Oak Dining Table

I’ve always struggled to find a table that perfectly fits my space-either they were too big, too small, or just didn’t have the right proportions. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and build one myself!

In this Instructable, I’ll walk you through the process of creating a custom oak table from scratch. I chose oak for its durability and beautiful grain, making it both a practical and stylish addition to our cottage.

Materials:

1. oak planks
2. wood glue
3. wooden dowels
4. food-grade oil
5. metal legs
6. threaded inserts
7. bolts

Tools:

1. circular saw
2. table saw
3. miter saw
4. planer
5. orbital sander
6. dowel jig
7. ruler
8. clamps

For this project, it’s crucial to use properly dried oak wood. Oak is a dense hardwood, and if it still contains too much moisture, it may warp or crack over time. I recommend sourcing your wood from a trusted supplier. If you're using air-dried wood, make sure it has had enough time to stabilize.

Once you have your oak boards, start by cutting them to rough size using a circular saw. Don't aim for final dimensions yet—just make the planks slightly oversized. This gives room for later adjustments.

For this project, I needed seven identical pieces of oak planks. This step is crucial for getting a well-aligned tabletop, so precision matters.

Arrange the Planks for Best Appearance

Before making the final cuts, lay out the rough-cut planks in the order that looks best visually. Pay attention to the grain direction, color variations, or unique patterns. Once you're happy with the arrangement, mark each board to keep track of its position.

Straight Cuts with a Table Saw and DIY Jig

Since rough-cut wood doesn’t always have perfect edges, it’s important to create straight reference edges before making final cuts. Use a jig to ensure straight edges. I made a DIY straight-cut jig for my table saw using leftover plywood. This helped me trim the first edge cleanly before flipping the board and making parallel cuts.

Maintain Cutting Order for a Perfect Fit

One of the most important steps is cutting in a specific sequence to keep the alignment seamless:

1. First cut – from the top side
2. Second cut – from the bottom side

This method ensures that the parting lines always match, making the final glue-up much cleaner.

Planning for smooth surface

After I cut the straight pieces I used a planer for nice surface. Make sure that your planks has at least one flat surface or use some second flat plank as a base. If you want to make sure that all of planks will have same width you need to make sure that as a final step you will use all of 7 planks on one planer set width.

Now that all seven oak planks are planed to the same thickness, it's time to join them together to form a solid tabletop. Using dowels ensures extra strength and helps keep the boards aligned during glue-up.

Marking the Dowels

Before drilling, lay the boards out again in the correct order and mark dowel positions. I simply draw lines with pencil to each neighbours planks which later I used as reference for my dowel jig.

Drilling and gluing

After I drilled the 3 holes in each side of plank I glue each planks together.

Clamping and drying

Use strong clamps along the width of the table top, I used also flat boards across tabletop to prefent warping. Wipe of any excess of glue and leave it at least overnight for a strong bond.

Now that the glue has dried and the boards are securely joined, it's time to cut the tabletop to its final length and sand it to a smooth finish. I wanted exact 125cm X 70cm

Trimming to Final Size

Use a circular saw with a guide or a straight edge to ensure a clean, straight cut.

Sanding the smooth surface

Sanding is crucial for achieving flawless finish. I used excentric sander. I followed this sending progression: 80->120->180->240->400

Now that the tabletop is sanded and ready, it’s time to install the legs. To ensure a strong and removable connection, I used threaded inserts instead of screwing the legs directly into the wood. This method makes the table more durable and allows for easy disassembly if needed. There are also some jigs or techniques to make sure your table top will not twist. If you want to be sure that it will not happen, use some C channel support. Since I bought legs which will hold my planks together, I didnt use it.

Drill holes

First of all is of course marking the position of legs. You make need to make sure that you will drill holes slightly smaller then the outer diameter of threaded inserts. Use a depth stop to avoid drilling too deep.

Installing threaded inserts

Screw in the threaded inserts. Make sure that you will put it there in proper direction since you need to avoid reassembling the threaded inserts or it will loose strength.

Attaching metal legs

Use bolts to securely attach the legs to the table and tigh it firmly.

Now that the table is fully assembled, the final step is to protect the wood with a food-safe finish. I used transparent oil and I did two coats. Be prepared that the table will probably need one extra coat after couple months.