SMALL KITCHEN TABLE •

Jan 12, 2022

There was a little corner in our kitchen that was occupied by our trash can. I thought if I could make a small table that had a top at counter height that would provide additional counter space as well as a place where the trash can could live. So that was the idea that prompted this project.

Since the trash can would not occupy all the space under the table I decided to add some drawers in which other kitchen items could be stored.

Design started in Sketch Up with these ideas in mind. After the design was finalized it was off to my scrap wood storage area to find appropriate wood with which to build this project.

LEGS

The first part to build was the legs which would be made out of some light hard wood. I needed approximately 2 X 2 inches square stock which I did not have.

I used my planer to mill pieces square and then glued them up to make up a rough 2X2 inch stock.

The rough glue-ups were then milled to finished 2X2 inch square and cut to length. The short cross pieces of the leg assemblies got tennons cut on each end.

Mortises were then located and cut on the longer pieces of the leg assemblies.

Each leg assembly was dry fitted and check for accuracy then glued up. A round over bit was used to soften edges.

DRAWER CABINET

The next part made was the drawer cabinet in which to hold the drawers. The cabinet was made with 3/4 inch plywood from my scrap stash.

One side of the drawer cabinet was made out of a piece of walnut veneer plywood. To hide the plywood edges that would show I glued a piece of walnut to the edges. After the glue setup it was cut to finished dimensions. A round over bit was used to soften corners of edge strips.

After all the drawer cabinet parts were cut the cabinet assembly was glued together.

The top and the bottom of the drawer cabinet looks like this. The short ends were predrilled and was used to attach the drawer cabinet to the leg assemblies.

This is a view of the drawer cabinet attached to the leg assemblies. The back of the drawer cabinet was cut to fit and attached with pocket screws.

TABLE TOP

The top of the table was made from a piece of our old counter top that was recently replaced with a quartz countertop. The old counter top is 3/4 inch thick with a rounded front edge.

Pieces of light hardwood 1 inch thick and 1-1/2 inch wide was glued to all non-rounded edges. After the over sized wood was glued to the edges a flush trim bit was used to trim it flush to the countertop material.

A round over bit was used to soften all edges.

A piece of 3/4 inch piece of plywood was attached to the drawer cabinet/leg assembly. The counter top would fit over this and attached with screws from the bottom.

The hole you see above the drawer cabinet was cut to fit …

… this block of wood that was glued to the bottom side of the countertop. This block of wood not only provides wood in which screws would go but also eliminates the space between the top and the top of the drawer cabinet.

This is a dry fitting of the top to the table base/drawer cabinet assembly.

DRAWERS

The next parts to make was the drawers. Drawer boxes were made with 1/2 inch baltic birch plywood. The drawer fronts were made out of a dark hardwood (sapele) and full extension drawer guides were used. Drawer fronts were cut so that there was a space of 1/16 inch around each drawer front.

Drawer side joints were made with Quarter-Quarter-Quarter joint. It is the easiest method of making a box.

If you are not familiar with this joint take a look at this video link or this video link.

This is the joint.

To make it I used a Freud Box Joint blade set which cuts 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch kerfs depending how you install the blades on the table saw arbor. I set up the blades to cut 1/4 inch kerfs and raised the blade 1/4 inch high. The table saw fence was set 1/4 inch away from the blade. Test cuts were made to make sure the distance for the fence from the blade was correct.

The sides of each drawer box were cut in this position.

The front and backs were cut in this position.

The horizontal board is the side of the drawer box and the vertical
board is the front or back of the drawer box.

For my drawer bottoms I used 1/4 inch plywood. In my drawers I placed the bottoms 1/4 inch from the bottom of the drawer box edges. So I used the same table saw setup that was used for the sides of the corner joint. A groove for the bottom was cut on the insides of all drawer box sides and ends.

If you want to locate the drawer bottom further from the drawer box bottom you will have to change the table saw fence for this operation. Make sure you mark which side of the drawer box parts is the inside so you donʻt put this dado on the wrong side.

The drawer parts were dry fitted and checked for squareness then glue was applied and clamps were added to hold it in place.

After all the drawers were made sapele was glued up to make a board for the drawer fronts. The glued up sapele was cut to size for each drawer front.

The light wood of the cabinet/leg assembly was taped off before all the dark wood was given a coat of light walnut Danish Oil. The sapele drawer fronts were also given a coat of light walnut Danish Oil.

Next the full extension drawer guides were installed. Also the drawer pulls was attached to see how it would look.

These are photos of the finished Table after 2 coats of spar varnish was applied to all parts.

A small power strip was added to the drawer cabinet side to make it easier to plug in any kitchen appliances SWMBO chooses to place on this table.

The bottom drawer is being used for big stuff like the pizza stone and cutting boards.

Kitchen linen was put in the middle drawer.

The top drawer is where you will find all kinds of tea.

I hope you enjoyed how I enjoyed my time in my man cave.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this project.

Comments and questions welcomed and appreciated.

-- Tyvekboy -- Marietta, GA ………….. one can never be too organized