Table For Eugene

Our predecessor here at Coffeetree Bottoms - a good and kind man named Eugene - left a few gems behind. One particularly nice inheritance is this old door which was about the only thing holding up the barn that it was attached to. The barn is now in a better place but how could we honor the door and, by extension, Eugene? Leave it to Jennifer to come up with the idea of using it as the inspiration for a (much needed) coffee table.

It was quite simple, actually, requiring just the door itself, some salvaged 2x4's and 4x4's, some glue and some fasteners. I simply cut the four legs the desired length and used those and some 2x4's to make a frame.

The key to the frame is the time-honored mortise and tenon joint.

I used a not-quite-typical mortise and tenon joint but it (along with some glue and drywall screws) resulted in a very sturdy table.

I'll go through this quickly, just for fun. I cut the tenons on the tablesaw by...

...making successive cross-cuts...

...on both sides of...

...each tenon.

To make the mortises I used the tenons...

...as a guide...

...to mark the mortises.

Then all I had to do was cut the mortises with a hammer and chisel. First, I scored the outside of the mortise...

...as you see here.

Now, I just removed all the material.

Taking it a bite at a time...

...and working slowly and steadily...

...with laser-precision (ha!)...

...I ended up with decent mortises.

Next I glued...

...aligned...

...and clamped the frame.

After a few hours of clamping, the glue was set enough to accept the top...


...which I glued and screwed onto the frame.


That was it!


It was done!

It nicely augmented our sassy living area!

And greatly pleased the queen of the house!


Thanks Eugene!