FIF Blog
FIF Blog
mobile logo How Do You Cut a Dining Table in Half?

DIY furniture Tag

How Do You Cut a Dining Table in Half?
August 20, 2026

How Do You Cut a Dining Table in Half?

Cutting a dining table in half means marking a precise centre line, clamping a straight edge guide, and making one pass with a fine tooth circular saw while both halves are fully supported. This guide covers the preparation that determines the result: checking whether the top is solid timber, veneered board or reinforced with metal, and why glass, ceramic and stone tops cannot be cut at home. It explains accounting for blade kerf, taping the cut line to prevent chipping, setting blade depth, and cutting from the underside so tear out stays hidden. There is detailed advice on routing and sealing raw edges, adding legs or an apron rail for stability, and a short FAQ....

Continue Reading
How Do You Reupholster a Dining Room Chair with a Back?
August 20, 2026

How Do You Reupholster a Dining Room Chair with a Back?

Reupholstering a dining chair with a back is a two stage job: the seat comes off and is recovered flat, and the back is either unscrewed and treated the same way or covered in place with a neatly finished outer panel. This guide walks through identifying how your chair back is built, stripping old fabric without losing your reference points, choosing upholstery weight fabric and high density foam, and tensioning the cover so the corners sit flat. We also cover back tacking for a crisp top edge, notching fabric around curves, and the common mistakes that make a home job look homemade. Finally, we explain when a frame is worth saving and when replacing the set is the more sensible use of your weekend....

Continue Reading
How Do You Recover a Dining Chair Seat Pad?
August 20, 2026

How Do You Recover a Dining Chair Seat Pad?

Recovering a dining chair seat pad is one of the most satisfying weekend jobs in the home, and it needs far less skill than most people assume. This guide walks through identifying whether you have a drop in or fixed seat, the small toolkit required, and how to strip the old cover without damaging the plywood base underneath. It explains how to measure and cut new fabric with the right allowance, why the four anchor staple method keeps the grain square, and how to fold corners so they sit flush in the frame. There is practical guidance on choosing upholstery weight fabric that will survive daily dining use, when to replace tired foam, and the point at which a chair is better replaced than repaired. Closing sections cover finishing the underside neatly and caring for the new cover so it wears evenly across a whole set of chairs....

Continue Reading
How Do You Make a Dining Table from Scaffold Boards?
August 19, 2026

How Do You Make a Dining Table from Scaffold Boards?

Building a dining table from scaffold boards is one of the more achievable woodworking projects, but success depends almost entirely on a step most people skip: letting the timber acclimatise indoors for a month before you glue anything. This guide covers sourcing and inspecting reclaimed boards, checking for embedded metal, cleaning and levelling with a belt sander, and deciding how much weathered character to keep. We work through jointing with dowels or biscuits, bracing the underside with slotted fixings so the top can move without splitting, choosing legs rated for a 50kg top, and finishing softwood with hardwax oil. There is a full tools and materials checklist so nothing stops the job halfway, along with design variations including breadboard ends, deliberate shadow gaps between boards, and laminated edges that suggest a thicker top. An honest look at when building is not the right call. Follow the sequence in order and the finished table should stay flat, feel solid....

Continue Reading
How Do You Change Dining Table Top?
August 19, 2026

How Do You Change Dining Table Top?

Replacing the top of a dining table is a practical way to keep a base you like while changing the surface entirely. This guide explains the four common fixing methods found under domestic tables, why solid timber needs expansion fittings rather than rigid screws, and how to choose a new material the existing base can actually carry. It covers measuring the correct overhang so chairs still tuck in, removing the old top without damaging veneer, cutting and finishing the new surface before fitting, and choosing screw lengths that will not break through the face. There is also honest guidance on when the sums favour a complete new table instead, based on the quality of the base and the tools you have available....

Continue Reading
How Do You Build a Round Dining Table?
August 19, 2026

How Do You Build a Round Dining Table?

Building a round dining table is one of the more approachable serious woodworking projects, and this guide takes it step by step. It covers gluing boards into a flat panel, arranging grain for stability, and cutting a true circle with a router on a trammel arm, including how to manage the job with only a jigsaw. You will find advice on edge profiles, sanding sequences that make a surface feel genuinely smooth, and the difference between pedestal and four leg bases in terms of leg room and stability. The section on attaching the top explains why solid timber must be allowed to move seasonally, which is where most homemade tables fail. Finishing options are compared for real family use, sizing guidance is given for typical UK rooms, and the article ends with answers on thickness, plywood, wobble and build time....

Continue Reading
How Do You Make a Folding Dining Table?
August 19, 2026

How Do You Make a Folding Dining Table?

Making a folding dining table comes down to three choices: a drop leaf that changes width in place, a gate leg that folds flat for storage, or a wall mounted top that disappears entirely. This guide walks through each design, the plywood and timber worth using, and the UK dining dimensions to build to. It covers constructing a square base, hinging the leaves accurately, and choosing between gate legs, swing arm brackets and folding wall brackets to support the raised sections. You will also find finishing advice, including why sealing both faces matters, practical seating pairings for small rooms, and an honest look at when buying an extending table makes more sense than building one....

Continue Reading
How Do You Upholster a Curved Back Dining Chair?
August 19, 2026

How Do You Upholster a Curved Back Dining Chair?

Curved back dining chairs are the point at which upholstery stops being straightforward, because a flat piece of cloth has to sit over a surface bending in two directions at once. This guide explains how to read the curve first, distinguishing a simple side to side bend from a compound barrel shape, and how that changes everything that follows. It covers choosing fabrics with natural give, cutting on the bias for extra stretch, rebuilding shaped foam and using torn rather than cut wadding to blend the profile. The core technique is set out step by step: draping and pinning before stapling, working outwards from the centre, making relief cuts in the seam allowance and distributing surplus as many small even folds. It closes with honest advice on when a curved chair is worth the weekend. A practice run and troubleshooting section rounds it off, covering ridges, puckers and overtensioned panels....

Continue Reading
How Do You Upholster the Back of a Dining Room Chair?
August 19, 2026

How Do You Upholster the Back of a Dining Room Chair?

Upholstering a dining chair back means handling two separate panels: the padded inside back you lean against, and the outside back that conceals every staple. This guide works through both, starting with careful stripping and photographing of the original construction, then checking foam, webbing and wadding before any new fabric goes on. It explains the centre out stapling sequence that keeps the weave square, how to notch fabric cleanly around back posts, and the three standard ways to finish an outside back panel including cardboard tack strips and blind stitching with a curved needle. There is guidance on choosing fabrics that cope with hands and walls, using two complementary fabrics, and recognising the deep buttoned or sprung backs that are genuinely better left to a professional. Finishing details such as piping, contrast outside backs and simple buttoning are covered too, along with how to keep the finished chair looking right over the years....

Continue Reading
Can You Stain Dining Chairs?
August 19, 2026

Can You Stain Dining Chairs?

You can stain dining chairs as long as they are solid timber or real wood veneer, because stain needs open grain to soak into. Laminate, melamine and high gloss finishes have no grain to penetrate and require paint instead. This guide walks through identifying what your chairs are actually made from, stripping and sanding correctly, choosing between oil based, water based and gel stains, and applying colour to awkward legs and spindles without runs. It also covers the sealing step that most people rush, why an unsealed stained chair marks from a single spill, and how to judge whether refinishing is worth the weekend it takes....

Continue Reading