I've been yapping on and on about wanting to build a table. Turns out, a guy from work actually builds furniture in his spare time. Jackpot! He's even got this sick garage of tool delights that includes things like a jointer, a wood planer and various forms of giant saws.
A few weeks back we picked up some reclaimed wood, some from an old automotive workshop and some from an old brewery. Thick 5x5 beams for legs and some substantial planks for the top.
It was great because John gave me direction but ultimately let me do all of the work myself so that I could learn. In my dreams I wish I was a furniture designer/maker and I had all of John's tools and garage and work bench. I would pour myself a cup of tea and head out to make stuff.
It was a total effing blast and within three hours we were able to:
+ Cut all of the pieces to size
+ Use the jointer to straighten all of the edges
+ Run all of the wood through the planer - which by the way, revealed
the most incredible wood grain for the table top.
+ And then clamp it all together so that we could see the fruits of our
labor with a little mock-up of the table sans the skirt. Super duper fun!