Farmhouse Sawbuck Table Build

Becky has always wanted a farmhouse-style table. In fact, we have never owned our own table, having borrowed one from Becky's parents until recently.  For Christmas, I decided I should finally get this project done. 

Tools:
Drill and impact driver
Skil saw
Pipe clamps
Vice grip
Belt sander

Supplies:
Elmer's wood filler
Wood glue
Paint
Stain
Polyurethane
Scrap wood, mostly 2x6 boards

Friends of ours had given us a load of scrap wood awhile back, and it included some old, warped 2x6's that I knew would make a perfect tabletop.  My first step (not pictured here) was to clamp and glue 5 boards side by side, using the large pipe clamps.  After this dried, I then filled in any gaps in the boards with Elmer's wood filler. 

The next step was to have an extended love affair with my belt sander.  I cannot stress how long this took... hours of my life, days went by... my family worried.  But it was worth it?  These boards were old and warped and it took a lot of work to get them relatively even and level.  Below you can see the rough form of the tabletop. 

Next I wanted to put end caps on the table.  I used an old 2x4 and cut it to fit the length of the two ends of the table. Now all I had to do was find a way to actually attach these to the table! Scrounging through my workshop, I found some old, large square bolts that I had gotten at a yard sale awhile back.  After pre-drilling my holes, I bolted and glued the end caps onto the table. Because of the square head, I had to use vice grips to tighten the bolts.  After filling with wood filler again, it was back to my old friend, the belt sander. 

I wish I could give you more detail on how I designed the legs, but I kind of just eye-balled it, cut one leg (yay it worked!) and then cut three more to match (wow those worked too!).  I cut another 2x4 to help brace the tabletop and screwed those two pieces to the bottom of the table.  I added the legs and added a supporting 1x4. 

There was still some wobble to the design so I added 2 more braces toward the bottom of the legs.  These are not in the first picture below, but can kind of be seen in the photo of the painting process.  

Next up was paint.  You can see a photo of Jonah giving his dad a hand here. 

At this point, the table was completed except for stain and sealant.

Tada!  The completed table at home in our kitchen after being stained and coated with polyurethane.  Becky was extremely excited for her Christmas gift, which I promptly and proudly delivered mid-April.  Total cost for this project: approximately $30 for stain, polyurethane and sanding belts.  As always, please ask any questions and I will be glad to answer them for you.