Build Your Own Tables

Depending on the style of table you’re building and the type of veneered sheet material you’re using, you’ll probably have to hide exposed lamination lines that are visible along the edges by gluing on strips of solid wood or applying iron-on wood veneer tape. You also can make any plywood or veneered particleboard tabletop look thicker by gluing wider, thicker strips of solid wood along the edges.

Want the convenience of plywood while avoiding the need to apply edging? Take a look at Baltic birch plywood. Its all-hardwood composition and lack of internal gaps allows the edges of this material to be routed and finished without hiding the edges. You’ll still see lamination lines, but they look pretty good in modern designs.

A solid wood tabletop is the traditional approach, and solid wood has a lot to offer. Besides a firm and weighty presence, it is durable and can be sanded and refinished many times. The work of building with it involves gluing pieces of wood together on their edges, then cutting the assembly to length and width after sanding all joints flat and smooth. The main challenge you’ll face is refining the joints between boards so they come together gap-free. A few minutes of work with a stationary jointer is one option. You could also plane the joints freehand, gaining experience with this timeless woodworking skill.

Use carpenter’s glue and pipe clamps to hold tabletop boards together. When the glue has dried, use a belt sander to smooth the joints. Work across the grain with an 80-grit belt until the entire tabletop is level, then switch orientation so you’re sanding parallel to the grain. Switch to a 120-grit belt (also used parallel to the grain), then a random orbit or finishing sander with a 180-grit abrasive for final smoothing.

Legs and Aprons

There are many ways to create legs. One of the simplest approaches uses 2-by lumber sanded smooth, or with corners chamfered (beveled) or rounded with a router. If you’d like to incorporate fancy legs into your design, but don’t have the lathe or the experience to turn wood successfully, consider ready-made table legs. They come in all sizes and styles at reasonable prices.

Large pieces of solid wood make great table legs, but the strength of your table depends more on how they’re joined to neighboring aprons. There’s a lot of stress at these joints, so you need to tackle this part of the construction with an approach that’s suited to the size and purpose of your table.

Every leg-to-apron joint can be safely connected with mortise and tenon or dowel joints, but in many cases this is more difficult and time consuming than necessary. Tables with legs shorter than about 20 inches can be joined to aprons using two #20 biscuits at each joint, a couple of pocket screws, or three-eighths-inch-diameter by 1 1⁄2-inch-long fluted dowels.