I want to thank you for the plans on your site. The Provence beam table was exactly what I was looking for. I made a few modifications that you and your readers might be interested in for variety’s sake. The only good choice for outdoor wood here in Tucson was redwood, and 2x10s were not available, so I used 2x6s and did a mitered picture frame around the 10’ interior 2x6s (I used 12’ 2x6s for the outer pieces) giving a total length of 130”. I added a central post to give a bit more support to the middle of the span, and a better way to secure the table planks. I also built it to be 28” tall. I used biscuit joinery for all the base since I already had a biscuit joiner. I used Watco danish oil (natural) for the finish. The project took a weekend and a few evenings. The table will easily seat ten.
The main drawback to using the biscuit method is the necessity to clamp everything, but anyone who has a biscuit joiner probably already has an assortment of clamps. I ended up using a strap clamp made from two ratcheting tie-down straps ($20 from the local Ace Hardware) to clamp the table top parts. That would be easier with pocket screws.
Michael, Well done on the table. I recently finished my own table (nice redwood) but haven’t stained it yet. I wondered how your Watco Danish oil finish has fared in these 3 years – if you had to do it again – would you go with the same again? Did it keep the beauty of the wood well?