As you all may have guessed, Roe is the QUEEN of our house, which is why we had to make her a custom "dinner table" for her to match our kitchen.
We also recently realized that she frequently chokes on her food and one way to alleviate her difficulty eating was to hold her food bowl up higher so that it was easier for her to swallow. I'm sure Casey would have personally held her bowl up for every meal, but build an elevated stand was much more efficient haha. While we could have bought a dog stand at a reasonable price, we really wanted it to match the style of our kitchen was the same wood and stain as our hardwoods, and the same hairpin legs are our stools!
MATERIALS
(20) 1/2in screws: Amazon
Stain pad or cotton rag
Polycrylic (this is specific for interior surfaces, we use ultra flat)
Measuring tape or ruler
TOOLS
Circular saw: Lowe's, Amazon (you can also use a Miter saw: Home Depot, Amazon)
Drill: Amazon, Home Depot
7/64in drill bit (drill bit set)
3/8in drill bit (drill bit set)
Jigsaw: Home Depot, Lowe's, Amazon
PART 1: BUILDING THE TABLE TOP
Flip the dog bowls you wish you use upside down and trace around the edges. Make sure the bowls you choose have a lip as the bowl will hang from the table via the edge of the lip. For those who are not as visual as us you could probably skip this step.
Measure the inner diameter of the bowl and use a tool to trace this diameter inside the outline of the lip of the bowl. We used a compass protractor for this step, but you can create a circle jig pretty easy out of scrap wood. The end result will be one slightly smaller circle within the original, larger circle.
Cut the board to desired length using a circular saw (or a miter saw for those who have a 12in sliding miter saw). For us 23 inches was a good length to fit both bowls without it sticking out past the width of our kitchen island (where it will live). When using a circular saw make sure the table top is elevated high enough off the ground that the blade has room to pass.
Using the circle you traced of the inner diameter cut out the holes for the dog bowls with a jigsaw. Because you are cutting into the middle of the board you will need to drill a hole at the edge of the inner circle large enough to insert the jigsaw bit. We used a 3/8in bit to accomplish this.
OPTIONAL ENGRAVEMENT: Now because we are so obsessed with our pup Roe, we decided to engrave her name onto the wood. We are super lucky in that our neighbors own a Glowforge which is a 3D laser printer (their site is FULL of custom items). They were so kind enough to use the laser printer to engrave Monroe's name at the bottom. However, we know this is clearly not an option for a majority of y'all, so we have included a link to a tutorial on wood engraving using a dremel here.
PART 2: SANDING & STAINING
Use the 80 grit sandpaper to shave any rough edges on the table top or the inner circles. Remember, 80 grit is very coarse, so it is best used for reshaping surfaces. We opted to slightly round the edges and corners to make sure our girl Roe did not boop her snout on the sharp corners.
Use the 150 grit sandpaper next to continue smoothing the surface and edges.
Finish sanding with the 220 grit for the smoothest finish. While some may not take the time to go through all three grits, we find that using this combination provides the smoothest surface for items such as table tops or other pieces of furniture.
Wipe off any remaining saw dust with the tack cloth.
Apply wood conditioner on the front, back and inside of the circle cut outs using a cotton rag or stain pad.
Allow 10-15 minutes for the wood conditioner to dry.
Apply classic grey stain using a different, clean rag or stain pad. We find the best way to ensure even staining is to use one rag to wipe on the stain and another to wipe off any excess. This ensures that the stain will not become too saturated in one area over another.
Allow 8-10 hours for the stain to dry.
Apply 3 layers of polycrylic using a natural bristle brush. Allow 24 hours to dry and then lightly sand with 320 grit in between each coat. Sanding between each layer helps the new polycrylic layer bond to the previous one. Don't forget to use your tack cloth to remove any sawdust!
PART 3: INSTALLING THE HAIRPIN LEGS
Place the hairpin legs in each corner roughly 1in from both edges. Use a pencil to mark each hole of the leg so that you will know where to drill.
Remove the hairpin legs and drill a pilot hole at each mark. The screws you will use are 1/2in deep, so make sure each pilot hole is no deeper than 1/2in.
position the legs back onto the top so that each pilot hole lines up with the holes in the leg. Attach the legs using the 1/2in screws. The hairpin legs we ordered came with screws, however they were deeper than the depth of the table top which is why we ordered additional 1/2in screws.
Roe was one happy girl with her new, custom doggie dinner table! The best part is that she no longer chokes while she eats AND her table matches our kitchen. Win win!
Comments