Making a pub table — with an old oak tabletop :: Cavelab blog

Sometimes, when I’m not too busy with my homelab or some other electronics project — I pretend to be a woodworker or carpenter.

This time I made a pub table, using an old kitchen tabletop of oak. I got it for free from a good friend, he had stored it in his barn for a number of years, and before that it was a desk.

It wasn’t in great condition, with lots of scratches and dents — even some black spray paint. But it was oak, and it was free 🙂

Table of contents

The plan

We’ve wanted a sitting area in the kitchen for a while, but we didn’t find any tables we liked… It needed to be a specific size, so we decided that I would try and make one.

Turns out buying thick oak tabletops is quite expensive 😞 But we were very fortunate to get one for free — thanks Martin 👍

I like free, but I also like to use material that has a history. An old tabletop from my friends barn has a much more interesting story than something bought new. Anyway — I got to work!

The oak tabletop

I bought some hairpin metal table legs online, and transported the tabletop home.

We laid it out on the kitchen floor, to get an idea of the size. There was a big hole in the tabletop, used for wires from its history as a desk.

As the hole was very close to the long side — the only choice was to make the tabletop narrower.

Sanding

And then began the sanding — there was so much sanding! I installed some additional lights in the garage before I got started. Good lighting was crucial, combined I now have a total of 52.8k lumens in the garage ☀️

I began with 40 grit sand paper, and had the random orbital sander set on forced rotation. This took of a lot of material — for each pass there was less and less visible scratches and bumps.

Before each pass — I scribbled the entire surface with a pencil. Then sanded until all the pencil marks were gone, and then repeated the process.

I had a dust extractor connected to the sander, this kept the dust to a minimum — even with the garage door closed. It also efficiently removed the dust from the surface, which makes the sanding more efficient and saves the sand paper 👍

I don’t remember how many passes I did, but it was a lot. I also sanded the underside, but not early as much.

A few dents and bumps were too deep to sand off — those I simply filled with some two-component epoxy glue. And sanded it flat once the glue was dry.

Dent in tabletop — filled with epoxy glue

Dents in tabletop — filled with epoxy glue

After I was done with the 40 grit, I continued with 80, 120, 160, and finished with hand sanding using 240 grit.

Cutting

Time to cut this thing into it’s final dimensions. I bought a new track saw for the occasion, and did a test run on the side with the hole.

Track, for track saw, and jigsaw — on tabletop

That went well, so I cut all sides of the table. Making it into it’s final dimensions, which turned out at 150x57 cm — perfect for the spot in our kitchen ❤️

I rounded the corners using a jigsaw — they ended up quite rough, but was sanded smooth 🙂

Looking quite different now — compared to the tabletop we brought home from the barn 👍

I cut two grooves in the underside of the table — I was told this could prevent warping, so why not? 🤷

Round over

The last finishing touch was a 3 mm edge round-over, on both sides.

Alright, so the tabletop was now all done. Yeay! 🥳

Acclimatization

I did this in April last year, and it was quite cold in the garage. So to minimize the climate shock — the tabletop rested for 14 days in the basement.

Our basement is quite warn, with the home office and all, but it’s colder than the living room at least…

Oiling

After some rest it was time to oil it! I used Guardian Wood Oil 👇

I think I applied three coats on each side — applying generously, and then wiping off the excess after an hour or so.

After the first coat was wiped off, I lightly hand sanded the top side with 320 grit — to get rid of any raised wood fibers after the oiling.

The table

Legs! Now it went from being a tabletop — to a table. I was a bit worried it would be wobbly, but it felt sturdy and solid. Probably due to the weight and thickness of the oak tabletop.

The result

And here is the finished result! The chairs are from IKEA — BERGMUND, grey, 75 cm.

Finished table in the kitchen, with bar chairs

The legs are 102 cm, combined with the 3.8 cm thick tabletop, makes the table about 106 cm. Which is the right height for a pub table — at least according to some sources I found on the internet.

90 cm is quite common for pub tables in kitchens, but this is to match the height of the kitchen counter. We wanted a table taller than the counter.