Don't know if it would clash with the present decor, but it sounds like once you get a drill/driver and a couple pounds of assorted drywall screws, and some Gorilla Glue you could start knocking out some kind of Adirondack Nouveau style furniture tomorrow! Or a big picnic table!

Seriously though, better check with the Boss to figure out what she won't stand for. Once you know that you can start narrowing your focus on what materials you've got and what you've got to put things together.

For something like a table or a bed's head or foot boards the possibilities can go from single stick George Nakashima organic to a couple hundred end grain cut sticks epoxied to a sheet of plywood.

There used to be all kinds of "build XXXXX from 2 sheets of 1/2 plywood" plans in stuff like Popular Mechanics back in the day, I'm sure there are plenty of ideas like that to be found on the internet.

looks like your not to far from timber country, maybe find a nice slab and finish it enough to make a table top.

I suggest looking at old stuff. The quality of the wood is often superior to what is available now and often the detail is fabulous. Refinishing is a lot easier than building from scratch and you are a lot less likely to cut a finger off.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

That right there is why the 12" wide assembly you bought won't warp.... and every single board will. Those strips are glued up with the grain facing opposite direction from one strip to the next - which prevents warp, twist, etc.


(source)

Take a look at virtually every table top ever built - if it LOOKS like one big piece of wood, it is probably veneer laid over a substrate of either glued up strips (older tables, including VERY fine furniture) or a stable material like fiberboard/particle board/etc.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

+1 on Tom's suggestion.

I put myself through college repairing and refinishing everything from grandma's crap "mid-century" maple stuff to some truly amazing centuries old pieces.

You can learn as much (or more) about how to build furniture by repairing it than by building it yourself wrong from scratch. Seeing some of the methods used by folks with no power tools is truly inspiring - and you can copy many of the clever techniques they came up with when you do build your own.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

Hmm that's a really good point. I may end up going that route, it would be a lot easier than learning how to make hardwood totally flat.


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It's really not a question of how much effort is involved in learning - MAKING a stick of hardwood (or softwood) flat is one thing.

KEEPING it flat is another. Wood is hygroscopic (it absorbs moisture - including moisture from the air). As temperature and humidity change, the amount of moisture in the wood changes. The rate at which moisture enters or leaves the wood will vary from one side of the board to the other (depending on exposure to air and light, the finish applied, etc.) - which is what causes warping.

If you can't completely stabilize temperature and humidity into very narrow ranges (much narrower than what is normal in a home), boards will warp over time.

One simple way to make a table top that will remain stable is to use what is often called a farm table style. The boards running the length of the table are dadoed (or mortised) into the cross boards at each end.

__________________
1961 220b: first project car - sold.
2000 CLK 430: first modern Benz - sold.
2001 CLK 55: OMG the torque!!! - sold
1972 280SE 4.5: Baby Gustav
1991 300TE 4Matic: Gretel the Snow Bunny - sold
1978 300SD: Katz the Free Man - given away
1980 Redhead: Darling Wife

Poplar doesn't look good stained. It's used in construction a lot for interior trim that will be painted. Has a smooths surface under paint. Doesn't do well with getting wet. Will twist.

Like I said, look for some cheap mahog. You could make some nice enough, if rough, shelves and tables from knotty pine. You can put ribs under it to keep the top fairly flat. Will be good practice.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Re read your post after thinking awhile. Thirty or so years ago we needed a larger kitchen table. Most are too narrow for our tastes. We like to put serving bowls etc into the middle area.

Well we were laying hardwood floors that day. So I took a piece of 3/4 plywood. Put 45 degree corners on it. Did all the perimeter in leftover hardwood flooring, Then filled in the middle with the same flooring. Driving screws up through the plywood base into the hardwood flooring.

Then band sawed two pieces of hardwood and contoured them etc. Used hardwood banisters rungs to make an inboard type of pedestal mount. This so the legs would not be obstructive. People could even sit at the corners if they desired.

It is still in daily use and there have been no issues with it other than a refinish is needed as the edge finish has worn off now in areas.

A small batch of hardwood flooring could be found for nothing perhaps as it is not usually good for anything otherwise. You could even use the modern stuff but the edges are pre chamfered and the wife could not clean them. If you got a batch of them though they could be run through a planer to get below the chamfer. I see a table for eight as no problem.

The hardwood may expand and contract a little on top of the stable plywood but you do not notice it or see it. Logically it is occurring.