I received an unexpected surprise this week. My Step-Father brought over some wood he’d been keeping in his shop for the last 40 years or so. This wood belonged to a friend of his that past away. I didn’t have a lot of material to work with, but I decided I wanted to make something nice out of it. Something of an heirloom, to pass down, just as it had been passed to me.

The cedar had darkened quite a bit over the years, but came back to life after a few passes through the planer.

I cut the boards for the top, and joined them together with a biscuit joiner. I wanted the overall look to be rustic, so I didn’t worry about milling out any knot’s or holes.

I cut the legs into 1.5″ strips, and glued them together. I squared them up by running them through the jointer and planer.

I created a jig to taper the legs, and ran them through the table saw. This is the first time I’ve tried these cuts, but it was a lot easier that I thought it would be. The hardest part was making sure I marked the outside edges (the one’s without the taper).

I cut the aprons from the left over wood, and drilled pocket holes to connect the legs. After everything was assembled, I put a few coats of Minwax water-based Polycrylic on. The water based poly doesn’t cause yellowing, like oil based products.