for a gazebo is a dining table with benches attached to it. It is better to make such a design collapsible in order to clean it indoors for the winter.
The table will require thick boards (from 32 mm), which must be cut into pieces according to the drawing. In this version, two benches are attached to the table. When all the parts are cut, they must be sanded, paying special attention to the ends. We varnish each board separately.
The best solution for a gazebo is a dining table with benches attached to it.
To connect the parts of the structure, we will prepare the studs (length 160 mm), nuts and washers - 24 pcs each. For other connections, use self-tapping screws or nails of a suitable length. Using a drill, it is necessary to prepare all the holes for the fasteners.
According to the drawing, we assemble the countertop and the upper parts of the benches. We cut the cross rails along the edges, the angle should be 45. This is convenient to do with the help of a rotary miter box.
We make and fasten all the legs to the screws. We fasten the parts cut at an angle.
We varnish each board separately.
We tighten the product with studs with bolts. The holes for the studs must be pre-drilled with a drill. When installing the stud, you need to put washers on both sides and tighten the nuts using a wrench.
We tighten the product with studs with bolts.
Seat boards are fixed with gaps of 5 mm. When the seats are connected to the sawn supports, we attach them to the assembled base with 160 cm boards: you will need 4 boards.
We install the remaining studs and enjoy the result.
Using a drill, it is necessary to prepare all the holes for the fasteners.
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