Pottery Barn benchwright farmhouse dining table

UPDATE: For everyone that was asking to see additional photos, I have uploaded them all to flickr. Here is the link: HERE Since doing this table I have built probably 15 more just like this one and developed a much better process then in the pictures above. If you have any questions or want to chat about it further shoot me a comment or email at [email protected].

I had originally seen this table on the Pottery Barn website. My wife and I really liked it but couldn't afford to pay the $1200 bucks after tax and shipping. it didn't look to difficult to build so I decided to give it a shot. The wood for the top of the table was almost 3in thick 4.5in wide and 51in long. It was wood from an old pallet that was used to transport a very large air handler. Very heavy dense wood. Since the lengths were only 51 inches I opted to put 2 horizontal pieces on either side to extend the total length to approx 70in. I was inspired by the plans for the benchwright table that I saw on this site but chose to deviate from the plans on here to make it as close to the real thing as possible. I also happen to have access to very thick pieces of hardwood. The only thing I had to buy at lowes were the legs. The legs are 4x4 Douglas fir posts. The top pieces were all glued and screwed together. The ends were also done this way but had a very large lag bolt that held them together to match the pottery barn table. This was originally very rough wood so anything to help get the warp out was used. The legs are set at a 10 degree angle and the table stand 30 in tall. The hardest part of this table was finding the turnbuckle and the threaded rods so it could officially be 99% like the pottery barn table. I also had no idea how hard it was to find left hand threaded anything. I ended up finding everything I need at McMaster.com and my local Fastenal store. To make the brackets that went on either side of the rods i simply bought a piece of 1/8 sheet metal at my local Home depot and cut it to size. They also sold hammered brown paint which gave the metal a worked old look. Once this was all constructed I used two heavy coats of wood conditioner to seal the wood. This was the key to getting the color I wanted. It tells you on the can not to let the wood conditioner dry on the wood but if it does, when you apply the stain you get a 100% consistent color. Worked wonders. It almost felt like I was cheating. I used a water based condition and stained it with rustoleums "dark walnut" stain. Finished it with 5 coats of minwax semi gloss. I only did 5 coats because I was brushing it on and had trouble getting the bubbles out of it. In the final picture it looks much shinier then it is in person. The last picture of when it was still in my garage is a better indication of the final finish. I have a boat load of additional picture, so if you have any questions or want to see more pictures of how it was constructed, shoot me a message. Thanks!

Built from Plan(s)

Benchright Industrial Farmhouse Table

Estimated Cost

300

Estimated Time Investment

Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)

Finish Used

Minwax Semi-gloss
Rustoleum Dark Walnut Stain
Minwax water based wood conditioner

Recommended Skill Level

Intermediate

Comments

benfoldsfivealive

Sat, 05/19/2012 - 22:40

are you kidding me?

This is incredible. I mean really, really incredible. I cant wait to see what you build next!

Bunnie1978

Sun, 05/20/2012 - 08:16

Bubbles...

I've had trouble with bubbles too... I have two pieces of advice for your next bubble-free project...
1. Get a sprayer. Seriously.
2. If you don't get a sprayer, use the foam pad-brushes for your final layer of poly. Put the last layer on thick and use the largest side of the brush (the side) and lay it down over the wood and drag it slowly accross with the whole large surface on the wood. If it is soaked in poly it will lay it down smooth with little if any bubbles, keep the surface you're working on flat, and after you've finished that, just make sure you clean up any edges where the poly may have dripped down. Last step, when it's almost dry, use 600 grit sandpaper to VERY lightly smooth out any little bumbs, which will come off more like paste than dust. But really, you should just get a sprayer. :)