Building Custom Wood Furniture
My step-dad, Steve, taught me a lot of what I know about home improvement. So it wasn’t a big surprise when he told me about some custom furniture he was building. Even so, I was really impressed when I saw it in person.
Building Custom Furniture
Steve has only recently started building furniture and is still developing his skill set. So far, he’s put together an awesome coffee table and a night table. He built the coffee table with plans “from his head”. And the night table was reverse engineered to match one my folks already own.
The coffee table has an oak plywood top with 1-1/2″ piece of solid oak glued around the edge. You can see the routed edge cut into the solid oak. The wood is secured with strong pocket hole joints and the table features adjustable feet for any uneven floors.
The night table has a solid poplar top. Again, this table has a nice routed edge and pocket hole joints. The night table has a full extension drawer along the bottom.
Plans for Building Furniture
Steve is unique that he can build something without plans but I’d guess that most people enjoy having a specific set of instructions. Lots of sites offer plans for building your own furniture. Steve has been a Rockler customer for some time and recommends purchasing plans and materials from their site. They have concise plans that make it easy to complete your project.
Recommended Tools for Building Furniture
Steve has a great shop with a wide variety of tools and a setup that makes it easy to work. Aside from the typical shop tools, there are a few items that can really make building furniture easier.
- Kreg K3 Jig – The Kreg Jig makes it easy to securely join two pieces of wood with pocket hole joints. This jig is an invaluable part of Steve’s workshop.
- Router Kit – Steve uses a router to cut out an area on the face of a piece of wood giving it a professional looking edge.
- Spray Gun – A gravity fed, spray gun makes it easy to add a nice varnish finish.
Steve’s Contact Info
Steve is enjoying putting this furniture together and he hopes to generate a little side business. If you are interested in some custom built furniture, get in touch with him. Steve’s email address is CQD2003@aol.com.
What do you think? Ever build your own furniture? What tips do you have?
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5 Responses to Building Custom Wood Furniture
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January 12th, 2009 10:24 am
I built my son’s bed and toy box. Because of how much he loves them they would probably be my most rewarding projects that I’ve work on.
One recommendation that I would have is that if you are building furniture for a single room and plan to stain them, stain them at the same time. No matter how hard I tried I could not get the stain on the bed to match the stain on the toy box (I built the toy box about 6-months before the bed). The stain is close, but not the same.
January 12th, 2009 10:57 am
@Bill, I would guess that different temperatures and moisture levels are the culprit. They both affect how the wood absorbs the stain.
Steve is also building a side table that Jocie and I will put in the nursery. I think it’s really cool to know the story behind a project, so I can appreciate why the bed and toy box are your most rewarding.
January 12th, 2009 12:56 pm
I got into building furniture a couple of years ago.. My first piece was a quarter-sawn white oak coffee table which had something I always wanted in a coffee table: a convenient, drawer-less shelf where I could stash the three or four remotes that always cluttered the table top.
I got buried in work and didn’t use the living room for a few weeks. A friend dropped by and went into the LR while I made coffee. Then she yelled, “What’s with the coffee table?” My new Newfoundland puppy had chewed every corner off it.
Back to the shop where I tried to repair the damage by banding the edges. In the end, I wound up with a better looking table and a dog who never did that again.
January 12th, 2009 1:34 pm
I would love to learn furniture/cabinetmaking, but at this point it’s going to have to be something I do in my retirement!
Is Steve in the B’more/DC area, or somewhere within a couple of hours from southern DE? If so, I might go ahead and get a bid from him for some things that I want to have built for our bathroom renovation (a recessed medicine cabinet, a matching larger recessed storage cabinet, and a small sink base, all in a very simple arts & crafts style). What I want is simpler than even the beautiful pieces that you’ve shown here, so clearly within his skill set, and we could discuss the specs and design without his having to visit here, then I could pick them up when completed.
Probably best to email me an answer – it’s the first week of classes and I might not remember to check back here!
January 13th, 2009 8:43 am
@Steve, I’ve seen some of the other woodworking projects on your site (like the bedroom reno wainscoting). They all look really impressive.