Strong coffee table for inside or out

Sunset, July, 1993 by Peter O. Whiteley

You can build a base in an afternoon

SOME TABLES, especially those in a family room or outside on a patio, are destined for abuse. For children, "coffee table" is synonymous with footrest, snack counter, or stool. Exterior tables have different foes; they must contend with sun, rain, and potted plants.

With those realities in mind, we designed two sturdy, low tables that are easy to build and look good, too. Both employ the same style of base. One is an all-wood family room coffee table, the other an outside table topped with a piece of Arizona flagstone. You can modify the size of the base or top to suit your needs.

To build the base, you need a table saw with dado blades, an electric drill, a 3/8-inch countersink bit, a 3/8-inch plug cutter, about 24 2-inch wood-screws, wood glue, a square, a chisel, and a belt sander. For the indoor table, you'll also need four bar clamps.

START AT THE BOTTOM

The indoor table is made of vertical-grain fir. Its 30- by 48-inch top is secured to a 24-by 42-inch base. The flagstone top measures 24 inches square, while its redwood base is 18 inches square. Both bases have four 15-inch-long 4-by-4 legs, joined to 2-by-4s that have rabbeted and mitered ends.

Begin by mitering the ends of each 2-by-4 to the base dimensions mentioned above, then cut the 1- by 3 1/2-inch rabbets into the 2-by-4s as shown in sketch below.

With the countersink bit, predrill screw holes in each end of the 2-by-4s. Screw the mitered ends together, as well as the sides into the legs. Cover the screws with plugs cut from scrap wood.

The coffee table top is made of three 4-foot lengths of 2-by-12, ripped square to 10 inches. Glue and clamp them together, then sand the top and base pieces, rounding all edges. To attach the top, screw scrap pieces of 2-inch stock to the upper inside edges of the base, then screw up through the scrap and into the underside of the table top. Stain all surfaces, then seal the table.