Marine grade stainless + wood slat table

[Doughboyracer]

I have to laugh, I agree 100% with what you said and had part of that in my reply, I just chose not to state the first part "out loud" so I took it out.

[Corgan]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had a chat to a few carpenters that were doing some work on the house and they suggested a timber called Merbau/Kwila (I think its from indonesia, I'm in Australia)

The price was alright, I paid around $4 AUD per M. I know what you mean about Teak, I think I saw a price tag of something like 25-26/m

Here's the table with insert clamped in place, i'm going to weld some SS brackets onto the underside of the frame and screw the timber in from below, using 3 slats of the timber as bracing.

Pretty happy with how it looks, the wood is oil rich and quite hard wearing. I believe it's similar to teak in many ways

cheers again!

[SundownIII]

Looks really good.

Nice, clean, high grade table you can be proud of for years to come.


PS: The only thing I would worry about, especially for an "outdoor table", would be the forces put on the leg to frame connection. Without gussets, there's a lot of leverage put on just the weld joint.

One thing you may want to consider, which would still maintain the "clean look", is to add a 1/2" SS rod running parallel to the horizontal frame and down a couple of inches. It would, based on the apparent height, still allow you to pull a chair in under the table. This would greatly strengthen/stiffen the whole table.

[Corgan]

hi guys,

i finally got round to staining, sealing and screwing down the slat top. took me a few weeks of procrastinating and being busy with other things but i'm pretty happy with how the project came out in the end!

cheers for the tips

[Bistineau]

The table turned out very nice, almost looks "store bought". This is what I was talking about when I mentioned inlaying the wood in the frame rather than having the wood on top of the frame. It makes a nice contrast of the stainless with the wood. It should last a long time in an outdoor environment.Now all you need, is to make a set of matching chairs to sit on while soaking up the suds. That could make a whole other thread or a continuation of this one. It might be a good idea to make one first, to make sure you had the design and measurements right to suit you. Then make three more identical ones after you are satisfied with how the first turned out.I tend to agree with Sundown on adding the extra piece a few inches below the top for extra strength to the legs. But I guess you can judge how stable it is better than the rest of us since you can lay your hands on it and we can't. Enjoy it for years while watching the surf roll in.

[Corbinworks]

Looks Amazing man...Great work A+ Build!

[Corgan]

thanks fellas. the tables pretty stiff and stable in general use, as it's not overly large and heavy, so i decided not to cross brace the legs.

the next piece for my place is going to be a tall, long, skinny serving table arrangement, for the BBQ. i reckon i might do a set of high bar stools to go with it, so it can double as a bar once the servings all done

the slat table isn't staying with me, so unfortunately it wont be me soaking the suds and watching the waves, but hopefully the recipients enjoy it!

[fshkypr]

do you mind posting pics of how the wood is mounted to the frame. trying to do something similar.
thanks

[regal2800]

given that this is not on a boat, teak wood would be a waste of money. Ipe is a solid choice for this project. Mangaris would also give the same look and is cheaper then ipe.

Both these woods last just as well as teak. Teak is popular with the boating industry because it is a light hardwood.

[Corgan]

hi fshkypr,

i don't have any pics of the underside but its not hard to visualise with an explanation. the table in the current thread isn't attached in the best of ways but the other pieces i've made are done a bit better

basically get some 25x25x3 stainless angle (1"x1"x1/8") and cut it so it sits flush inside the frame width-ways

using an offcut of the timber or something the same thickness as whatever the table top will be, set the depth and stitch weld the SS angles in place. for a straight slatted top i'd put one on either endpiece and two in the middle if it's a big long table.

now if you're using slats roughly mark out their position and drill holes in the angle supports. i like to do 2 screws per slat per support so i do end up drilling plenty of holes. i should have recommended doing this before welding them in especially if you have a drill press to take some of the pain away

lastly line up the slats and screw them in from the underside, making sure to keep the slats straight and the gaps even. if you set the depth correctly on all the braces any warped planks will be pulled into line and you should have a flat, flush top