This summer me and my significant other built a dining table. It was a very fulfilling experience. It took about 1.5 days and cost roughly $80 for all the materials needed. This is how we did it.

Measure the size you want your table to be. We went for 140 cm x 80 cm.

Go and buy planks. We wanted an asymmetrical  and natural look to it. So we combined 3 x two different widths that added up to 80 cm. They were 45 mm thick. You will also need to buy plywood to fasten the planks together.

Cut the lengths of the planks with a saw. We wanted to be as exact as possible and achieved this with the help of a table saw.

Sand them with sandpaper. Sand the sides of the planks that’ll be visible so that they are a bit smoother.

Saw out three 15 x 72 cm planks from the plywood. These will be used to fasten the table planks together from underneath.

Stain the wood. Apply your prefered nuance of stain to the wood 1-2 times depending on what color you want to achieve. If you apply multiple layers read the instructions to know how long you need to wait for it to dry in between.

When the wood looks good and is dry, put the planks upside down and lay the plywood pieces on top evenly divided across the length of the planks. These will fasten the planks together.

Do this one by one with the plywood pieces. Apply glue to the bottom of it, and then put the glued side against the planks in the position where you want it to be. Use clamps to force the planks closer to each other in the width dimension, as well as at least one to align them with each other in the depth dimension as needed while you screw the plywood piece to the planks.

When you’ve completed this you should be done! Adjust to get it just the way you want it. I found this experience to be very fulfilling. It was such a great feeling to be able to create something just as we wanted it. I will definitely want to build something again.

If you do this please let me know how it went in the comments.

Have you recently built something or is there something you want to build?