22″ × 18″ side table plans

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw and a straight edge (or have the store cut the sheets)
• Miter saw, or circular saw in two passes, for 4×4 posts
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part. Cut sheets with the good face down when using a circular saw: the blade splinters the top face.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Build the two side frames

   Lay two legs (B) flat, 12″ apart. Glue a long apron (C) between them, flush with the leg tops and 1/2″ in from the outside face. Screw 2 L-brackets inside each corner, one high and one low.

   Fit a shelf rail (E) the same way, its bottom 4″ up from the leg ends.

   Repeat for the second frame.

   • Tip Sight down each apron before you cut it. Put any curve (the crown) up, so the weight of the top straightens it.
   • Tip Work on a flat floor and clamp each joint before you drive screws, so the parts cannot creep out of line.
   • Tip Measure both diagonals of each frame corner to corner. When they match, the frame is square.

   ✓ Diagonals of each frame match within 1/16″.

4. 4Join the frames

   Stand the frames up. Join a short apron (D) between them at each end the same way, flush with the leg tops, 1/2″ in from the outside face.

   • Tip Stand the base on the flattest part of the floor. If one leg lifts, loosen the last joint, press the base flat, and tighten it again.
   • Tip Wipe glue squeeze-out with a damp rag now, before it dries. Dried glue blocks stain.

   ✓ The base stands flat with no rocking.

5. 5Add the shelf

   Lay the slats (F) across the shelf rails, 3/4″ apart, the end slats against the legs.

   Predrill and screw each end down into the rail: 2 screws, 1 5/8″.

   • Tip Cut a scrap block exactly as wide as the gap and use it as a spacer between slats. Every gap comes out the same.

   ✓ Nothing rocks when you press on the shelf.

6. 6Attach the top

   Iron edge banding onto the top edge. Trim it flush and sand the corners.

   Lay the top (A) face down on a blanket. Set the base on it upside down, 1 1/2″ in from each end and 1 1/2″ from each side.

   Chisel a shallow recess in the apron top edge for each figure-8 fastener, about every 12″ (8 total). Screw each fastener to the apron, then up into the top.

   Use 5/8″ screws only. Longer ones come through the top.

   • Tip Tabletop fasteners let the top grow and shrink with the seasons. Never glue a top to its base.
   • Tip Drill each fastener recess with a Forstner bit the size of the fastener, about 1/8″ deep, so the fastener sits flush with the apron top.

   ✓ Knee clearance under the aprons is 19 13/16″.

7. 7Level it and test for wobble

   Set the table on a hard, flat floor and press down on each corner of the top in turn. A table that rocks has one leg a little long.

   Find the short diagonal: the two legs that stay down while the table rocks. Sand or plane the bottom of the long leg a little at a time, about 1/32″, and test again.

   Stick a felt pad under each leg. Push the table sideways at the top: the aprons and shelf rails should stop any sway.

   • Tip Mark the long leg with a pencil scribble on its end. You will know it is done when the pencil is sanded off evenly.

   ✓ The table does not rock on a flat floor, and the top does not move when you push it sideways with one hand.

8. 8Finish

   Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

   Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

   Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

   Paint, stain or a clear coat (water-based polyurethane is the easiest). Apply thin coats with the grain, let each dry fully, and sand lightly with 220 grit between coats.

   Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

   • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.