Build Your Own Tables

Got a big table that you also want to be able to take apart? Consider metal corner brackets. Standard designs include a bent sheet metal bracket that fits into grooves sawn into the inside faces of aprons, near the ends. These brackets then fit over hanger bolts installed in the inside corner of each leg, held in place with nuts and washers that bind everything together. This system is simple because no joinery details are required. And you can take them apart for easy transport. The ends of the aprons are just cut square and held firmly to the legs by the corner brackets. (Read Woodworking Basics to learn about dowel, biscuit and pocket screw joinery.)

Your table will look best if you set the aprons back from the outside faces of the legs one-eighth to one-quarter inches. This is called a “reveal,” and it eliminates the need for a perfectly flush fit across these joints while also creating shadow lines that boost visual interest. Metal corner brackets automatically create a reveal, but you’ll need to build this feature in if you’re using dowels, biscuits or pocket screws.

Anchoring the Tabletop

There are several ways to attach the top to the apron, and the best method depends on how your tabletop is made. Veneered plywood and particleboard tops remain dimensionally stable as airborne humidity changes; this means they can be anchored firmly, without allowances for seasonal expansion and contraction. The table plan to the left shows how three-quarter-by-three-quarter-inch strips of wood are anchored to the inside faces of table aprons, allowing screws to be driven up into the underside of the tabletop. Just be careful to choose screw length correctly. Too short and the screws won’t hold properly; too long and you’ll see screws that splintered through your carefully sanded top.

You might succeed using cleats and screws to secure a small, solid wood table top, but wood any wider than about 12 inches will probably crack or warp in time if you fasten it without allowing the opportunity for seasonal wood movement. Depending on where you live, a typical tabletop can expand and contract more than a quarter inch each year, and this is where something called a Z-clip can help. It’s a small, inexpensive piece of metal hardware that you screw to the underside of the table, while also interlocking with a groove cut with a table or circular saw into the inside face of the aprons. These clips hold the tabletop firm, yet allow it to expand and contract. Installing them every 8 to 12 inches is fast and easy.