At a glance
Finished dimensions
Overall sizes
- Coffee table
- 42 × 22 × 17 in high
- Side table
- 22 × 22 × 22 in high
- Legs, outside
- 39 × 19 in (coffee table); 19 × 19 in (side table)
- Top overhang
- 1-1/2 in all round
Materials
| Item | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hardwood, surfaced | About 8-1/2 board feet of finished parts (coffee table) | Buy more for waste and defects; final sizes below |
| Wood glue | 1 bottle | For the leg-and-apron joints only, never the top |
| Screws for the buttons | 8 | Short enough not to come through the top |
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Dimensions | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee table: leg | 4 | 1-3/4 × 1-3/4 × 16-1/4 in | Hardwood |
| Coffee table: long apron | 2 | 3/4 × 3-1/2 × 37-1/2 in | Hardwood; includes two 1 in tenons |
| Coffee table: short apron | 2 | 3/4 × 3-1/2 × 17-1/2 in | Hardwood; includes two 1 in tenons |
| Coffee table: top | 1 | 3/4 × 22 × 42 in | Hardwood, glued up from boards |
| Side table: leg | 4 | 1-3/4 × 1-3/4 × 21-1/4 in | Hardwood |
| Side table: apron | 4 | 3/4 × 3-1/2 × 17-1/2 in | Hardwood; includes two 1 in tenons |
| Side table: top | 1 | 3/4 × 22 × 22 in | Hardwood, glued up from boards |
| Button (each table) | 8 | 3/4 × 1-1/4 × 1-1/2 in | Hardwood offcuts |
Tools
- Table saw or track saw, jointer and planer, or stock bought surfaced
- Mortising chisel or router for the mortises
- Clamps long enough for the base
- Drill/driver
The design
Four square legs, four aprons and a top: the base is a rigid frame, and the top sits on it. The legs stand 1-1/2 in in from every edge of the top, so the outside of the base is 39 × 19 in on the coffee table and 19 × 19 in on the side table. Aprons run flush with the legs' outside faces. The heights — 17 in for the coffee table, 22 in for the side table — are design choices; set them against the seating they will stand beside, and change only the leg length to do it.
All sizes are final, surfaced dimensions. A board sold as 1 in nominal is not 1 in thick; check what you can buy against the lumber dimensions chart, and plan rough stock with the board foot calculator and the cut list optimizer.
Joinery, and a top that can move
- Mortise and tenon for the base. Each apron ends in a tenon 1/4 in thick, 2-3/4 in wide and 1 in long, with a 1/2 in shoulder at the top and 1/4 in at the bottom. The mortises are 1-1/16 in deep, 1/4 in from the leg's outside face. Two tenons meet inside each leg, so mitre their ends at 45° to clear each other. Why this joint, and how to cut it, is in mortise and tenon joints and choosing a wood joint.
- Buttons for the top. A solid top swells and shrinks across its width as its moisture changes, and very little along its length (Forest Products Laboratory). Glue or rigid screws would fight that movement, so the top is held by wooden buttons: small blocks screwed to the top, with a tongue that hooks into a groove in the aprons and can slide.
- The groove. Cut it 1/4 in wide and 3/8 in deep along the inside of every apron, its top edge 5/8 in below the apron's top. Buttons on the long aprons slide in and out of the groove as the top moves across its width; on the short aprons they slide along it. Estimate how far your top will move with the wood movement calculator and leave at least that much room.
Building the base
Legs and aprons
Mill and cut the parts
Bring legs and aprons to final thickness and width, then length, with the tenons included in the apron lengths. Mark each leg's position and its two inside faces.
Cut the mortises
Lay them out from each leg's top: 1/2 in down, 2-3/4 in long, 1/4 in wide, 1/4 in in from the outside face, 1-1/16 in deep, on the two inside faces.
Cut the tenons
Cut shoulders and cheeks to fit the mortises snugly, then mitre the tenon ends where they meet inside the leg. Cut the button groove on each apron before assembly.
Dry-fit
Assemble the base without glue and check it is square by measuring the diagonals; they should match.
Glue up in stages
Glue the two short sides first — a pair of legs and a short apron each — then join them with the long aprons. Check the diagonals again and leave it in clamps for the time the glue maker gives; see how to use wood glue and woodworking clamps.
Making and fitting the top
Top and buttons
Glue up the top
Joint the board edges straight, arrange them for grain and colour, and glue them into a panel slightly oversize. Flatten it, then cut it to 42 × 22 in (or 22 × 22 in).
Make the buttons
From a 3/4 in offcut, cut buttons 1-1/4 × 1-1/2 in with a tongue 1/4 in thick and 3/8 in long on one end, so the tongue sits a hair below the button's face and pulls the top down when screwed.
Sand and finish
Sand the base and top before attaching them — how to sand wood — and finish the underside of the top as well as the face, as applying a wood finish explains.
Attach the top
Lay the top face down, centre the base on it, hook two buttons into each apron's groove and screw them to the top. Leave the buttons on the long aprons short of the groove's bottom so the top can move.
Safety— At the machines, and in use
The cuts here are at the table saw, router and chisel; follow each machine's manual and woodworking safety rules, and table saw safety for rips and tenons. In use, a table is not a step: no load rating is claimed, and CPSC advises keeping things children might climb for off the tops of furniture.
Before glue-up
- Every tenon fits its mortise without forcing
- Tenon ends mitred where they meet inside the legs
- Button grooves cut in all four aprons
- Base square: diagonals equal on the dry fit
- Clamps and glue ready for one side at a time
The furniture plans
Each plan below is one complete BenchRoot design with a measured drawing, cut list and steps. They share the same rules: final sizes stated, solid wood free to move, no load rating claimed.
- Tables: a dining table, the same joinery at 72 × 36 in; a knock-down trestle table; a plywood desk.
- Seating: a four-legged stool and a bench.
- Shelves and casework: a freestanding bookcase, a built-in bookcase, a cabinet with sliding doors and a floating shelf.
- Bedroom: a platform bed frame.
More project plans
Looking for a larger collection of woodworking project plans?
Ted’s Woodworking is a digital plan library sold by a third party. BenchRoot did not create it and has not reviewed every plan in it, so check what it includes before you buy.
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Sources
Both tables are BenchRoot designs; every dimension is on the drawing and in the cut list, given as final surfaced sizes. Heights are design choices, not ergonomic standards. The design was drawn and its arithmetic checked; it was not built or tested for this page, and no load rating is claimed.
- 1.
Chapter 4: Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Wood shrinking and swelling across the grain with changes in moisture, tangentially about twice radially, and very little along the grain — the reason a solid top is held so it can move across its width.
- 2.
AnchorIt.gov. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Used for: Removing items that might tempt children to climb from the tops of furniture.
About this project
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