How to Make an Octagon Wood Table

Tables come in many shapes and sizes. The octagon table is perfect for outdoor patio parties or indoor holiday gatherings. Its flat sides make it ideal for allowing someone who uses a wheelchair to pull up to the table. Use your favorite hardwood for the tabletop. Make a group of these small, matching tables for an outdoor cafe look on your patio, or use them as occasional tables in your living room or bedrooms.

Enough of your choice of 1-inch thick hardwood to make a tabletop that measures 3 to 4 feet from point to opposite point across the octagon
4-inch by 4-inch by 3-foot post
2-foot by 2-foot hardwood square
Box of 1/2-inch diameter, 4-inch long wood screws
Four 2-inch by 2-inch by 4 1/2-inch strips of wood
Power drill, 1/4-inch drill bit
Countersink bit
Coarse, medium, fine and extra fine sandpaper
Clear acrylic wood treatment

Instructions

- 1
  
  Cut an octagon from your favorite hardwood. The interior angles at each outer point of the octagon should equal 135 degrees. The distance from one point to its opposite point across the octagon should be 3 to 4 feet.
- 2
  Cut a 4-inch by 4-inch by 3-foot post. Attach the post to a 2-foot by 2-foot by 1-inch hardwood square using two 1/2-inch diameter, 4-inch long wood screws. This makes the base of your table.
- 3
  Attach four 2-inch by 2-inch by 4 1/2-inch long wood strips in a square on the underside center of the octagon tabletop, to make a collar for the 4-inch by 4-inch post, using 1/2-inch diameter, 4-inch long wood screws.
- 4
  Settle the collar over the post. Use two 1/2-inch diameter, 4-inch long wood screws to secure the collar to the post.
- 5
  Use coarse, then medium, then fine and finally extra fine sandpaper to smooth the entire table. Apply several coats of clear acrylic wood treatment to seal the table.

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