Thread: Outdoor fully exposed table help

Looking good mate, excited to see how it ends up!

if you're really concerned about the elements you could contact a local sailmaker and get a cover made for it
or even wander down to Bunnings and see if they have one the right size

PS my wife wanted a cover for our table even though it is more protected than yours, I've found it is not worth arguing about such an issue (yes dear whatever you want dear) - I asked the chaps at Whitworths Marine if they knew someone and got a good lead on someone local

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

if you're really concerned about the elements you could contact a local sailmaker and get a cover made for it
or even wander down to Bunnings and see if they have one the right size

PS my wife wanted a cover for our table even though it is more protected than yours, I've found it is not worth arguing about such an issue (yes dear whatever you want dear) - I asked the chaps at Whitworths Marine if they knew someone and got a good lead on someone local

Yeah, thanks. I did email two places yesterday and just got responses about covers. One said $252- for a waterproof cover. The only details on material were 250gsm 500 dernier solution dyed yarn, waterproof with 1 year warranty.

The other place gave me about 5 choices of fabric, ranging from $250- to $520- with warranties between 2 and 7 years. These were the options;


1: Canvacon UV Laminated Polyfabric, waterproof material but seams will leak water with water causing pressure on the seams, 2 year warranty hard wearing material ideal for outdoor full exposure to elements. beige, silver, white. It is possible that water to penetrate stitched seams. If the item being covered means that the cover shape will have heavy water pooling onto the cover seams then water can penetrate them very slowly. Also with a lot of water pressure water can penetrate the material, photos are provided to illustrate this, prevention can be achieved by preventing water from pooling.
$259


2: Premium SD is a Solution Dyed polyester material, it looks similar to our pre-made premium outdoor covers so if you have found some covers that are suitable online but you need another item covered that is perhaps an unusual shape then you can have a similar looking cover by choosing the Premium SD. This is a Solution Dyed Fabric with a PU coating on the inside it is water repellent and is not breathable.
Available in Black or Grey.
$250


3: Weatherstop , Solution Dyed woven polyester, water repellent breathable fabric, 3 year warranty with a softer more luxurious fabric that will stand up to harsh elements. Beige and Grey. Breathable, Not Waterproof.
$330


4: SunCover ##Brand New Fabric with a 7 Year warranty##
SunCover material is an exceptional quality loom woven acrylic canvas with advanced UV, Mould, Mildew, and UV inhibitors built into the material as well high quality water repellent properties built into the fabric. SunCover is a breathable material. SunCover Fabric is capable of significantly extending lifespan past 7 years if properly looked after and maintained.
SunCover is available in Linen (Light Beige) Charcoal (Dark Grey) Stone (Grey Brown) and Black
$478


5: SunCover Plus Only available in Black and Linen only
SunCover Plus is the same as the Standard SunCover solution dyed acrylic material but it has a PU coating on it for nearly full waterproof qualities, SunCover Plus is not breathable.
$518


Any idea which is the best choice? I assume I'll be better off with waterproof than water resistant, even at the expense of breath-ability? Worth paying for the $518 one do you think? Any advice appreciated.

I'd go with the Canvacon and pop something in the middle of the table underneath the tarp to prevent any pooling. In saying that I'm horribly cheap 😂

Sorry I really have no expertise in the area

but my gut says go for something breathable to allow the timber the breathe, but I have no science for this gut feeling

BTW Nice build

Thanks guys. I'll give the cover guy a call. Waterproof seems right to keep the water out but breathable would be good to let condensation and moisture from below out. Maybe waterproof and remove periodically to allow it to breath. Who knows.

Well I got home yesterday and cut the remaining tennons;
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Used the bandsaw for the cheeks and hand saw plus shoulder plane for the shoulders. Maybe there is a faster way.

Made some more progress yesterday as well but Internet reception too poor at work to upload anything.

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Dry fit the tennon frame. Good enough for outdoor IMO. Any gaps are only going to get larger (or smaller) anyway.

Tennon frame dry fit;
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Then cut down the boards to length and dry fitted to ensure they fit as well as to mark out Domino floating tennon locations and dowel-pin locations.

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Next step will be to do the dominos, dowel pins, run a cut along the bottom of each board, sand, route edges, oil sides and bottoms, etc etc... I'm running out of time. Also the forecast temp of 35 has taken the wind out of my sails a bit as it's likely going to be too hot outside in any case!

Ok so I didn't make it. But it was partly because of the forecast 36 degrees which made me pull the pin on the attempt, since we wouldn't be outdoors in any case.

After the Christmas festivities I've made some more progress and hope to finish in the next day or two.

I cut all of the domino mortises (128!) As well as made the actual Dominos (from the same outdoor durable blackbutt timber). I also drilled the dowel holes and offset holes in the tennons.
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I also cut a 6-10mm slit in the bottom of most boards depending on the grain and routed them in the breadboards in an attempt to reduce the likelihood and severity of cupping.
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I also sealed the end grain of the legs with epoxy and attached a 8mm nylon plate to each leg to keep the timber off the ground to reduce moisture absorbtion when it rains.

Then I spent what felt like an eternity sanding and finishing each board in preparation for assembly.
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Now I need to glue the Dominos into the end of the boards (the breadboard end will float), make up some dowel pins, make some cross braces and drill out oversize for coach bolts that will allow each board to expand/contract, and route out slots in the frame that I'll make wooden cleats to hold the outer boards down with (and that will allow ĺongitudinal and lateral expansion of the top boards / assembly). Then a bit of mucking around and I'm done!

It's all coming together by the looks of it, excited to see the finished product! Good work mate.

Well it's been miserable weather here the last couple of days with continous drizzle / rain.

The top boards had Dominos glued in ready to go and cross braces were made and oiled.
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This afternoon the weather finally cleared so I started assembly. First I routed some slots for the cleats / hold-downs.
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Then crossed my fingers all the tennons and Dominos would line up and started putting the top together;
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Some mallet work later and everything slotted together nicely. Surprisingly, shockingly nicely! I was concerned the boards may have moved a little with all the humid weather and the length of time since milling them and worried that the 64 Dominos / 128 mortises may not line up (first time using domino) but I needn't have worried.
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Now to drive in dowels, fit the cross braces, make and fit cleat blocks and a little detail work and I'm done!

A seriously nice job!! Well done!

Thank you. It's my first non-workshop furniture piece and I'm really happy with how it's coming together. Hopefully it stays together for a few years.