"Patio potato" designs an Adirondack table

Sunset, June, 1989

Inspired by Sunset's plans for a classic Adirondack chair (July 1981), home craftsman Leslie Sargent designed and built this accompanying coffee table for his deck in Ventura, California. The table is a convenient size and height for coffee, rolls, and the Sunday paper, says Sargent, a self-proclaimed "patio potato."

Standing 15 inches tall, the table was put together with 1 1/4-inch #8 brass woodscrews and finished with a semitransparent bleaching stain.

Mr. Sargent used 3/4-inch-thick all-heart redwood, which he ripped to the 6-, 4-, and 2-inch widths shown in the drawing. You could also use standard milled widths, though the resulting table would be slightly narrower. Seven boards make up his 27 1/2- by 54-inch top. So that no screws show, they're secured from below through two 4-inch-wide cleats.

The 6-inch-wide center board is flanked by pairs of 4- and 2-inch boards. From the inside out, gaps between boards are 3/8, 1/4, and 1/8 inch.

Inset 16 inches from each end and 4 inches from each side, the leg assembly uses 1-by-4s. Legs splay outward at 75[deg] angles; they're notched to fasten firmly to the inside corners of the frame. The frame, in turn, sits tight against the inside edges of the cleats and is screwed to them. Mr. Sargent added plastic glides to the legs.