DIY Furniture

[BillTheKatt90]

I have been lurking here for a long time. My wife and I are mere dabblers in D/s stuff. I have looked all over this site and done Google searches for information about this question, but have found no good answers. Hence my post.

One of the hottest things we play around with is dom-boss/sub-secretary at my office (I own the company). The conference room in our office space is huge, oak, has rounded edges (from the 1970s) and is close to the perfect height so that when she is bent over, reclined, or laying with her face toward the edge of the table, our sexy parts align well. This unfortunately requires the office to be empty of other people (we also discovered that janitorial at our office building does not have a fixed schedule after hours). Our opportunities are thus limited.

We would like to recreate an improved, smaller, version at home. I tried to find a sturdy but smaller table that I could convert for the purpose, but (a) most tables are way too large for the space we have, (b) most smaller tables are also too flimsy to be trustworthy, and (c) there are no good websites I can find to purchase or build one of these myself. Plus, we would like to get the table height just right, include some upholstery, and include some points for her to hold onto (or be tied to). I am pretty handy with tools, I understand basic woodworking, I am very mechanical, and I enjoy making stuff.

In other words, I am looking to make (or purchase) a bespoke table. Anyone who can provide direction would have my utmost appreciation.

Also, have any of you all built your own furniture? Care to share your creations?

 

[IrisAlthea]

Not a DIY but we had my grandfathers vintage, very stable and very impressive, dark oak deco desk.
I’d look in vintage/antique stores for either desks or tables. You’ll find pieces that are both sturdier and a better height.

 

[BillTheKatt90]

Not a DIY but we had my grandfathers vintage, very stable and very impressive, dark oak deco desk.
I’d look in vintage/antique stores for either desks or tables. You’ll find pieces that are both sturdier and a better height.

I will start searching those. A vintage desk could work well, but the height will remain a concern.

Thank you.

 

[midwestyankee]

I've knocked together the odd table and bookcase here and there, and as I have other interests that produce more body fluids than sawdust, I've given this question a bit of thought over the years.

If I were to make a bend-her-over-it table and planned on giving it regular vigorous use, here are the factors I would include in my design:

Use 8/4 hardwoods. My preference would be to use either cherry, maple, or walnut but oak would be fine too. This is mostly an aesthetic choice, though I think that a table built from hardwood boards like these would be considerably stronger than one made of a soft wood such as pine.

I would stick to a straightforward leg-and-apron design with very, very beefy mortise-and-tenon joints at all the corners. Think simple Shaker style here, with no ornamentation whatsoever. Besides, don't you think your partner would be ornament enough when it's in your planned use?

As for size, I would pick a size that makes sense for everyday use so that it would blend into your household furniture without appearing to be out of place. I think something the size of a four-person table in a breakfast nook would probably work just fine. Since most usable tables are about thirty inches tall, and a typical man's inseam would likely be within a few inches of that, a table in a usable height would easily serve an alternative function.

In order to deal with the sort of lateral forces that would be involved, I would use a splayed leg design so that force coming from any angle is resisted by strong legs angled out away from the table aprons and thus against all lateral forces. For a good example of this, look at a Moravian style workbench. Now, since woodworking benches are designed to resist lateral forces in only one plane (along the length of the bench rather than its width), the legs in the Moravian benches splay out in only one dimension. For more personal uses such as you have in mind, I recommend splaying the legs in two dimensions, such as you would see on a Windsor chair. While these chairs look delicate, they are incredibly strong.

To be sturdy enough to withstand the kinds of lateral and vertical forces involved once your partner is bent over the table, I recommend very thick boards all around. For the top and aprons, I'd use 8/4 material, as I mentioned above. These boards are close to 2 inches thick so they could stand up to a lot of pounding, and the tenons (traditionally about 1/3 the thickness of the apron, would be over 3/4 inch thick. That's starting to approach the sturdiness of a timber-framed building, so you can see the merit in going thick. For the legs, I would glue together two 8/4 boards so they are truly beefy.

Now, really thick boards make for chunky and unattractive furniture in my humble, but sawdusty, opinion. I would taper the legs down to about 2/3 of their full thickness to lighten their appearance without compromising their strength. As the for top, a low-angle bevel cut into the underside of the top would reduce its apparent thickness and make the top look more delicate. I'd leave the aprons full thickness all the way around, though a nice little bead along the bottom edge would make the aprons appear less bulky.

Finally, I would finish such a table with a hard-wax oil such as Odie's Oil or Rubio Monocoat. These finishes are highly resistant to staining from moisture and, in the event of any kind of damage (scratches, stains, etc.), can be easily repaired to look like new.

As one of my favorite YouTubers likes to say at the end of every video, I hope this helps.

 

[BillTheKatt90]

I've knocked together the odd table and bookcase here and there, and as I have other interests that produce more body fluids than sawdust, I've given this question a bit of thought over the years.

If I were to make a bend-her-over-it table and planned on giving it regular vigorous use, here are the factors I would include in my design:

Use 8/4 hardwoods. My preference would be to use either cherry, maple, or walnut but oak would be fine too. This is mostly an aesthetic choice, though I think that a table built from hardwood boards like these would be considerably stronger than one made of a soft wood such as pine.

I would stick to a straightforward leg-and-apron design with very, very beefy mortise-and-tenon joints at all the corners. Think simple Shaker style here, with no ornamentation whatsoever. Besides, don't you think your partner would be ornament enough when it's in your planned use?

As for size, I would pick a size that makes sense for everyday use so that it would blend into your household furniture without appearing to be out of place. I think something the size of a four-person table in a breakfast nook would probably work just fine. Since most usable tables are about thirty inches tall, and a typical man's inseam would likely be within a few inches of that, a table in a usable height would easily serve an alternative function.

In order to deal with the sort of lateral forces that would be involved, I would use a splayed leg design so that force coming from any angle is resisted by strong legs angled out away from the table aprons and thus against all lateral forces. For a good example of this, look at a Moravian style workbench. Now, since woodworking benches are designed to resist lateral forces in only one plane (along the length of the bench rather than its width), the legs in the Moravian benches splay out in only one dimension. For more personal uses such as you have in mind, I recommend splaying the legs in two dimensions, such as you would see on a Windsor chair. While these chairs look delicate, they are incredibly strong.

To be sturdy enough to withstand the kinds of lateral and vertical forces involved once your partner is bent over the table, I recommend very thick boards all around. For the top and aprons, I'd use 8/4 material, as I mentioned above. These boards are close to 2 inches thick so they could stand up to a lot of pounding, and the tenons (traditionally about 1/3 the thickness of the apron, would be over 3/4 inch thick. That's starting to approach the sturdiness of a timber-framed building, so you can see the merit in going thick. For the legs, I would glue together two 8/4 boards so they are truly beefy.

Now, really thick boards make for chunky and unattractive furniture in my humble, but sawdusty, opinion. I would taper the legs down to about 2/3 of their full thickness to lighten their appearance without compromising their strength. As the for top, a low-angle bevel cut into the underside of the top would reduce its apparent thickness and make the top look more delicate. I'd leave the aprons full thickness all the way around, though a nice little bead along the bottom edge would make the aprons appear less bulky.

Finally, I would finish such a table with a hard-wax oil such as Odie's Oil or Rubio Monocoat. These finishes are highly resistant to staining from moisture and, in the event of any kind of damage (scratches, stains, etc.), can be easily repaired to look like new.

As one of my favorite YouTubers likes to say at the end of every video, I hope this helps.

Thank you for the detailed information!

(1) Most of my experience making things out of wood was gained while making a teardrop trailer during COVID. Otherwise, I am mostly a car guy. I love building engines, doing all that mechanical troubleshooting, making my car better. Some of the construction techniques you suggest--despite being relatively basic to woodworking--require learning new skills. This will take time, but I enjoy learning real world skills. (My job/business often leaves me less than satisfied, as there is no tangible end product.)

(2) The Morovian style workbench is certainly a great starting place. The splayed leg design was already something I had been considering because of some spanking benches I had found.

(3) I agree that hardwoods would work better, but as I practice, I will probably use pine, plywood, etc. Since the bench in the website aappears to be made of pine, I would presume a prototype bench/table made of pine would be strong enough for some beta testing, no?

I am excited to have a project, though it will take a lot of free time to get it done. Thank you again for your detailed response!

Again thank you, and this does help.

 

[midwestyankee]

I'm glad you found my thoughts helpful.

Yes, by all means start with some pine if you'd like. It's worth noting that in his book The Anarchist's Workbench, Christopher Schwarz recommends using Southern Yellow Pine because it is both relatively cheap and readily available. His advice is to buy it in 2X10 boards and then let it dry in your workspace for a few months. The reasons are that 2X10 boards are almost always the straightest in the store/lumberyard, but they're often still damp and not quite ready for furniture joinery. After a few months they should be plenty dry and can be made straight and flat with little concern for further warping. Also, SYP becomes very hard with age so it's quite strong.

My preference for hardwood in this case would be all about making a bend-her-over-it table blend in completely with my existing furniture. It's also marginally stronger than hardened pine but not so much as to disqualify the pine at all.

I just had an idea: in The Anarchist's Workbench, Schwarz shows a method for accomplishing mortise-and-tenon joinery that's incredibly strong but achievable without special skills. And, the book is available for free as a pdf download from this link.

One other thought: the splayed-leg idea would be one way, perhaps the most elegant but not the only way, to make furniture that would resist racking in all directions. Another way to do it would be to run stretchers between the end legs part way between the aprons and the floor and another stretcher between the two ends centered beneath the table top. Here's an example. Done this way, these stretchers wouldn't get in the way of anyone sitting at the table, but they'd go a long way toward full resistance against lateral forces from the sides.

Since you've built a teardrop camper, I feel it's likely you already have the tools and skills to make your table. Especially if you follow Chris Schwarz's suggestions for creating mortise-and-tenon joints without having to cut any mortises or tenons.

Good luck, and if you develop any questions along the way, please feel free to holler. I'll be interested in how this project works out.

 

[BillTheKatt90]

I'm glad you found my thoughts helpful.

Yes, by all means start with some pine if you'd like. It's worth noting that in his book The Anarchist's Workbench, Christopher Schwarz recommends using Southern Yellow Pine because it is both relatively cheap and readily available. His advice is to buy it in 2X10 boards and then let it dry in your workspace for a few months. The reasons are that 2X10 boards are almost always the straightest in the store/lumberyard, but they're often still damp and not quite ready for furniture joinery. After a few months they should be plenty dry and can be made straight and flat with little concern for further warping. Also, SYP becomes very hard with age so it's quite strong.

My preference for hardwood in this case would be all about making a bend-her-over-it table blend in completely with my existing furniture. It's also marginally stronger than hardened pine but not so much as to disqualify the pine at all.

I just had an idea: in The Anarchist's Workbench, Schwarz shows a method for accomplishing mortise-and-tenon joinery that's incredibly strong but achievable without special skills. And, the book is available for free as a pdf download from this link.

One other thought: the splayed-leg idea would be one way, perhaps the most elegant but not the only way, to make furniture that would resist racking in all directions. Another way to do it would be to run stretchers between the end legs part way between the aprons and the floor and another stretcher between the two ends centered beneath the table top. Here's an example. Done this way, these stretchers wouldn't get in the way of anyone sitting at the table, but they'd go a long way toward full resistance against lateral forces from the sides.

Since you've built a teardrop camper, I feel it's likely you already have the tools and skills to make your table. Especially if you follow Chris Schwarz's suggestions for creating mortise-and-tenon joints without having to cut any mortises or tenons.

Good luck, and if you develop any questions along the way, please feel free to holler. I'll be interested in how this project works out.

Your posts have given me more information about how to do this myself than two hours of digging around on Google! Thank you so much!

 

[midwestyankee]

You're quite welcome. Happy building!

 

[pmagister054]

Another potential source if you do not want to build your own or modify something is ETSY.com. There are many talented craftsmen on there who will make appropriate purpose built furnishings, often to specification. Check it out.

 

[Bigboobbabe]

I've knocked together the odd table and bookcase here and there, and as I have other interests that produce more body fluids than sawdust, I've given this question a bit of thought over the years.

If I were to make a bend-her-over-it table and planned on giving it regular vigorous use, here are the factors I would include in my design:

Use 8/4 hardwoods. My preference would be to use either cherry, maple, or walnut but oak would be fine too. This is mostly an aesthetic choice, though I think that a table built from hardwood boards like these would be considerably stronger than one made of a soft wood such as pine.

I would stick to a straightforward leg-and-apron design with very, very beefy mortise-and-tenon joints at all the corners. Think simple Shaker style here, with no ornamentation whatsoever. Besides, don't you think your partner would be ornament enough when it's in your planned use?

As for size, I would pick a size that makes sense for everyday use so that it would blend into your household furniture without appearing to be out of place. I think something the size of a four-person table in a breakfast nook would probably work just fine. Since most usable tables are about thirty inches tall, and a typical man's inseam would likely be within a few inches of that, a table in a usable height would easily serve an alternative function.

In order to deal with the sort of lateral forces that would be involved, I would use a splayed leg design so that force coming from any angle is resisted by strong legs angled out away from the table aprons and thus against all lateral forces. For a good example of this, look at a Moravian style workbench. Now, since woodworking benches are designed to resist lateral forces in only one plane (along the length of the bench rather than its width), the legs in the Moravian benches splay out in only one dimension. For more personal uses such as you have in mind, I recommend splaying the legs in two dimensions, such as you would see on a Windsor chair. While these chairs look delicate, they are incredibly strong.

To be sturdy enough to withstand the kinds of lateral and vertical forces involved once your partner is bent over the table, I recommend very thick boards all around. For the top and aprons, I'd use 8/4 material, as I mentioned above. These boards are close to 2 inches thick so they could stand up to a lot of pounding, and the tenons (traditionally about 1/3 the thickness of the apron, would be over 3/4 inch thick. That's starting to approach the sturdiness of a timber-framed building, so you can see the merit in going thick. For the legs, I would glue together two 8/4 boards so they are truly beefy.

Now, really thick boards make for chunky and unattractive furniture in my humble, but sawdusty, opinion. I would taper the legs down to about 2/3 of their full thickness to lighten their appearance without compromising their strength. As the for top, a low-angle bevel cut into the underside of the top would reduce its apparent thickness and make the top look more delicate. I'd leave the aprons full thickness all the way around, though a nice little bead along the bottom edge would make the aprons appear less bulky.

Finally, I would finish such a table with a hard-wax oil such as Odie's Oil or Rubio Monocoat. These finishes are highly resistant to staining from moisture and, in the event of any kind of damage (scratches, stains, etc.), can be easily repaired to look like new.

As one of my favorite YouTubers likes to say at the end of every video, I hope this helps.

 

[Bigboobbabe]

If you can find a vintage dining room table, you should easily find one in Cherry or Mahogany. I have one in my dining room with thick pedestal legs at both ends. Each pedestal forms a y at the bottom for strength.

I am told mine is outdated and no one uses those heavy woods any longer. You could get lucky.

My table also has the pads to protect the surface. My FWB keeps checking it out.
Someday, we will christen it.

 

[BillTheKatt90]

If you can find a vintage dining room table, you should easily find one in Cherry or Mahogany. I have one in my dining room with thick pedestal legs at both ends. Each pedestal forms a y at the bottom for strength.

I am told mine is outdated and no one uses those heavy woods any longer. You could get lucky.

My table also has the pads to protect the surface. My FWB keeps checking it out.
Someday, we will christen it.

How about I buy it from you. We can meet halfway!

 

[Bigboobbabe]

Half-way as in you crawl from one end, I crawl from the other and we see how sturdy that 7' x 4' solid cherry table is?

 

[BillTheKatt90]

Half-way as in you crawl from one end, I crawl from the other and we see how sturdy that 7' x 4' solid cherry table is?

Not what I intended, but nonetheless acceptable. My frame is, after all, no longer that of an athlete.

I was thinking Omaha.

 

[Bigboobbabe]

Not what I intended, but nonetheless acceptable. My frame is, after all, no longer that of an athlete.

I was thinking Omaha.

I have flown into that airport twice. But never with a 100 lb piece of furniture.

 

[midwestyankee]

If you can find a vintage dining room table, you should easily find one in Cherry or Mahogany. I have one in my dining room with thick pedestal legs at both ends. Each pedestal forms a y at the bottom for strength.

I am told mine is outdated and no one uses those heavy woods any longer. You could get lucky.

My table also has the pads to protect the surface. My FWB keeps checking it out.
Someday, we will christen it.

This is good, practical advice. My only addition would be to look out for the presence of veneer because this would greatly limit your ability to sand down rough spots or cut up the table top into narrower boards. Look carefully at the sides of the boards to see if the grain looks like the true side of a board (the grain lines should be fairly narrow and run almost parallel to the length, as they do on a board). Veneered materials sometimes betray themselves with tacked or ironed on edge banding or face veneer along the edges that will look "off" when compared to a true hardwood board.

 

[Wonderer67]

This is a cool thread. I’d like to build something as well. Maybe a spanking bench.

I’m building a new farm stand this winter, so maybe I will design my own or look for some plans online.

 

[JillPaula]

This is a cool thread. I’d like to build something as well. Maybe a spanking bench.

I’m building a new farm stand this winter, so maybe I will design my own or look for some plans online.

Perhaps a Farm Stand with a built-in spanking bench?

 

[BillTheKatt90]

Perhaps a Farm Stand with a built-in spanking bench?

I will have to look up what a Farm Stand is!

 

[Wonderer67]

Perhaps a Farm Stand with a built-in spanking bench?

I like the way you think.

Entrepreneurial spirit.

 

[Wonderer67]

I will have to look up what a Farm Stand is!

A small roadside stand where people sell farm goods. We sell firewood, plant seedlings, sunflowers, pumpkins and gourds.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[BillTheKatt90]

A small roadside stand where people sell farm goods. We sell firewood, plant seedlings, sunflowers, pumpkins and gourds.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I like the simplicity!

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

https://highergroundfurniture.com/
I see some worthwhile ideas here. That style of construction demands exact measurements and careful cutting, but isn't that hard to do (I made a desk that way; people were surprised how sturdy it was).

The key is thick (3/4" or 1") plywood. Thinner wood gets wobbly.

 

[BillTheKatt90]

https://highergroundfurniture.com/
I see some worthwhile ideas here. That style of construction demands exact measurements and careful cutting, but isn't that hard to do (I made a desk that way; people were surprised how sturdy it was).

The key is thick (3/4" or 1") plywood. Thinner wood gets wobbly.

I am not nearly good enough a carpenter to make those cuts so precisely.

A tenant in my building moved out and left behind a rather sturdy Thomasville desk, which I am using as a stopgap measure.