Old doors make great tables -- they're the right size and shape, and usually made of good solid wood instead of that hollow-core nonsense you find in houses today. The only problem is finding a way to flush out the panels so the surface is continuous and flat. I have seen tables that fill the panels with glass, or cut wood, but I decided to mess around with some concrete instead. You can't use normal Quickcrete in such a thin-set application, but I found that some expansion or anchoring cement (such as Rockite) works pretty well. Throw some modern, angled legs on it, and you've got a sexy little work or dining table.
I salvaged all the wood in this project, but screwed up the concrete bit, twice, so that cost a little bit. Between screws, polyurethane, and concrete, it should run about seventy or eighty bucks.
You will need these materials:
An old panel door, preferably solid wood
4 3'-4' pieces of 2" x 6"
6 24" pieces of 2" x 4"
40-60 lbs of thin-set anchoring/expansion cement
1" drywall screws
3" drywall screws
Rags
Polyurethane
You will need these tools:
Circular saw
Drill
Impact driver
Sandpaper
Bucket
Grinder (optional for polishing concrete or grinding down if you over-fill)
First five photos by Mr. RaMell Ross (http://www.ramellross.com)
I salvaged all the wood in this project, but screwed up the concrete bit, twice, so that cost a little bit. Between screws, polyurethane, and concrete, it should run about seventy or eighty bucks.
You will need these materials:
An old panel door, preferably solid wood
4 3'-4' pieces of 2" x 6"
6 24" pieces of 2" x 4"
40-60 lbs of thin-set anchoring/expansion cement
1" drywall screws
3" drywall screws
Rags
Polyurethane
You will need these tools:
Circular saw
Drill
Impact driver
Sandpaper
Bucket
Grinder (optional for polishing concrete or grinding down if you over-fill)
First five photos by Mr. RaMell Ross (http://www.ramellross.com)
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Signing UpStep 1: Legs!
First, lay out your door on the floor or some saw horses. Pull a centerline in each direction. You will have to adjust dimensions to your own door, but I put the leg attachment points at about 1/4 of the way in from each end of the table.
My legs were salvaged rafter tails from a demolition project, so they'd already been cut to a taper. If starting from scratch, cut up some 2" x 6"s to about 45", then split them diagonally with a circular saw, bandsaw, or jigsaw.
Then lay them on the door from your attachment point out to the corners of the door and strike a line on the under side of the door. Now you've created a triangle from the 1/4 centerline out to the corners of the door. Measure the angle of the point of the triangle and use that to cut two triangles out of scrap 2" x 6". These will become the attachment points for the legs. Screw and glue them to the door from the top, pre-drilling with an 1/8" bit to prevent splitting.
Hold a leg up to the triangle with the other end in the air and adjust until the foot seems to be roughly in line with the corner of the table. You might need a helper on this. Strike a line on the leg to get the miter where the leg meets the table. Cut all your legs to this angle. Screw and glue the legs to the attachment triangles with 3" screws, pre-drilling to prevent splitting.
Do the same with the leg braces -- just hold up a scrap of 2" x 4" and scribe the rough miters, then cut one and trace it onto the other four. The legs will still be pretty flexible and wobbly at this point, so push and pull them as needed to make them line up with the corners of the table. Toe-screw and glue the braces in with 3" screws, pre-drilling to prevent splitting.
My legs were salvaged rafter tails from a demolition project, so they'd already been cut to a taper. If starting from scratch, cut up some 2" x 6"s to about 45", then split them diagonally with a circular saw, bandsaw, or jigsaw.
Then lay them on the door from your attachment point out to the corners of the door and strike a line on the under side of the door. Now you've created a triangle from the 1/4 centerline out to the corners of the door. Measure the angle of the point of the triangle and use that to cut two triangles out of scrap 2" x 6". These will become the attachment points for the legs. Screw and glue them to the door from the top, pre-drilling with an 1/8" bit to prevent splitting.
Hold a leg up to the triangle with the other end in the air and adjust until the foot seems to be roughly in line with the corner of the table. You might need a helper on this. Strike a line on the leg to get the miter where the leg meets the table. Cut all your legs to this angle. Screw and glue the legs to the attachment triangles with 3" screws, pre-drilling to prevent splitting.
Do the same with the leg braces -- just hold up a scrap of 2" x 4" and scribe the rough miters, then cut one and trace it onto the other four. The legs will still be pretty flexible and wobbly at this point, so push and pull them as needed to make them line up with the corners of the table. Toe-screw and glue the braces in with 3" screws, pre-drilling to prevent splitting.
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What does the little comment say? I assume something about the screws being too long and creating those bumps?
Great intructable otherwise!
-Cory
Yeah, it just says if your screws poke up too far hit the tips with a grinder or a dremel to get them down below the surface of the finished concrete.
i'm just wondering, should one paint or coat the concrete with something or just leave it like that ?
BTW, N95 particulate masks are widely available at safety supply places, and if you do enough grinding of any sort to own a hardcore angle grinder like the one pictured it would be a good investment. They're also pretty comfy too, especially compared to cartridge masks.
Nice pics as well ^5