Basic Small Table

When I say basic small table, I am describing a functional and solid wood table, with no drawer. A basic table has 10 major components; 4 legs, 4 skirt pieces (the side pieces between the legs), 1 top, and the hardware, that is it really. The hardware consists of the leg brackets and Figure 8 fasteners.

A table saw (or a circular saw), miter saw, drill press (or just a drill), router, sander, and a screw driver and wrench is all that is needed. You can finish it with a finish of your choice.

This is the simplified version of my Small Table with Drawer Instructable, to show you how easy it actually is to build a small, yet fully functional table. Think of this a starting point, if you want a table larger, you will need to adjust some measurements.

This little table is going to go over my propane tank next to my stove to give me an added work surface in the kitchen.

I will be making this entirely from teak, and the measurements I use will be cm. The table top I am using is a factory made, laminated teak top, laminated meaning this is made from strips of wood glued together and planed to a set thickness and cut to a specific size, this is not plywood, it is a solid teak panel.

This table will be 60x60cm on the top and 88.5cm from the floor to the top of the table top.

I am going to give you the steps I did, keep in mind, if you have a miter saw station on a long bench top, you can do things a bit different, if you have sliding miter saw, then you can also do things a bit different.

Follow all safety precautions for the power tools you are using, I am not responsible for anything that happens when you are doing this build. There is nothing dangerous with this build if you are using your tools correctly and safely.

All wood listed is teak, feel free to use wood of your choice.

Materials:

legs, x4, 4.5x4.5cm x 90cm length (this will be cut to length stated below).

skirt, x4, 18x50cm x 2.2cm thick (this will be cut to size stated below).

top, x1, 60x60cm x 2cm thick.

leg brackets, x1 set (each set contains 4 brackets, 4 hanger bolts, 4 washers, 4 nuts), I used a set called CB-09, and with the brackets you need screws; 24 M4x20.

Figure 8 fasteners, x8, plus appropriate screws and Forstner bit.

Tools:

table saw

miter saw

router

sander, and various grits of paper

drill press, with an 8mm bit, I use Star-M wood bits as they cut precision holes.

drill, with bits appropriate for the screws you are using, I am using only torx screws with a T20 bit, and PH2 bit for the screws for the Figure 8 fasteners.

self centering drill bit

square

tape measure or rule

chisel

finish of your choice, plus brushes

First photo is all the pieces cut to size including the kerf lines.

Second photo is all the pieces milled with the chamfer, all for sides of the legs, bottom outside edge for skirt.

Third photo is the top after I sanded it.

Forth photo is all the pieces all sanded.

Legs

Easiest parts to cut first are the legs, I used my miter saw for this. Use your saw and square one end of each leg, taking maybe 1cm off.

Next, on each leg, measure from the freshly cut end, 86.5cm, mark and draw a line. Now make the cuts, keeping the blade edge at the line and the blade kerf on the excess piece. Set the legs aside as you are done with those for now.

Skirt

The skirt stock I used is longer and wider than what I needed, so I used a table saw to cut them, and you will need a fence and miter gauge for the saw as well. First thing I did was set the fence to 16cm from the blade edge to the side of the fence, then ripped all 4 skirt boards. Now you can slide the fence off to the right.

Next thing to do is cut to length, and before that, I used the miter gauge and squared up one end of each board, cutting off about 1 cm.

On each board, measure from the freshly cut end, 43cm, place a mark, now using a square, transfer that mark to the board edge (think of it this way, you are going to make a precise cut on the table saw using a miter gauge, that blade is in front and at the bottom of the board, so a mark on top does not help you, so you transfer the mark to the board edge, and that edge will face away from you). Mark each board in the same way.

Now on my table saw, I use zero clearance tape, and one of the uses of using this is you know exactly where the edge of the blade is at.

If you do not use zero clearance tape, lower your blade all the way down, place a piece of painters tape over the slot where the blade comes up, turn on the saw and slowly raise the blade, it will cleanly cut through the tape, and when the riving knife touches the tape, turn the saw off and lower the blade, then use a straight edge and a utility knife and cut a slot, that will be for the riving knife. Turn the saw back on and raise the blade up, all the way to as far as it goes, turn the saw off and lower the blade appropriate for the wood you are using. Now you have a mark to show you exactly where the blade cuts.

Set a board against the miter gauge, the mark you made should be towards the blade, or facing away from you, now line up your cut line on the board right at the left side of the zero clearance tape cut. Make your cut, and repeat with the other boards, as long as your cut line is in the same place on the zero clearance tape cut, your boards will be exact in length.

Kerf Lines

Since the leg brackets I am using are called kerf line brackets, we need to cut a kerf line on each end of the skirt boards. I used the table saw, fence, and miter gauge.

For the size of legs I need to cut a kerf at 5cm from the board ends, and this is really simple and will go very quickly. You only need to mark on board.

Move the fence over close to the blade, place a piece of scrap wood against the fence, then I used a combination square and measured 5cm from the center of the blade to the side of the scrap wood, set the fence, check the measurement again, if 5cm, good, if not, re-adjust the fence.

Place a skirt board against the miter gauge and move the miter gauge to place the wood a cm or so from the blade, using that same scrap wood piece, place that between the board and the fence and clamp it to the fence, the clamp needs to be higher than the thickness of the skirt board, you can see the block in place in 1st Photo. The reason for the block of wood, is that is your spacer, that sets where your skirt board goes up against, then when you push the miter gauge through the saw, you will get a straight kerf line and no binding on the fence.

Now before you cut the kerfs, look at the boards and decide what side or face you want outwards, and faces with any blemishes, go inwards. Keep in mind, kerf lines go on the inside, so get your boards setup as to how you are going to cut them.

Now you you can turn on the saw, place a board against the miter gauge, up against the stop block, and push the miter through the saw, pull the miter back towards you, turn the board around, and cut the kerf on the other end. Repeat with the remaining boards.

Milling

When using kerf line brackets of the size I used, it is best to mill a chamfer on the end of the leg that bolts onto the bracket, easy enough, so I took this one step further and milled a chamfer on every corner of each leg, as well as one chamfer on each skirt board.

For milling I use a router (with homemade router table and fence). You can easily do this with a handheld router, but a router is recommended.

Setup your router with a chamfer bit, then I set the fence to cut about a 1/4" chamfer, use a piece of scrap wood to test the setup. The chamfer for the bracket provides two things, one, it provides a flat surface to which you will drill for the hanger bolts, and two, it provides a surface for the bracket to sit depending on the leg and bracket size.

To test the chamfer for the leg, place two skirt boards on their edges at a right angle to each other, and place a bracket into the kerf line of each, no need to screw this together, position your test piece with a chamfer cut and it will fit between the skirt boards and the chamfer should be about 1/8" or slightly more, from the bracket itself.

Once your router is setup, run each leg through, milling each corner.

Look at your skirt boards, look at the outside faces, determine which side you want downwards, and mill that edge on the outside.

Sanding

I use a orbital sander with 180 grit paper. Sand the table top, both sides and all edges. Sand the skirt pieces, except the ends, those are precision cuts and butt against the legs, then sand the legs, except the ends, again, those are precision cuts and you do not want to risk slightly rounding those cuts.

Finishing Up

At this point the wood preparation is complete, however, if there is any knots or blemishes, go ahead and fill those with filler of your choice and allow to dry overnight. Sand the filled parts the next day and you are ready to continue.

Finishing depends on the type of finish you are using and dry times. So this can be 1 to 3 days or so depending on what you are using. I do not have a large workshop so I am limited to how many pieces I can finish at one time.

I use water based glossy exterior grade polyurethane on all my projects. Number of coats depends on what is going to be visible or a work surface.

Wipe all the pieces down with a clean cloth to ensure there is no dust. I apply the 1st coat, let that dry, turn the part(s) over and apply first coat to the remaining areas. No need to be really careful with edges, etc., since we are going to sand all these parts and that will remove any imperfections.

Once all the parts have the 1st coat and they are dry, I do a quick sanding with 240 grit paper. Wipe everything down with a clean cloth.

Now apply a 2nd coat on all surfaces, being careful with edges, end grains, etc., allowing time for the coat to dry completely before turning parts over.

Skirt interior faces and bottom of table top are done with the second coat, no more coats needed.

For the legs, skirt exterior faces and bottom edge, table top top and edges, I add a 3rd coat, and the table top top, I also add a 4th coat.

Photos shows the legs completed, the camera does not do any justice to the look of the legs, they are glossy. After the legs, I moved onto the skirt pieces, and the next day I finished the table top.

Assembly, much of it is done upside down, so you need to keep track of shirt pieces top edge and bottom edges, plus what skirt pieces are used for front, back, and sides. Determine what skirt pieces you want in the front, back, and sides, and mark them with a post it. Determine which is the top and bottom of the legs (so if you have a leg or two with a knot near one end, you can put that as the top on the inside, as that will be hidden by the skirt), and which side of the top you want as the front.

First, we need to make some measurements, typically the brackets are centered vertically on the skirt, so we need to make measurements for the bolt holes, and get the legs ready with the hanger bolts. Hanger bolts are wood screw thread on half, and the other half is machine thread that takes a nut.

Skirt

In order to make these measurements, we need to assemble two skirt pieces. Place a skirt piece on a flat work surface kerf lines up, and place a leg bracket in the kerf, measure 5.5cm from the top edge of the skirt to the edge of the bracket, use a self centering bit and drill pilot holes in the 3 holes in the bracket. Set 3 screws, I used M4x20 screws.

Now place that skirt piece, top edge down onto the work surface and place another skirt piece, top edge down, paying attention to how you want the skirt pieces positioned, onto the bracket, as shown in 1st Photo. Drill the pilot holes then set the 3 screws, and as shown in 2nd Photo, and you will have a square connection, as shown with the orange square.

Now place a leg into the corner of the two skirt pieces, as shown in 3rd Photo, support the skirt piece that is on the work surface with a scrap of wood, I used 6mm plywood which was perfect. You want the skirt pieces flush with the leg, as shown in 4th Photo. The 5th Photo shows that the skirt pieces are cut square, and the small gap between the bracket and the chamfer on the leg. The 6th Photo shows the flat skirt piece supported with the plywood scrap.

The 7th Photo show I made two marks with a center punch through the oblong holes in the bracket into the chamfer on the leg. You will use those marks and transfer the marks to other 3 legs. We'll get back to the legs in moment.

Next we can complete the skirt assembly. Since you have two pieces assembled, set that aside and assemble two more skirt pieces as described previously, but this time you will put two brackets on one piece. Now you can put both sections of the skirt on your work surface, top edge down, place the brackets into the kerfs, ensure the complete skirt is flat on the work surface, then drill pilot holes and set the screws. Skirt assembly is now down.

Legs

To get the legs ready, you need to drill holes for the hanger bolts, I used a drill press but you can use a drill and a corner guide if you like. You want the holes drilled through the chamfer and deep enough for the hanger bolts. The 8th Photo shows all the legs drilled for the hanger bolts.

To insert the hanger bolts, you need two of the nuts that came in the package, put on one nut far enough to add a second nut, give the second nut a good twist with your fingers. Insert the wood screw section into the hole and use a wrench (I used a 12mm box wrench) and turn the top nut only and screw into the hole until the wood screw threads are completely inside the leg. Use another wrench to hold the lower nut and remove the top nut then remove both, repeat with the remaining hanger bolts, as shown in 9th Photo.

To attach the legs, keep the skirt frame top edge down on the work surface, position a leg by inserting the bolts through the holes in the bracket and keeping the leg down on the work surface, add the washer and nuts, and tighten, this draws the leg tight against the skirt and makes a solid connection, as shown in 10th Photo. Repeat with the remaining legs.

Turn the frame over and set onto the floor using the legs, as shown in 11th Photo, the table is coming to life now, but there is another couple of steps.

Figure 8 Fasteners

Sorry, no photos of this in progress, if you want to see them, let me know and I can add from another project. The fasteners are attached to the top of the skirt while the frame is sitting upright on the floor.

For this size table I used 8 Figure 8 fasteners to secure the top to the frame, and the fasteners allow slight movement in the top due to seasonal humidity and temperature (I live in Thailand, so the movement is quite small overall).

Position where you want a fastener, and keep in mind, you want half on the skirt. Mark the center of the holes, then use a correct size Forstner bit for the size of fastener you are using, and drill countersinks for the fasteners, you want the fastener just below the surface of the top edge of the skirt. After drilling, you need to chisel the corners of the holes, so the fastener can move left and right. Once you drill, place a fastener, then you can see which corners you need to chisel, just use a sharp chisel and remove about 1/8" of wood from each side of the opening, then when you put the fastener back in the hole, you will be able to move left and right.

Repeat the drilling and chiseling for each fastener you use. Now drill a pilot hole for the screws, the screws for these are large. Set each screw then back off just a touch so the fastener can move left and right.

Top

Place the top, with the good or top, facing downwards on your work surface. Place the frame, upside down, onto the top, with the front skirt towards what you want as the front of your table.

Now make measurements from the legs to the edge of the top, when that is equal in all sides, your frame is in the center of the top.

Use a self centering bit and mark the centers of the fastener, then us another large bit for pilot holes, ensuring you do not drill through the top! Set the screws in the fasteners, as show in 12th Photo.

Completed

As shown in 13th and 14th Photos, your small table is complete, use as desired.

Legs

1. Feel free mill the bottom edges (end grain) of each leg, that would give it a stylish look. I may very well do this when I make another one of these tables.

2. Add adjustable feet to the legs, you would need to know the thickness of them and reduce the leg length appropriately.

Skirt

Feel free to make the skirt narrower if you like, on this table I ripped the skirt to 16cm wide, main reason for this is I made a similar table that has a drawer, and to accommodate the drawer, I used 16cm wide skirt, so I wanted this table to match in appearance minus the drawer. For this size table you could easily use 10cm wide skirt.

Table Size

If you want to make a large table, you need to take into account the size of the legs, larger legs = larger brackets, and that changes the distance of the kerf from the edge. Also keep in mind the structural support of the table top and the skirting.

I have made a larger table with no brackets, so once the table is built, there is no taking it apart like you can with this one. If you want the Instructable for that, let me know and I can write one for that method.