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Mark & Cristina Extend The Family Room Coffee Table Parts 1 & 2

Pt. 1 - Adding extensions to the old table

Materials

Pre-cut 1" wood Biscuit Joiner Wood Glue 10" Wood biscuits Rubber mallet Sander Clamps Instructions
1. We chose Poplar. We loved the look. Pine is too soft. Maple would have been fine, too. Poplar is nice and strong while soft enough to distress later.

2. Start marking your biscuits anywhere from 3-4" from the outer edge of the wood and then make equidistant grooves 6-10" apart across the length of your board.

3. When using the biscuit joiner set your angle and your depth. We are working with a 1" board. We wanted our depth right in the center, so we set our depth to ½". For our purposes we want to put the biscuit joiner in straight on, so we set our angle at 90%.

4. Line up the center groove with where you marked your need for a wooden biscuit. Hold the handle with your right hand and guide the biscuit joiner with your left hand. Be gentle when you squeeze the "trigger". Guide the joiner, but let the machine do the work.

5. Wooden biscuits come pre-made and in sizes of 0"s, 10"s and 20's. We are using 10's.

6. We put just enough glue in to coat the wood. Don't use too much; you'll have a messy spill over and the glue won't dry properly.

7. Pound the biscuit in gently with a rubber mallet.

8. Put another coat of glue on the outer edge of the wooden biscuit before connecting boards and repeat using the mallet to secure the seems of the wood.

9. If there is any discrepancy between the tops of the boards after they have been seemed, a good sander will do the trick. Because we bought really good finished boards we're fine without planning the boards. We are also going for the distressed look, so it doesn’t have to be perfect. If you are going for perfection or are working with more raw wood that hasn't been manufactured as well, you might want to use a planer.

10. Clamp your wood together to help keep it together while it dries.

Pt. 2 - Adding the distressed high-end finish Materials
1" x 2" Poplar
Jigsaw Wooden Biscuits Biscuit Joiner Sander/Sandpaper Stain – 1 light/1darker Chain link Hammer Nuts and Bolts, Sock Metal Bristle Brush Paintbrush Rags Helpful Hints for Cutting Edges of Table:

1. Guide the jigsaw, but let the tool do the work, lest it get away from you.

2. Jigsaw is good for corners because it gives you more control than larger tools like a handsaw or even a table saw.
Helpful Hints for Attaching Fascia to Table:
1. Note about wood thickness measurements: In carpentry world 1" is actually about ¾", do to milling methods and dryness of the wood.

2. By attaching a fascia around entire table, you give the illusion of a thicker table

Helpful Hints for Distressing Wood:
1. Stain the coffee table first with a lighter shade, and follow with a darker shade of stain for the second layer of staining.

2. When distressing, go slowly and gradually. The secret to a realistic distressing is to keep the markings random with no discernable pattern.

3. Fill a tube sock with nuts and bolts. Whack the wood with the sock. The sock will cushion the wood for a gradual distress.

4. Hammer or a rubber mallet. The hammer will leave deep impressions while the mallet will make subtler dimples.

5. Metal chain. Will create a specific pattern in the wood.

6. Claw of a hammer. Creates deep grooves.

7. Sandpaper. Use a heavy grit sandpaper

8. Use a darker shade of stain for the 2nd coat of stain.

9. Make sure to brush stain into grooves.

10. When you wipe the stain away with the rag, the grooves will be the darkest part of the board.

11. Dries to touch in 1-2 hours, and then reattach hardware.

12. Allow 24 hours before using table.

13. Apply clear coat of varnish or polyurethane to seal it after that.

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