I made two of these, one for use on each side of the swing in the Relaxation Station I made a few years ago. One of my favorite things to do on weekend mornings (weather permitting) is to sit on the swing, read the paper, and sip coffee. Until now, I didn't have a good place to set the mug. Now I do.
I made them out of cedar. The finish is a few vapors of cedar deck stain, followed by three coats of Spar Urethane. That's the same finish that I had used on the relaxation station, which hasn't needed any touch-ups in the two years it has been exposed to the elements.
I didn't use a published plan; I "invented" my own. It's 12" w x 24" h x 12" d. The tables had to fit inside the relaxation station without interferring with the swing. Furthermore, the height had to be at a comfortable reach for placing the beverage of choice.
I made the legs by first selecting 4" x 4" posts that were as close to being rift-sawn (i.e., looking at the end grain, the growth lines ran diagonal) as I could find. That way there is very little, if any, face grain visible on the legs. I think it makes for a cleaner look.
I bandsawed the 4" x 4" in half, and then milled four square legs (about 1-5/8"). I was able to get 8 legs out of 4" x 4" post, with some left over for test cutting. The insides of the legs are tapered, starting about 7/16 of the height of the table (I guess that means at 13-1/4" from the top of the leg) such that the bottom of the leg is about 1" wide. There's no magic reason for choosing the 7/16. . . I was intrigued by an article written in Pop. Woodworking by Adam Cherubini on proportion. I thought I'd see how it looked. I like it.
The rails of the apron are attached to the legs by using sliding dovetails. I used the offcuts from milling the legs for fine-tuning and centering the sockets in the legs.
The top:
The joinery for the top is a simple tenon and groove. The ceramic tile (8" tile; actually 7-7/8" square) sits on top of two support pieces. I made the supports from 1/2" stock. When I made the tenons on the end pieces for the top, I milled one side of the 1/2" stock, and inserted them loose into the groove during glue-up. I didn't want to fasten the tile to the table, in case it cracked or we wanted to change the color of the tile.
The top is attached to the apron by using pocket screws; I didn't use glue.
Nice and handy!
Thanks for looking.
I made them out of cedar. The finish is a few vapors of cedar deck stain, followed by three coats of Spar Urethane. That's the same finish that I had used on the relaxation station, which hasn't needed any touch-ups in the two years it has been exposed to the elements.
I didn't use a published plan; I "invented" my own. It's 12" w x 24" h x 12" d. The tables had to fit inside the relaxation station without interferring with the swing. Furthermore, the height had to be at a comfortable reach for placing the beverage of choice.
I made the legs by first selecting 4" x 4" posts that were as close to being rift-sawn (i.e., looking at the end grain, the growth lines ran diagonal) as I could find. That way there is very little, if any, face grain visible on the legs. I think it makes for a cleaner look.
I bandsawed the 4" x 4" in half, and then milled four square legs (about 1-5/8"). I was able to get 8 legs out of 4" x 4" post, with some left over for test cutting. The insides of the legs are tapered, starting about 7/16 of the height of the table (I guess that means at 13-1/4" from the top of the leg) such that the bottom of the leg is about 1" wide. There's no magic reason for choosing the 7/16. . . I was intrigued by an article written in Pop. Woodworking by Adam Cherubini on proportion. I thought I'd see how it looked. I like it.
The rails of the apron are attached to the legs by using sliding dovetails. I used the offcuts from milling the legs for fine-tuning and centering the sockets in the legs.
The top:
The joinery for the top is a simple tenon and groove. The ceramic tile (8" tile; actually 7-7/8" square) sits on top of two support pieces. I made the supports from 1/2" stock. When I made the tenons on the end pieces for the top, I milled one side of the 1/2" stock, and inserted them loose into the groove during glue-up. I didn't want to fasten the tile to the table, in case it cracked or we wanted to change the color of the tile.
The top is attached to the apron by using pocket screws; I didn't use glue.
Nice and handy!
Thanks for looking.
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