Sofa Table Project
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 5:37 pm
I live in a modest house and space is always at a premium. Coffee tables use a lot of floor space and in our case they collect newspapers, magazines, empty beer bottles, dirty glasses etc. So when we started remodeling last year we kinda decided we’d try to use both the living and family rooms without coffee tables. But we need something for the beverage of choice.
We saw lots of ‘sofa tables’ are on Etsy and Pinterest so I thought I’d try making one. But I hoped it would be more flexible and maybe have some style. I think of this build as a “proof of concept”. We’ll try this for a few months and see if we like it or how it needs to be modified.
I started with feet for the project, they were rescued from a TV/stereo cabinet that was on a curb. I cut off the trim pieces re purposing as feet. I thought a piece of ¾” pw would make a good up-right and I had an off-cut of big box pine that I thought would make a table top.
I used the table saw to cut notches in the feet. Then I drilled and inserted dowels from the heel of the foot (good ol SS horizontal drilling). For the table I routed a slot and bull-nosed the edge. At first it just hung on the upright. But it didn’t take me long to add adjustable stops to prevent an accident. It moves up and down to accommodate the height of the sofa/chair arm. (Maybe the best feature of this unit and as far as I know the only unit that's adjustable?) The upright is plumb but the table hangs a full bubble off level.
After a couple weeks I covered the edges of the pw with poplar cut-offs. Then I decided to add a handle. It’s just doweled to the upright. I think my cut-out of the hand would look better revered? Works great, very easy to carry to the next room.
I added some stain and a few coats of poly although, as you can see, I didn’t clean up the glue before finishing (lazy me).
Concept wise I'm pretty happy and will make a couple of 'keepers' when the spirit moves me.
Thanks for looking!
We saw lots of ‘sofa tables’ are on Etsy and Pinterest so I thought I’d try making one. But I hoped it would be more flexible and maybe have some style. I think of this build as a “proof of concept”. We’ll try this for a few months and see if we like it or how it needs to be modified.
I started with feet for the project, they were rescued from a TV/stereo cabinet that was on a curb. I cut off the trim pieces re purposing as feet. I thought a piece of ¾” pw would make a good up-right and I had an off-cut of big box pine that I thought would make a table top.
I used the table saw to cut notches in the feet. Then I drilled and inserted dowels from the heel of the foot (good ol SS horizontal drilling). For the table I routed a slot and bull-nosed the edge. At first it just hung on the upright. But it didn’t take me long to add adjustable stops to prevent an accident. It moves up and down to accommodate the height of the sofa/chair arm. (Maybe the best feature of this unit and as far as I know the only unit that's adjustable?) The upright is plumb but the table hangs a full bubble off level.
After a couple weeks I covered the edges of the pw with poplar cut-offs. Then I decided to add a handle. It’s just doweled to the upright. I think my cut-out of the hand would look better revered? Works great, very easy to carry to the next room.
I added some stain and a few coats of poly although, as you can see, I didn’t clean up the glue before finishing (lazy me).
Concept wise I'm pretty happy and will make a couple of 'keepers' when the spirit moves me.
Thanks for looking!
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