Plumbing has never been my thing. And after getting shot with a taser during a training exercise I stay away from electrical work too. But chainsaws are my thing, and building stuff with them- particularly rustic furniture. When I have plumbing or electrical work that needs to be done I call someone that knows what they are doing and when they walk into my living room they always stop and ask “dude, where did you get that?” I then explain to them the following story:
When I was a boy we had this huge tree in the backyard; it was three large red oak trees that grew out of one stump. The stump was massive… about five feet wide by three feet deep. A couple of years ago the trees died and we had to take them down. I remember my friends and I used to play in and around that tree and I decided that I didn’t want those memories to die with it. So I grabbed my trusty 660 that I usually use for lumber milling and I cut horizontal slabs out of the stump, each about three to four inches thick and I decided to make coffee tables out of them. Each slab ended up being about five feet by three feet by three inches thick and weighed approximately 150 pounds. One of the “coffee tables” that I made ended up instead as a TV stand in my living room!
These “stump” tables are a great DIY project if you own a chainsaw. Even if you don’t own a chainsaw or know how to use one you could probably find a guy like me who would be more than happy to cut or sell you a slab of wood for your project. Tables made out of stumps can be used for pretty much anything from coffee tables to end tables, night stands and sofa table. Believe it or not they are actually really easy to build.
Start by cutting the stump, or have someone cut it, in three inch sections. Then store the wood in an are where it can completely dry; this process may take a couple of months. As the wood dries, particularly if it is a red oak, it may “check” or split. So far I haven’t found an effective way to prevent cut stumps from checking but to me it just adds to the character. You will notice that as the wood dries it will also become much lighter, making it a lot easier to work with.
Next, using a belt sander with coarse grit paper, begin sanding the stump. As you are sanding you will need to change the paper from coarse to medium and then to fine. Depending on how much of the saw marks and grooves you want left in the wood will determine how much sanding you will have to do. I like to finish sanding with an orbital sander with fine sand paper; it seems to produce a better product. After the sanding is complete make sure to blow or wipe off all of the wood dust. Then, after the wood is clean you can begin the staining process.
There are a variety of methods of staining. For our higher-end products we use a hand-stained finish using a two-wipe method. Stain is wiped on with a rag and then immediately wiped off with a dry rag. However, for stump tables I recommend just using a brush. You will most likely need to apply two to three coats of stain depending on the type of the wood and how dry it is. I’m not going to get too much into selecting stains but remember that oil based stains take longer to dry than water based one’s do but I do tend to prefer oil based stains.
After the staining is complete you can polyurethane the table if you like for a glossy finish. The polyurethane will also take several coats. After each coat is dry you will need to lightly sand it using a very fine sand paper to remove any small bubbles in the finish.
The last step is to add the legs. When I built my first table I put the legs on before I sanded it but depending on what type of legs you decide to use you may want to wait until after you are done with the stain and poly. I made the legs on mine out of a small diameter oak tree I cut down. Using my chainsaw I cut the logs approximately seventeen inches long and I let them dry with the stump. After they were completely dry I attached them using wood dowels and wood glue; I then sprayed the bark on them with a coat of poly. However, on the stump table that I am currently building for sale I am going to be using hairpin legs instead. The hairpin legs will cut down on weight and will add a vintage look to the piece. But there are a lot of things you can use for legs on one of these tables; you can go to an antique store and find some old rusty looking rod-iron legs that would look great on you rustic table. I’ve even seen legs from an old Singer sewing machine used for legs on a stump table. So if you are going to be using metal legs instead of log legs I would recommend attaching the legs after you have finished working on the stump.
And that’s it. Now you have a great table to enjoy drinking your coffee on while reading our blog posts! As always, thanks for reading!
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