How to Make an Oval Coffee Table

Making your own coffee tables may seem like a task to put in the "too-hard" basket, but if you leave aside fancy routing work, curved legs, complex joinery and other elements you can still make yourself a handsome oval coffee table. A basic butt edge joint is all you need to make sturdy legs of a coffee table, over which your solid oval-shaped table top can be attached. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Trace an oval, 40 inches long and 30 inches wide, onto the lumber sheet. Use the jigsaw or scroll saw to cut out the oval for the table top. Cut two block legs, 15-by-18 inches and an undercarriages support plank 15-by-20 inches from the same lumber sheet.

2

Lay the undercarriage plank flat on the work surface and abut the two leg pieces along the 15-inch ends of the undercarriage so that they form right-angles with the undercarriage.

3

Bead a line of glue around the ends of the undercarriage and press the leg pieces close. Clamp the legs in place, first checking that they are square with the undercarriage using the carpenter's square. Leave to dry, about 2 hours.

4

Measure 3 inches in from the edge of the legs, on the outer face where the leg adjoins the undercarriage. Make a mark at 3 inches, 1/4 an inch up from the end of the legs. Make three more marks, spaced 3 inches apart. Repeat on the other leg.

5

Drill a 1/2-inch-wide and 2-inch deep hole at each of the marks on the legs. The hole should go right through the leg and an inch into the end of the undercarriage.

6

Cut 8 lengths of dowel to 2 inches long. Cover the dowel pieces with glues then insert the dowel pieces into the drilled holes in the legs and push them in. If need be, use a mallet to get the dowel all the way into the holes. Wipe off excess glue with a rag. Leave to dry for around 2 hours.

7

Sand the legs and undercarriage as well as the oval coffee table top. Apply a coat of varnish, painting with the grain in smooth, even strokes of the paintbrush. Follow the varnish manufacturer's instructions and drying times.

8

Place the table top face-down on the work surface once the varnish has dried. Center the undercarriage, with the legs up in the air, over the oval table top. There should be roughly 9 inches between the legs and the end of the table top and around 7 inches on either side of the undercarriage.

9

Drive four wood screws, evenly spaced, along each side of the undercarriage into the underside of the table top, and four wood screws, evenly spaced through the leg-sides of the undercarriage into the underside of the table top. Turn the table over and your oval coffee table is ready for its new home.