Today I made a particularly sturdy table from scrap wood I had laying around.

So… I needed a table, not just any sort of table. One of a particular height and with rather sturdy legs. So, looking around for some likely legs, I spotted these bits of wood…

A nice chap from the other side of town collects scrap from building sites and sells it on for not very much money. I don’t remember what I’d paid for these bits, but they were not expensive.

Yes, they are a bit big. Comedy Carpentry here we come. First they were trimmed to length on the table saw.

They were a bit big to go through the chop saw, but the table saw did a grand job. It did take two passes though.

Then I cut in some rebates for the joinery. The joinery is quite a scale.

Then the lower rail pieces and the upper rail that supports the top were assembled. This makes a nice pair of legs, well a pair of a pair.

Then some side rails to stop it falling over too easily and a top – which as it is made from scraps is actually two worktop offcuts. The chequer plate should stop the top catching fire too easily.

So… what did I learn?

I finish work early on Fridays – usually around 1pm. Today I was procrastinating. Instead of getting out and starting there were a whole number of other things I ended up doing. I think it was because I didn’t have a clear idea of exactly how I was going to make this table.

In the end, even though the legs are a little on the large side – actually they’re only a little larger than I’d like, It has turned out OK. I just needed to get going.

This is becoming a theme of Makevember, the feeling that I need to just get on with things. Hopefully the habit will form over the month.