The first step after acquiring the materials was jointing two boards to make an extra wide board. This is the base for the entire bedside table.
I glued the pieces, ensuring they were flat by putting parallel clamps on both sides, and let the glue dry
Once the glue was dry, I could move onto flattening the board. As the two pieces were slightly warped, there was a ridge along the middle which needed to be sanded down from both sides to make it one flat board.
Using an angle grinder with a sanding pad made light work of this, but it also creates a lot of dust in the workshop which is impossible to contain.
Once I had a flat board, I started on cutting the long board into the pieces of the table.
I had used my DIY track that is custom made for my circular saw, to ensure all cuts were perfectly straight
The shelf would be dowelled into the legs of the table.
I measured, double checked and drilled the dowel holes, clamping two boards around the shelf piece to make a flat surface to drill the vertical holes.
The worktop was attached to the legs with routed grooves where the legs slot in for a tight fit.
I measured and marked out each leg, marked it up and used tape while routing to minimise tearout of the bit. I created the grooves, and then made them deeper with a flush trim bit, ensuring they were deep enough to minimise movement of the legs once assembled.
Sanding, Burning, Stamping and Painting
Once I had all the work on the pieces, I started on the finishing process. The client wanted a burnt rustic finish.
I first sanded the pieces down until they were smooth. Then burned the pieces to the clients satisfaction before stamping the corner of the worktop, giving it a light final sanding before applying 2 coats of varnish.
It was now time for the final glue-up!
The parallel clamps were the star of the show on this one, helping to push the wood into the tight fit and ensure the glue adherese properly.
I applied one more top coat of varnish to really pop the colour and give it a glossy finish.