I love the C&B Big Sur dining tables and was excited to come across these plans. I tackled making a copy of the Big Sur dining table using Ana's plans as a starting point with some modifications and custom dimensions (4' x 4' x 31"). This was my first major woodworking project and I wanted it to be as nice and strong as possible so I tackled joining the rails of the frame to the legs with mortise and tenon joints. The main reason I did this was because I used 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 red oak for the entire table and I just wasn't convinced screws could handle the weight of the top on the frame. I also wanted to learn how to make those joints. I used my plunge router to cut both the mortises and the tenons and it worked out reasonably well. Now that I have a table saw I will be using that with a dado blade for tenons in the future. I sanded to 320 grit and finished with four coats of General Finishes Gel Stain in Java followed by four coats of Minwax spray on polyurethane. The last step was to apply paste wax using 0000 steel wool and then buff with a clean rag. I love the way this came out and am now planning on making a bar cabinet with wine bottle holders in the same style. The total cost of the table was on the higher end than I'm used to because the wood was pricey but it was still so much less than the C&B Big Sur price tag. I'm lucky that I have a hardwood lumber supplier just a few minutes down the road that does custom milling of 100's of different species.
