Dining Table...Apron

The table top of any table is usually what gets noticed first, but behind (or in this case under) every good table top is a good apron! The table apron is panel that connects the top surface to the legs. This was my first phase of the table that I built.

To give the table more character and uniqueness, I decided to use reclaimed lumber. I got some reclaimed redwood for free off craigslist and cleaned it up a bit. The lumber had been used for an outdoor pergola, so I cleaned it off and sanded it a bit. Some pieces, like the cross members, I ran through the table saw to take some height off of them. I used a jointer on my shopsmith to make the top surfaces consistently flat so there would be a good flat surface for my table top to sit on.

The wood cleaned up nicely and has some old nail holes and I knew it would stain nicely.  You may be wondering about all of the angled holes in the picture. Those are pocket holes, and make an extremely strong and easy joinery to the table top that went on. I use a Kreg Pocket-Hole Jig system, and the thing is AMAZING. It saves so much time, is extremely strong, and you can't see these holes once the top is on. Of course there are projects that I don't use these for because you can see the holes, but when building something for strength, this does the trick!

After that I attached a 3/4 inch sheet of Birch hardwood plywood to start working on the table top! More to come in next post!

Custom Dining Table...Design

Last year I took on my biggest project yet. My family and I had recently moved into our rental home and the small 3' circle dining table just wasn't cutting it any more. My wife has great design sense showed me this coffee table for design inspiration.

I really like the chevron design and it reminded me of parquet floor or herringbone design. This was our second photo for design inspiration.

A great woodworking tool is actually my computer! With the help of my sister, Kim McIntyre (who also has a woodworking business in the Denver Area and sells online), we drew up the design on Google SketchUp.  SketchUp is a FREE sofware that is really intuitive and is used to model 3D objects, such as buildings or woodworking projects.  I have since used SketchUp to work with clients firm up their custom piece before actually building it.

Here are some screenshots of the design...

As you can see, we stuck with the cool chevron design on the top, and we really gravitated toward the trestle leg design to add some different lines to the table and create something unique.

We now had a design and it was time to start buying wood and get to work! My dad got me an old Shopsmith Mark V for Christmas off craigslist and it meant time for business!

More on the table to come!

Welcome and Introduction

Welcome to Jason McIntyre Custom Furniture Blog! I plan to use this blog to showcase some of my woodworking projects, tell about different skills and techniques that I'm learning, show potential clients the type of work I can do, and post pictures of my work.

So here is a little bit about me... I'm a father of two wonderful kids, Boston and Story! I have the most amazing wife, Emylee, and we are expecting our third child this July. We decided we would wait to find out the gender and we couldn't be more excited for our new addition!  I grew up in Virginia and now live in the Sacramento, California area now.  I am a sustainability project manager for a green building consulting firm and really enjoy the work that I do.

As far as woodworking goes, I grew up in a home that was originally built in 1878 and my dad did lots of the finish carpentry. He did the trim and moulding, doors, wainscoting, and even several fireplace mantles in the house, and had a dedicated workshop to make plenty of sawdust. At the time, I wasn't to interested in making furniture, but made anything from a tree house, skate ramps, canoe paddle, to a dog sled.  It wasn't until 2011 that I finally had enough space to start woodworking and start making fun, creative and functional furniture. 

It started out of necessity. My at the time two-year old son needed to move up to a twin sized bed. We shopped for a new bed and there was nothing that we liked under $300. We looked on craigslist and nothing was coming up. For $200 I could buy all the lumber we needed and my first real woodworking tool, a circular saw.

Here is the finished product:

With each new project I would aquire a new tool and learn some technique for the first time.  I hope you enjoy this blog and please comment, leave feedback, post ideas, or HIRE ME to build you something!