Outdoor Side Tables

[Brian G]

I made two of these, one for use on each side of the swing in the Relaxation Station I made a few years ago. One of my favorite things to do on weekend mornings (weather permitting) is to sit on the swing, read the paper, and sip coffee. Until now, I didn't have a good place to set the mug. Now I do.



I made them out of cedar. The finish is a few vapors of cedar deck stain, followed by three coats of Spar Urethane. That's the same finish that I had used on the relaxation station, which hasn't needed any touch-ups in the two years it has been exposed to the elements.

I didn't use a published plan; I "invented" my own. It's 12" w x 24" h x 12" d. The tables had to fit inside the relaxation station without interferring with the swing. Furthermore, the height had to be at a comfortable reach for placing the beverage of choice.

I made the legs by first selecting 4" x 4" posts that were as close to being rift-sawn (i.e., looking at the end grain, the growth lines ran diagonal) as I could find. That way there is very little, if any, face grain visible on the legs. I think it makes for a cleaner look.

I bandsawed the 4" x 4" in half, and then milled four square legs (about 1-5/8"). I was able to get 8 legs out of 4" x 4" post, with some left over for test cutting. The insides of the legs are tapered, starting about 7/16 of the height of the table (I guess that means at 13-1/4" from the top of the leg) such that the bottom of the leg is about 1" wide. There's no magic reason for choosing the 7/16. . . I was intrigued by an article written in Pop. Woodworking by Adam Cherubini on proportion. I thought I'd see how it looked. I like it.

The rails of the apron are attached to the legs by using sliding dovetails. I used the offcuts from milling the legs for fine-tuning and centering the sockets in the legs.

The top:



The joinery for the top is a simple tenon and groove. The ceramic tile (8" tile; actually 7-7/8" square) sits on top of two support pieces. I made the supports from 1/2" stock. When I made the tenons on the end pieces for the top, I milled one side of the 1/2" stock, and inserted them loose into the groove during glue-up. I didn't want to fasten the tile to the table, in case it cracked or we wanted to change the color of the tile.

The top is attached to the apron by using pocket screws; I didn't use glue.

Nice and handy!



Thanks for looking.

[smc331]

SCHWEEEET! I love purpose-built/purpose-designed/functional and beautiful. One question? What's relaxation?

[JR]

. . . I was intrigued by an article written in Pop. Woodworking by Adam Cherubini on proportion. I thought I'd see how it looked. I like it.

I do, too. Elegant.

I'm envious of your results with Spar Urethane. I've been using a UV-resistant poly that just doesn't hold up.

[bthere]

Those are nice. One does need a place for ice cold restoratives while breaking in a relaxation station.

[alcarey]

I like that. Very nice design, nicely proportioned. And the ceramic tile is a great idea. Impressive craftsmanship too!

Al

[mater]

Looks great and it looks like you are going to get lots of use out of them.

[Tom Miller]

Nice lookin' tables, Brian! They're a perfect complement to the "grown-up swingset", too. I hope they were done in time for this morning -- the weather couldn't have been better for sippin' coffee in the outdoors!

Regards,
Tom

[Pappy]

Beautiful, elegant design and great execution!

[John Hunter]

Very nice.

[Ken Massingale]

Really excellent, Brian. Thanks for the write up on how you designed and made them.

[GPA61]

Very nice, indeed.

[movnup]

The whole set up is very nice ... I had a quick design question as I'm thinking of building some outdoor furniture for my new deck. I understand using the cedar and the spar varnish but I hadn't seen white oak used outside before for furniture. Would you maybe be able to give a little insight into what lead you down the path with that choice of wood ???

[lrogers]

That is very nice. I like the tile in the top; nice touch.

[Brian G]

Thanks for all of the comments.

JR, I don't profess to be a finishing expert by any means, so my comments don't carry much weight. I read somewhere (either Flexner's book, or articles by Dresdner or Jewitt) that most of the problems people have with using spar urethane are because they don't stir well enough. Much of the solids settle to the bottom of the can into a thick goop. All of that needs to be stirred back into solution. . . so I stirred, and stirred, and stirred, and stirred some more. Plus, it needs to be stirred now and then during application. I transferred smaller amounts from the can to my "paint pal" so to make it easier.

Another problem is with waiting too long to apply the next coat. According to most directions, the previous coat needs to be very sticky, but not dry. I likened it to that point where, if it were a "normal" poly, it's at the point where when you touch it to see whether it's dry, you wished you hadn't done that because now you have a fingerprint and it's too late to fix by putting more finish on to cover the fingerprint.


I applied three coats of the Varathane brand of oil-based spar urethane.

Tom, I've actually used them for a few weeks now. I only just got around to getting pictures together.

movnup, white oak has good decay resistence, and it's very sturdy. American ship builders used to make boats out of it (Old Ironsides, for instance), and it frequently was used (and still survives) as barn siding. If left untreated, it will turn the silvery-gray like barnboards.

It's also (in my region) inexpensive. I like the lighter color in contrast to the cedar. I did have to repair the finish on the armrests this Spring, but that was the only repair so far. All I did was use a card scraper, some light sanding, and three coats of spar urethane. . . good as new.