Furnishing Your Cabin: 5 Tips for Building a Dining Table

Building your own cabin in the woods is quite an achievement. The resulting sense of accomplishment is something most people seldom feel, but you take pride in rolling up your sleeves, adapting to adversity, and getting the job done right.

Portable Bandsaw Mill

Once you’ve built a cabin with your own two hands and reliable forestry equipment, like the industry’s best-valued portable bandsaw mill, it hardly makes sense to head into town to buy furniture from some big-box store. You’ve already come this far, so why not handcraft all the furniture to complete your new cabin?

The centerpiece of any residence is the dining table. It may not be the first piece of furniture you build—having a bed to sleep in is usually the best place to start—but it may be the most important, especially since it will give your friends and family a place to gather.

When you’re ready to build a dining table for your new cabin, use these five tips to get started and create outstanding results.

Design for the Space and Purpose

When you’ve got the woodworking know-how and tools to bring your visions to life, it can be tempting to go all-out. But arguably the most important thing about building furniture is ensuring that it’s appropriate for the space.

Your dining table needs to provide enough seating area for your guests without making the room feel cramped, so don’t go overboard as you build. Come up with a focused design and stick to it.

Mill Your Own Lumber

If you didn’t have to mill any lumber when you built your cabin, this furniture-building project could be a fantastic opportunity to make your start as a hobbyist sawyer.

Sourcing and milling your own lumber are simply the most effective means of putting a personal touch on any project. With a portable bandsaw sawmill, you can make your mark and put more of yourself into each piece of cabin furniture.

Fill Gaps with Epoxy Resin for a Smooth Finish

Whether you decide to mill, plane, and join boards for your tabletop or cut a stunning live-edge slab, you’ll need to take steps to ensure your tabletop is smooth and level.

You could simply use wood filler, but epoxy resin—especially colored resins—can take your table’s aesthetic to the next level when properly and judiciously applied.

Select Legs that Complement the Wood

The tabletop itself isn’t the only thing that influences the character and tone of the final product. You’ll need to choose and attach appropriate legs as well.

Of course, structural considerations come first. You don’t want a wobbly or unbalanced table. But beyond that, make sure your table legs look the part. You could go with metal table legs for an industrial or farmhouse look, or you could take some smaller logs and make your own. Either way, make sure the legs contribute to, rather than distract from, the overall look of your table.

Don’t Cut Corners When It Comes to Safety

Sure, you’ve read the safety warnings dozens of times and have plenty of experience under your belt. But you still have to account for the fact that when you’re working in an isolated location, such as your new cabin, the stakes are higher.

If you built in an area without cell coverage, how will you call for help should you need it? Do you have a well-stocked first aid kit within easy reach? How far would you need to drive to the nearest urgent care center? These are all things to consider before you get to work, and all the more reason to be cautious whenever you’re using forestry equipment or power tools.

About Woodland Mills

“Why are these new sawmills so expensive? We can just build our own, can’t we?” That’s what Josh Malcolm asked his childhood friend and fellow mechanical engineer Neil Bramley over a decade ago when Malcolm needed a portable sawmill to manage his acreage but couldn’t find a mill with the capability he needed at a justifiable price. The two went on to found Woodland Mills, which is now recognized as a global leader in the forestry industry. From the flagship HM126 portable bandsaw mill to the Multilander ATV log trailer, Woodland Mills combines innovative engineering, cost-effective manufacturing, and peerless customer service to deliver value through design to sawyers worldwide. Whether you’re after a rugged stump grinder, powerful 3 point wood chipper, or portable trailer for your bandsaw mill, you can count on Woodland Mills.

Make the most of your forested acreage with Woodland Mills at https://woodlandmills.com/