Introduction: Recycled Table

So, this was one of my first ventures into reclaimed projects. This table was originally intended for my dining room, but after a while, we decided it didn't fit our space and would work a lot better for someone else. My mom was quite pleased!

Step 1: The Find!

I was at my brew-pals house making some beer one day and we stumbled (haha! No pun intended!) into his backyard. I saw this table and asked what was going on. He said he was waiting for someone with a pickup truck to take it to the dump. Oh, not so fast my friend!!! Back to my house!

Step 2: Sanding

So, the idea here was to flip a quick, rusty table into something we could use in our dining room. Our other table had recently been rendered unusable by our children (see my other Instructable for the end product on that table), so we needed a new one. After I unloaded the table, it basically sat in this position while I took a number of wire brush drill bits to it for about 10 hours (you know....give or take). I don't have pictures of me sanding it because....really, who wants to or needs to, see that? It was basically those two bits, a drill and me VS. that table frame. I wanted to leave it with some patina to show the age, so I didn't take it down to bare metal. Once finished, I simply sprayed it was a semi-gloss clear coat.

Step 3: The Top!

I have access to some 100-150 year old floor joists/barn wood and I thought that would make a nice surface for the table. Nothing too complicated here....Cut to the right width to fit the frame, then plane everything down to the same depth. i use a 12.5" DeWalt planer and a table saw from harbor Freight. Nothing too fancy in my garage. I had to do a little bit of work on the corners to get it to fit the frame, but that was handled with a little sanding.

Step 4: Stain

I just feel like this wood looks better with a finish, so I added a light stain to it. Again, nothing too complicated here. Brush->stain->wood.

Step 5: The Magic

I think the magic with this wood really happens when you apply the polyurethane. Something about the combination of a light stain and a semi-gloss poly just makes this wood POP! I got a little bit of assistance from my shop apprentice applying the poly. And for the life of me, I have no idea why I thought it needed to be applied in the dining room, but it worked (with fans and open doors!). As always, a light sanding between coats 2 and 3 are recommended).

As a final touch, to make sure the 50+lb boards didn't fall out a break anyone's foot, I used some 2-hole straps (meant for electrical purposes) to keep the boards in place using the cross-members.

Step 6: In Use, at My House....

Here is the finished product, in my dining room with the re-purposed chairs and benches from our previous table. As my friend told me when I took the table, I would regret using it due to the lower cross pieces. He was right!!! We banged more than our fair share of shins on those things. But man....that's a good looking table for the cost of about $15!!!

Step 7: Final Phase in Life....for Now!

My parents redid their open porch to make a closed-in porch. This was the perfect table for this space!! I loved it, nurtured it, and brought it back to life. Now, it has the perfect home.

PS ~ The milled lumber in the background is the same wood that made the table top.