New Farmhouse Dining Room Table

My family has been in need of a new place to sit and have dinner. As a homeowner with little experience in making furniture I decided "I can build one of the tables on Ana's website." I never thought I would learn as much in the long process. I watched Patrick Hosey's video on the Farmhouse table close to 15x to learn tips and tricks. Made a plan. Then went to Lowes to execute my plan. Got home, realized I needed more material than I originally thought and went back to Lowes. Unfortunately, that step happened more than I would like to report.

First lesson learned for me pine is a difficult wood to make perfect. Some of you might have had luck with using pine but in my hands it was very difficult. I had a hard time sanding with my Dewalt palm sander and not making the dreaded squiggles or curly q's. I, of course, didn't see them until after the first coat of gel stain was on. So I had to sand the table back down to the starting point.

Second lesson learned for me was do not get ahead of yourself when applying the lacquer. I used a Deft Premium Gloss spray for my lacquer. I used Mineral Spirits to clean off any dust on the surface from lightly sanding . However, I made the mistake of putting on a second coat when I thought the mineral spirits were dry. This led to cracking and bubbling of the lacquer and a lot of swearing/drinking. I had to sand, very carefully, back down to the first layer and then start over.

Third lesson I learned was overall I love making furniture no matter how frustrated I can get at points in making it. There is something very fulfilling knowing that my family will now sit around something and share fun special meals and experiences over my table.

Please let me know how you think I did and feel free to offer tips and tricks for working with Pine. Thank you Ana and Patrick for the inspiration!

Bryan