My first project - Coffee table

[Rob Keeble]

Larry took the words right out my mouth. I am a rookie too and if i could stain poplar and get that great finish i would be incredibly happy.
Please share what you did Shawn.

Great work beats Ikea any day of the week.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

[Charlie Plesums]

It looks great - I started with a coffee table, which I wish looked as good as yours.

If those are truly breadboard ends, and the pegs in the ends are in oval holes, that is doubly amazing for a first project. Hopefully you attached the aprons to the breadboard end, so the grain is going in the same direction.

I am concerned about the wood movement across the grain - I saw pictures on another forum a few years ago, where the cross braces, glued and screwed to the bottom of a table, tore the table apart as the wood shrank. It didn't have breadboard ends, but those will keep the ends of the boards aligned and pretty, but will not keep them from expanding and shrinking. Rule of thumb - count on at least 1/8 inch expansion and contraction in each foot of cross grain, and close to no change in the long grain. No amount of finish or glue will prevent that wood movement.

Sorry to be such a wet blanket on your first project. It looks great.

Now add a drawer!

[Bill Arnold]

Very nicely done, Shawn!

[Rennie Heuer]

Well done!

[Vaughn McMillan]

Nicely done, especially for a first table.

[Jim C Bradley]

That is a nice table. It will lead to many more pieces "That are better than Ikea." Enjoy the trip.

Enjoy,

JimB

[Marshall Border]

Shawn it turned out real well , the braceing underneath will do nicely in time too ................MB

[glenn bradley]

Great start Shawn. Nice clean lines.

[Shawn Anderson]

Thanks for the comments guys, and Bro. It's a great feeling to have turned a pile of lumber into something that we use every day.

I didn't know staining poplar was difficult until you guys mentioned it and I googled it, guess I got lucky. I don't know if I did anything out of the ordinary, but I'll tell you what I did. Once the table was put together, I took my detail sander with 150 grit (?) and ran it over the whole table to take off any imperfections. Then I put the stain on using a foam brush, and wiped it off after a few minutes with the disposable shop towels (blue paper towels from HD). I continued to wipe it off over the next few hours a couple more times to get most of the residue off. then I applied the polyurethane, sanded with 220 grit and added a second coat of poly.

Charlie - Thanks for the info, wet blanket . I would have never thought of the expansion of the wood, it will come in useful in the future.