OP makes a table. A huge table!

Gratuitous final shot first. This is my new table. We've recently moved into our new house, and because we've spent everything we could on getting the right house, we were left without much spare cash. Now, with having a big kitchen dining room, one needs a big table. Wife found this beast; http://www.indigofurniture.co.uk/the-reclaimed-table?utm_source=google_shopping&142=3006&gclid=Cj0KEQiAzZHEBRD0ivi9_pDzgYMBEiQAtvxt-JNUzwCAtKTplX75qGAGQMHdyEPmlQeL5xylUBAHR1QaAmUQ8P8HAQ but there's no way we can spend £2k on a table!

This is where my stupidity comes in and I declare to my wife that "I could build that."

Well, TL;DR: I built a table.

On my old phone I had some previous images of what the oak posts looked like when they turned up. They were pretty rough, but relatively cheap so I couldn't complain. As this is the first thing I bought I don't have all the tools I should have used, so all this was done with a drill, chisels and my orbital sander.

This was me chopping the sides into the legs. Pretty neat.

Sizing up. I planned to drop the lengths into grooves cut in the side-to-side beams. This later changed.

Marking up.

Success!

All this took so long, this pudding managed to be born mid- build, so the table went on the back foot for a while.

This was the new leg post layout. Quite by chance I got talking to a carpenter and showed him my work so far. He told me that what I'd done was build a death trap for my baby, as if I didn't join all the legs I was risking the table 'racking' (I think that's what he said) where if you leant on the edge of the table, the whole thing would flip over destroying anything underneath it. And you know what gets places? Toddlers. Not ideal.

Layout with new leg arrangement.

Half done but testing for size.

Getting there.

Boom!

Dowling for the joints.

Closer...

Closer....! I dowel jointed the long sides but screwed the short ones. This way it can be taken apart if needed. I'll cap off the screws with a bit of dowel another time.

Top bought and half planed.

Ropey lookin top.

Sanded and ready to go!

Although it worked out well, I don't think I'll be doing anything like this again in a long, long time!!