I already had two table tops that were purchased for $9 bucks each several years ago....several! One was too small and the other was too big. But the larger table would pull apart to allow an additional leaf. So my thought was to disassemble the table and rotate the two pieces to make a narrow long table that would actually fit my space restrictions. Sounds easy right. Not so much. After discussing with my father, he informed me that additional support would have to be added due to the extended length.
Next I had to find legs, but the only thing I had laying around was an old four post water bed that we no longer needed and had some water damage due to a leak. Hmmm, the posts ended up being the perfect size to fit in the already made leg pockets of the table. All I had to do was cut them.
Most of the assembly work and modifications were done in my fathers workshop because I don't have a space large enough to work on this size of a table. But, from the pictures you can see where we added the additional supports.
We used as much of the original skirt as we could, but had to add two additional pieces to the front and back. Every thing was unscrewed from the table and then refit as best as we could. Then once we laid out our pieces, we marked on the table top where each corner fit. This way we could assemble the skirt, add glue and then place it back into position. Those two rather large black braces are actually the old tracks that would allow the table to pull apart for the leaf. We bolted them back on, but to keep them from moving had to run a bolt through both pieces of the track to keep it from sliding. My father still wasn't happy with the support and wanted to make sure that the table could be stood on, LOL. Just in case my monkey boy actually gets onto this table. So he added a 2x4 down the center to the table length wise.
Here we cut two angle supports, similar to the originals, for the additional skirt pieces we had to insert.
Angled pocket holes were also drilled from old skirting to new skirting.
And last but not least, even though the posts were large enough to fit into the corner pockets they sat flush with the table skirt. I wanted the legs to sit out about a quarter inch. So to push them out a bit we added a trimmed piece of wood to fit inside the pocket. This way the leg will still sit flush against the inside support and wont have a gap when the bolts are inserted.
Time for table legs! Instead of using the bed post from the bottom up (if that makes sense), I cut my legs from the middle of the post. Not only did this leave me with enough to get two smaller sets of legs for other projects, but I wont have a rather large section of square post on the top portion of the table leg before it tapers off. Looked a little goofy to me!
You can see the full length of the bed post and where I used the middle section.
You can't really tell from the picture, but the left is the tapered end (bottom) of the table leg.
Next the corner had to be cut so it would sit flush in the leg pocket. Then two pilot holes were drilled for lag screws. Lag bolts can also be used to prevent stripping out the wood if you need to disassemble your table to move it. I decided to use screws because this table is so heavy without the legs that I never want to move it again!
Finally, I get to paint! While modifying the table we realized that in fact the top was not made of wood! Ack! It's some kind of really heavy composite something or other, ha! With that I decided to try chalk paint so I would not have to sand down the top. First I gave most of the underside and legs a coat of black spray paint. Then I ran paraffin wax around all the edges and anywhere else I wanted to see the black come through. I opted for this for two reasons; first, I was unsure how the "wood" table would react with stain and secondly, after painting another piece with the plaster of paris chalk paint I did not want to be sanding all day!
Next came my top coat of chalk paint, which I sanded and distressed. But the colors were a little too bright for me so I brushed on minwax stain in dark walnut and let it sit a few minutes before wiping it off. Once the stain had dried I applied two coats of minwax finishing paste.
Here is a little close up of how the chalk paint comes off with the wax underneath. It's almost a little chippy, but be careful not to rub on too much wax in one spot. A little goes a long way!
And here she is all said and done! I believe the table sits 39 in. from the floor to table top and is 33"x77". That just barely fits my 8x10 room.
Now I just need to get some stools!
