Steps in Making a Small Wooden Table

A small, simple wooden table is one of the most useful household items, good for almost every room in the house. It's a place for your drinks and casual meals and can be used to display lamps or sculptures. A small, wooden table is a basic woodworking project requiring few special tools or techniques.

1-inch thick furniture-grade plywood
4-inch square dowels
Table saw
1-inch screws
Power drill/screwdriver
Wood glue
Power disc hand sander

Instructions

- 1
  Cut a 2-1/2-foot rectangle from the furniture-grade plywood for the table top. Cut two 2-1/2-foot-by-5-inch rectangles and two 5-by-32-inch rectangles for the table's lip.
- 2
  Attach the lips to the edges of the table top. Lay the table top flat to glue the shorter lips to opposite sides of the square, standing them up and positioning the edges flush with one another. Attach the longer lip pieces on the other two edges of the table top in the same manner, positioning them over the ends of the first two lip pieces as well.
- 3
  Reinforce the glue on the table lips using short screws. Attach three screws along each tabletop edge, screwing in from the outside of the lip pieces. Use two additional screws in each corner to attach the lip pieces to one another.
- 4
  Make the table's legs by cutting four 2-foot lengths of dowel.
- 5
  Glue the legs to the bottom of the table, fitting them snugly into the four corner formed by the lips. Let dry.
- 6
  Reinforce the glue on the legs with long screws, screwing them in from the top of the table down into the legs. Use one large screw for each leg.
- 7
  Sand the table using the hand disc sander.
- 8
  Stain and varnish the table or paint, as desired.

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