Small Table With a Drawer

After making the Coffee Cup Cabinet, my wife wanted a small table to go at the end of a counter under the cabinet, for the coffee maker and the hot water pot. We used to have a fridge at the end of the counter and have since upgraded to a larger fridge and relocated that to another part of the kitchen.

I wanted to make the table level with the counter, have 1 drawer, and open on the bottom to put our water bottle. On the counter top, I will have the coffee maker, hot water pot, and a water dispenser that will pull water from the bottle that will be under the table. I also decided to make the entire project from teak (except the plywood drawer bottom (rubberwood) and the knob (beech).

For this build I will be using various power tools, follow all safety precautions for the power tools you use and have a good understanding of how they work, I claim no responsibility on how you use your tools.

This is a make to your size project, I am making this table 60x60cm (23 5/8" x 23 5/8"), and designing this as I go. I mostly use metric measurements, there is plenty of online tools to use to do the conversions, however I will switch to Imperial when build the drawer.

Much of this is built, measured, assembled, upside down, keep that in mind when it comes to deciding what wood surfaces you want facing outwards and on the left or right of the table.

All wood is teak, however, you can use wood of your choice.

counter top, x1, 60x60cm x 2.2cm thick, for this I am going with a factory made laminated panel, laminated means smaller pieces glued together, not a plywood.

legs, x4, 4.5x4.5cm x90cm long, these will be trimmed to length.

skirting, x5, 2.2x16cm x 80cm long, these will be cut length.

bracing, x3, 2.2x4.5cm, x80cm long, these will be cut to length.

drawer, 1.3x15cm x 100cm long, these will be cut to length to make the drawer box.

drawer bottom, 6mm rubberwood plywood.

kerf mounted table leg brackets, set of 4, with hanger bolts, washers, and nuts, CB-09.

drawer slides, x1 pair, 18", side mounted soft close.

screws as needed, I used torx screws.

dowels, 8x50, 8x40, as needed.

knob or drawer pull, x1, I used a store bought wood knob.

Figure 8 fasteners and screws, as needed, plus appropriate size Forstner bit.

Tools

table saw

miter saw

jig saw

chisel

clamps as needed, I used F and bar clamps.

sander, and various grades of sandpaper, I will use 120 and 240 grit.

drill, and various bits as needed, for dowels I use exclusively Star-M bits which are precision bits.

router in a router table, just a palm router is fine if no table, plus various bits as needed.

tape measure or steel rule

wrenches as needed

finish of your choice, plus brushes, I will be using water based glossy polyurethane.

First thing we can do is cut the legs to length, since I want my table at 88.5cm tall, and the counter top I am going to use is 2.2cm thick, it is as simple as 88.5 - 2.2 = 86.3cm. I used a miter saw to cut each leg to 86.3cm. Now you have 4 legs the correct length, and 4 pieces of scrap, the scrap pieces will be used next.

Next thing we have to do is set the spacing for the legs, this will give us the length and placement of the skirting. Skirting is the pieces that fit between the legs.

With the table top good side up, determine which side you want for the front of the table, keeping in mind, end grain will go on left and right sides. Now turn the table top over (good surface face down) and place on padded worksurface to prevent scuffing up the surface. Use a post it note and mark what is front edge.

Now you can place those 4 scrap pieces from the legs on the surface, those will represent the legs while we set the placement. I placed the leg pieces 4cm in from each side (the inset), that looked like a good inset for the legs, then use a pencil and a square to mark the outer edges of the leg.

Now you need two pieces of scrap wood that is the same thickness as the skirting you are going to use, I used two pine blocks but they are the same exact thickness as the skirting.

The Kerf

A kerf is a cut the width of a saw blade, and for this we are talking about the saw blade on a table saw. This kerf we need is going to be a shallow saw line on each end of the skirting, the edges of the table leg bracket seat into the kerf to provide more stability. With the table leg pieces in place, place your two scrap blocks next to one of the leg pieces as show in the 3rd photo. Ideally you would want the skirt in the middle of the leg, however, I am using 1 3/4" (4.5cm) legs and the brackets I am using would be perfect for 2" (5cm) legs, which I could not locate.

Hold the bracket up so the center portion is lined up with the corner of the leg piece and the flat surfaces are against the two blocks, mark with a pencil where one of the edges of the bracket (the tab that sits in the kerf) meets the wood, measure that, mine is 5cm, this will come up again shortly.

If using table leg brackets as I did, you need to determine the measurement to the kerf that the bracket sits in on the skirting.

The Skirt or Apron

These parts fit between the legs right under the table top. From your layout of the leg pieces, you can determine the length of each skirt piece (60 is the table width, - 8 for the inset of each leg from the edge, - 9 for each leg width, = 43cm. This is based on my table being 60x60cm.

Using a table saw with a miter gauge (and I know, I need to upgrade my miter gauge), square one end of each of the 16cm x 2.2cm boards. I actually started with 18cm boards and ripped them down to 16cm wide first, then squared one end of each board. Measure each board to 43cm and transfer that mark to the edges, cut the boards to length.

Lower the table saw blade to about 6mm above the table, we will use this to make a non through cut for the kerfs.

Once you have the boards cut to length, now we need to cut the kerf, which will also be done on the table saw. Take a piece of scrap wood and hold against the fence, move the fence towards the blade while measuring between the center of the blade and the scrap wood face that is towards the blade, set the fence. Move the scrap wood back towards you then secure with a clamp, you can see the block clamped in the 4th photo, now you put a skirt piece on the table saw, inside face down on the table, against the miter and move it over to the scrap block, hold the piece firmly down, then push the piece through with the miter gauge, remove the piece, turn it around and cut the other end, repeat with the other 3 skirt pieces, as shown in the 5th photo. The skirting is almost done.

Drawer Cut Out

Since the front of the table will have a drawer, we are going to cut a hole in the front facing skirt, and to this we will attach side pieces in order to mount the drawer slides. The opening will determine our drawer size we need to fabricate.

With the front skirt, outside face facing downwards, measure the width of the board then divide by two, mark that on the board as that is your centerline. Measure towards each kerf line, staying about 2cm or so from that, I went with 14cm on each side for an opening width of 28cm (11") and then made more marks 2cm from the bottom and 2cm for an opening height of 12cm (just under 4 3/4"). We will use these measurements to fabricate the drawer in a later step.

Pilot Holes

Since I am using steel leg brackets, these are secured to the legs with hanger bolts, which have a coarse thread wood screw on one half and the other half is machine screw, mine are M8 machine screw, and the wood screw part is slightly larger than that so I used a 8mm bit to drill the pilot holes in the legs using my drill press.

The leg brackets, from what I have read, are generally placed in the middle of the skirt (from to to bottom), I did measure from the top of the skirt down and placed a mark at 5.5cm on each end of each skirt piece. Hold a clamp on the line and use a centering pilot hole bit in your drill and drill a pilot hole for each bracket.

Then you need to attach a bracket to a skirt piece with screws, now when that is attached, stand that up with the top of the skirt piece down on your work surface, then take another skirt piece, also with the top edge facing down, secure that with screws as well. Hold a leg up, fitted between the two skirt pieces and and slide that down and it should rest on the edge of the bracket, this is how we measure how much of a chamfer for the bracket is needed.

Set up your router (I used a router table, but using just a handheld palm router is perfectly fine) for the size of chamfer you need, then mill a piece of scrap wood and then check that on the bracket, the piece should fit in with 2-3mm of space between the bracket and chamfer.

When I had mine set up perfect, I also milled all four corners of the legs with the same chamfer, as well as the bottom outside edge of the skirting, as shown in photos.

Place a leg next to the bracket and two skirt pieces, place a mark in the middle of each bolt hole, this is your spacing for the hanger bolts. Mark the remaining legs, then drill the pilot holes just a little deeper then the wood screw portion of a hanger bolt.

At this time, you can start on finishing.

The finish I am using is water based polyurethane, which is my preferred finish for my projects, easy to apply, fast drying, no odor, and clean up is with water.

Sand all your pieces to get them ready. I used 120 grit first, then 240 grit. Wipe all the pieces down so they are dust free.

The top, legs, and left and right side skirt pieces can start being finished now, as I need to get the skirting attached to the leg brackets, then the legs attached to the brackets, so what better way than to do that one time, after the legs and skirting is finished.

One can do the math and determine what the inside measurement is between the front and back skirting but having the base assembled, makes that measurement much more accurate. This is why the front and back skirting pieces are not finished yet, as they will have two crossmembers attached to them, then they will be finished.

I apply a coat to all surfaces, allowing appropriate drying in between turn parts over. After the first coat, then I used just a block of wood with 240 grit paper and do another light sanding, then wipe everything down so they are all dust free again.

For the table top, I applied 3 more coats of finish. For the remaining parts, I applied 2 more coats.

When I say partial, we are building the base but not attaching the top. For this step we are going to use all 4 skirt pieces, 4 legs, and 4 sets of brackets. You will also need your drill and various bits as well as a wrench for installing the hanger bolts.

First thing we need to do is install the hanger bolts on the legs, as shown in the first photo. Put a nut on the machine thread part of the bolt, put that on far enough to put a second nut on right after the first one, tighten the second nut added against the first nut, now the pair is locked and will be used to turn the wood screw part into the pilot holes in the legs. Use a wrench to install the bolts, using only the top most nut to turn the bolt, after these are all installed, remove the nuts and set the legs aside.

To assemble the skirting, lay the front skirt down on the work surface with the kerf lines facing upwards, place a leg bracket at the mark you made previously (5.5cm from the top edge), drill pilot holes in the previous marks made with the self centering bit, ensuring you do not go through the skirt, set a flag or a bit stop, then set 3 screws, as shown in the 2nd photo. Add the bracket to the other end of the front skirt.

Hold the that skirt piece up with the "top" edge down on the worksurface, by top, I mean the edge that is going to attach to the table top. Take the right skirt piece, hold that "top" edge down on the worksurface and fit the bracket into the kerf line, and set the screws, as shown in the 3rd photo. Repeat this with the left skirt piece. Now add the brackets to the back skirt, slide that down into the kerf lines on the left and right skirt pieces, keep the pieces on the flat work surface, and set the screws, as shown in the 4th photo.

Use a square and check for square for the skirt pieces, they should all be square, as shown in the 5th photo.

now take a leg and turn that over so the hanger bolts are near the bottom and place onto the work surface, and slide it into position on the bracket, add the washers and nuts, finger tight, as shown in the 6th photo. Repeat adding the legs. Tighten the nuts with a wrench, about 1/2 to 3/4 turn on each nut for each leg. The nuts will pull the skirt tight against the legs. Check for square between the skirt and legs, from both directions, as shown in the 7th and 8th photos.

Now you can turn the frame over, as shown in 9th photo.

The crossmembers are what is going to hold the drawer slides. Two crossmembers will now have to be installed, I am going to use glue and screws, and plug the holes with dowels for a nice clean look. For this, you will use a table saw and will need your bar clamps and glue as well.

When the frame is assembled, we need to make measurements between the front and back skirt pieces, the inside measurement. The following will be longwinded but there is a reason as frame will not be 100% square, there is going to be slop, so we are going to reduce that slop to a minimum.

With the frame sitting upside on your flat worksurface, you need to make a measurement on the top of the skirt, above the left edge of the drawer opening to the inside of the back skirt, then take a measurement on the top of the skirt above the right side of the drawer opening to the back skirt. Now take a measure on the bottom of the skirt, below the left side of the drawer opening, then again on the right. If your frame is 100% square, these numbers will be all the same, chances are they are not, and this is easy to figure out.

On my frame, I looked at the front skirt where it meets the legs, photos 1 and 2, there is an even amount of leg showing from the top to bottom, then I looked at the back skirt and there was a difference between the top and bottom, so I loosened the screws on the bracket that is against the back skirt, on both sides, screw location is shown in photo 3, and thumped the skirt to show the correct the space between the top and bottom, making sure the skirt is still against the bracket at either the top or bottom.

Retake the four measurements for crossmembers, when they equal, you can cut the crossmembers to length. After the crossmembers are fitted, then you can snug up the screws you loosened. Another reason for loosening the back screws is to allow you room to get the crossmembers in with glue on the ends.

For this I used 1.3cm teak, about 15cm width, slightly narrower than the width as the skirting. I squared the ends and cut to length on the table saw.

I applied 2 coats of polyurethane on the insides of the crossmembers since the gap between the crossmember and skirt is too narrow to finish once they are installed.

To mount these pieces, we are going to square them to the front skirt and back to ensure the drawer slides are parallel. I used plastic squares to mark the locations where the crossmembers will fit.

I used clamps to hold the crossmembers in place, 4th photo, then tightened the screws on the back skirt brackets.

Screws and Dowels

After the glue has dried, remove the clamps. At this point, give the nuts on the legs 1/4 to half turn to ensure they are tight and secure.

On the front and back skirts, I marked out 3 sort of evenly spaced marks, which are aligned with the center of each crossmember. I used an 8mm Star-M bit and dilled the countersunk holes about 8mm deep, then used a 2mm bit to drill pilot through the skirt and into the crossmembers. Do this on the front and back skirts.

For screws, I used M4x40 (1 1/2") SPAX-M screws with Torx drive (T20). Set screws through the skirt into the crossmembers. Add a little glue to each hole and insert an 8mm dowel in each hole. After the glue has dried, flush cut the excess dowels.

Sand the Holes were filled with dowels, cut flush and sand the front and back skirts. After this, you can apply finish to the front and back skirting and the crossmembers. The table frame is almost done.

At this point you can complete the finish on the front and back skirt as well as the crossmembers.

Figure 8 fasteners sound exactly like the name, it is a fastener that holds the table top to the frame, keeping in mind that wood can move, it moves in width, not much in length, and to minimize cracking or warping of the top, we use figure 8 fasteners as they allow the top to move slightly.

For this you need a drill and Forstner bit, the size of the fastener will determine the bit size, the product should state the size of bit needed, for mine, the size is 15mm.

Place a fastener on the top of the skirt edge and mark the hole with a center punch. Drill the recess out with the Forstner bit so the fastener is just below the surface of the edge, as shown in the first photo.

The second photo shows a fastener set into the recess, but as it is, it cannot move left or right. We are going to correct this.

Use a chisel to remove the corners of the recess, as shown in the 3 and 4th photos, doing this allows the fastener to move left and right.

Drill a pilot hole then set the screw, do not over tighten the screw, make sure the fastener can move without.

I used 8 fasteners, depending on the size of your table, you may use more or less. I thought the 2 on each side was sufficient.

Once the finish has been applied, and dried, we can add the drawer slides. Easy to install the slides when the cabinet is on its side.

I mounted the slides at the bottom of the drawer opening, flush with the front. I used a combination square set to the distance from the slide to the bottom of the crossmember. Extend the slide and you can clamp the slide down to the crossmember, as shown in the 1st photo.

2nd photo just shows the slide clamped as well. Drill pilot holes in the crossmember.

3rd photo shows the slide installed with #6 (M3.5x12) screws. For the 18" slide there is 4 screws to attach the slide to the crossmember.

Turn the frame over and repeat the slide install on the other side. 4th photo shows the slide retracted fully. 5th photo shows both slides installed.

The Top

Once the slides are installed, you can install the table top.

Place the top on a workbench, bottom side up. Position the base (frame), upside down on the top, center the base on the top, or use the pencil marks from the initial layout. Basically you want the same space between each leg and the top edge on all for legs.

Use an extension in your drill and drill pilot holes in each of the fasteners, then set the screws. Last step is the drawer.

For this step you will use a table saw and a drill. The wood I am using is 1.3cm thick teak. The drawer bottom will be 6mm (1/4") rubberwood plywood. For the drawer I will switch measurements back to Imperial.

To get our drawer measurements, measure the width and height of the drawer opening on the front skirt. Subtract 1" for the slides for the width, and subtract 3/4" for the height. To measure the depth of the drawer, measure from the front face of the front skirt to the inside of the back skirt.

My drawer opening measurements are 11" wide, 4 3/4" height. The depth of the opening is 19", so the longest side mount drawer slide is 18". Width, 11" - 1" = 10" wide drawer, and for height, 4 3/4" - 3/4" = 4" height of drawer. So the drawer box needs to be 10" x 4" x 18".

I ripped down some 1.3cm teak to 4" width. I need two pieces 18" long, these are the outside pieces, or left and right of the drawer, with the front and back going in between these. Also needed is two pieces 9" (10" - 1" (the sides) = 9") For the bottom, I am going to cut a dado for that, and that will be 1/4" plywood.

To cut the dado, set your table saw blade height to 1/4" and 1/4" from the fence. Take a piece of scrap wood and on the end grain, from the edge, mark a line at 1/4" and 1/2", then another line across those to make 1/4" square, this will be your test piece, run the of scrap wood through the table saw and you should have a cut inside the square you drew on the end of the piece, set the piece aside.

Run the 4 drawer pieces through the table saw, turn the saw off, set them aside. Now put the test piece back on the saw, not on the blade but right up to it, now you need to loosen the fence and just bump it away from the blade so that the blade is just before the 1/2" mark on the test piece, lock the fence, then with the saw on, run the test piece through again, turn the saw off. Test fit the dado on your plywood you are going to use for the bottom, you are looking for a snug fit, not tight, it is better to be a tiny bit loose than too tight. If you are happy with the fit, we can cut the drawer parts.

Get the drawer sides and front ready, making sure you have them oriented to cut how you cut them the first time, and set the drawer back aside. Run the sides and front through the table saw again, turn the saw off, now raise the blade to just higher than your wood you are using, and using a thin wood push stick, not the plastic one that came with your saw, run the drawer back through the saw, maintain control of the cutoff since that will be against the fence. Now you have 3 pieces with the dado at the correct depth on each piece, and the back is perfectly even with the dado as well, pieces are show in the first photo.

Sand all four pieces except the end grain. My sander failed on this step, a replacement ordered, so I just proceeded to assemble the box and sanded after it is assembled.

I used plastic right angle braces and clamped those to one side board and clamped the front and back to the braces, make sure you keep the pieces with the dado all on the same plane since you have to fit the back panel later.

I used a 8mm Star-M drill bit to drill 3 equally spaced countersinks, then a 2mm bit to drill the pilot holes through the countersink and into the front and back panels. Then I took off one end piece, added glue to the end grain, held it in place against the brace and set 3 screws, I used 1 1/2" (M4x40) torx screws. Remove the clamps and setup the other side panel and repeat the process with drilling the holes, then to glue in place, remove the clamps on the side piece, glue both front and back pieces on the end grain, then place the side panel back in place and set the screws, as shown in the second photo.

Plug the holes with 8mm dowels, as in the third photo. Allow time to dry then trim the excess with a flush cut saw. Sand the sides where the dowels were.

Once the box is assembled, time for the back panel. This is a simple as measuring between the dados for the width, then subtracting 2mm to ensure the panel will fit in without binding. Then measure from the outer edge of the back to the depth of the dado in the front, that is the size of your panel you need to cut. I cut mine on the table saw. Do a test fit and the panel should slide right into place, then remove the panel for the finish of your choice.

Assemble the drawer by sliding the bottom into the dados and secure in place. I used three 1" screws that I drilled pilot holes for and countersunk as well.

Now we need to attach the drawer to the slides. To do this test fit the drawer between the slides, the drawer should easily fit between the slides with about 1mm (1/16") clearance so the drawer does not bind. If the drawer is too tight, sand the sides of the drawer box.

Next, we need to determine the spacing on the bottom of the drawer, for this, I am going to place the drawer box 6mm (1/4") above the bottom of the front opening.

Extend a slide past the drawer and measure from the drawer bottom to the bottom of the drawer slide (the part that attaches to the drawer. Once you have that measurement, remove the drawer. Then fully extend each slide, when you see the black lever on the side of the slide, lift that (or push down) to release the slide and remove the drawer part of the slide, do this for each slide.

Place the drawer on its side, place a drawer slide on it, and using the measurement from the bottom of the drawer to the bottom of slide, align the slide up, hold firmly and drill pilot holes in the drawer. After both sides have pilot holes, place a slide on and set with screws, repeat with the other side.

Now it is as simple as installing the drawer slides back into the cabinet slides, push all the way closed to seat the slides, then open. Your drawer should be fully functional at this time.

Drawer Front

The drawer front I chose to use is called the slab front, which like the name implies, it is just a board.

The size I determined was 31.5x14cm, first thing I did was rip a piece of 1.3cm teak down to 14cm wide, squared one end, then cut to length at 31.5cm, then used my router table to mill a chamfer on each front edge, then sanded, as shown in photo 10. After this I applied polyurethane to all sides to finish it.

Since I am going to use a knob for a drawer pull, I needed to put a hole in the center of the board. Turn the board over and use a straightedge from corner to corner and draw a line in the middle, then draw a line from the opposite corners and draw a line in the middle, where they meet is the center, mark that with a center punch, as shown in photo 11.

I then drilled a counter sink with an 8mm bit so the knob screw will be below the surface, but do not attach the knob yet, first we have to get that lined up on the drawer.

Place the drawer front over the drawer, with equal hanger over on each side and top to bottom, when you are happy with where it is, hold firmly and drive a screw through the hole and into the drawer box itself, making sure you do not come out the other side.

Now you can reach under the drawer and gently pull it out, then place two clamps to hold the front to the drawer box.

At this point I used a counter sink drill bit and drilled 4 holes, two on each side of the drawer box, then drilled the pilot holes a little deeper, but make sure you do not go through the front, then set all 4 screws. Then removed all the screws then removed the clamps.

Now I installed the knob with the screw provided, it was short so I could not install that through the drawer box and only through the drawer front panel. Then I simply set all 4 previous screws through the box and into the front.

Your small table with a drawer is now complete.