DC has had some impressive/ridiculous storms this summer and because of them a tree fell down in our neighborhood. It took someone a few days to clear it from the bike path it fell on, but when they did they cut the branches into logs which they piled neatly next to the path. I like to build things, but generally when woodworking I can't find the greatest wood around here. After a bit of google-fu I am fairly certain it is some type of Ash tree. I took a log home and started working on Lisa's birthday presents.

Here is where it started: back yard, hatchet, log. I didn't know it was Ash at first, it was just ridiculously hard wood.

After taking off the bark and a bit of sap wood, I wanted to dry it out a bit since it was so green and wet. I think I baked it at about 190 for a few hours. If I wasn't trying to have it done in a weekend, I would have let it sit for a few more weeks. I turned off the oven and let it cool over night.

I have no idea how long it took to get to this point. Most of the work was done with the hatchet, before I started to finalize the shape with a hand saw.

The original plan was just to replace the 3D printed handle we had, but as soon as I had the rough cut I realized it was going to take up too much space. It was so big I could have made two tap handles...

They clean up well after a bit of sanding. The biggest difficulty was finding an insert to connect it to the tap. Made an absurd number of trips to hardware stores. The local family owned hardware store had dual threaded taps, that were the wrong threads per inch(TPI). Conceding my defeat of finding them locally (local homebrew store may have had them but were closed) I ordered them on amazon. I was all up in arms that they were four dollars a piece! Then I got a package two days later:

Instead of ordering four inserts like I thought, I got 40. Instantly all anger gone since it was just too funny. I guess I will be making more tap handles in the future now.

For reference: Internal threads are 3/8" with 16 UNC/TPI or anything that is threaded for 3/8" coarse should fit on a tap. The external threads are about 1/2" 13 UNC, instructions will say to drill a 1/2" wide 3/4" deep hole to screw these in. Which might work for softer wood. For hard wood you will need to drill a 9/16" hole. I had to buy a new bit for it since I couldn't use a spade bit by hand.

All thats left was to paint and finish the wood. The face of them we used a chalkboard paint and the rest of the wood was finished with tung oil.

I think they turned out well. Now I just need a lathe to turn the other half of the log I have left over.

Happy Birthday Lisa!

Happy National Beer day to everyone in the USA. Today marks the day where beer and wine at 3.2% alcohol by weight (4% ABV) became legal to sell in the United State after President Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act in March 22, 1933. April 6th is known as New Beer's Eve. All of this was completely unknown to me until this morning when my dad asked about National Beer day.

To mark the occasion, I finished brewing an American not-so-pale ale yesterday! Clearly totally planned. Actually it got pushed back from the weekend as I was building the namesake beer garden table. The beer was brewed late Sunday and cooled until Monday when the yeast was pitched.

The Table

Lisa and I were in Europe this past fall and had the pleasure of experiencing Oktoberfest first hand in Germany. All of the beer halls, tents, and gardens have similar tables and benches, most DC beer gardens have the same. They are each about 8 feet long and 31 inches high. The benches are between 18 or 19 inches high and also 8 feet long. There are a few state side vendors that sell these tables and benches but they run no less than 300 dollars. Craigslist would even show used tabled (and I mean abused tables) for 300 bucks. I felt they should not be that expensive, so I built my own.

The major issue with building your own is that the hardware to make everything collapsable is not available. I think there is only one german vendor that makes the table legs and bench legs for beer garden tables, and I was unable to find that kind of hardware. I improvised.

The key for this project was cheap. The table was to be about 24" wide and the benches 12" wide. Home Depot has 3/4" thick project boards that are only 2x8' for about 50$ with 55$ shipping per board and only available online not in-store.

Surprisingly Lowes had 4x8' oak finished project boards for a bit less than 50$. I had given up on folding bench legs, but the table needed to fold. I got the last set of folding legs at Lowes, though most employees thought they were out. I went with poplar for the bench legs as it was a bit cheaper than the oak.

Most projects require a few trips to the hardware store. I really thought I could get away with two trips for the majority of the supplies, but a third trip was required for screws to bring this whole thing together.

A 3/4" plank is not quite durable enough for benches or a table. To stabilize everything I got 2x6" pine boards to use as runners underneath. The table top is bolted into two 2x6s where the folding table legs are mounted. I did a lot of research for how tall the legs were and what their capacities would be. The legs are 29" tall and support up to 400 lbs. With the braces and the table top that brought me right to 31", then I tested my build.

Each bench has a single 2x6 running down the middle and bolted down three times, at the middle and both ends. The legs are then screwed into the 2x6 and braces twice in the middle. Major shout out to Carl for helping me with the benches, couldn't have done them without his help.

Above gives you the main layout of the support structure of the benches and table. I'm glad the beer garden finally came together.

I haven't completely finished sealing and finishing the table set, so we brought it into the beer hall to protect it from the rain this week.

An 8 foot long table has been really useful inside for meals as well as studying. Household beer tastings will never be the same. I hope everyone else has had a great National Beer day.