How to build a coffee table

A coffee table is four legs, an apron and a top, and the usual trouble is a wobble at the leg joints or a solid top that splits because it was fixed down too tight. Give it a size below and the engine checks the frame and the top before you cut.

Check your size first

Free, instant and no account. The engine checks it the way a structural engineer would, and says so plainly when it won't hold up.

What goes wrong on a coffee table

Leg-to-apron joints: All the racking load on a table goes through the corners where the legs meet the apron. The check looks at whether your joint can take it.
Wood movement: A wide solid-wood top grows and shrinks across the grain with the seasons. Screw it down rigidly and it cracks, so the plan fastens it in a way that lets it move.
Apron span: A long apron with nothing in the middle can bow under someone sitting on the edge. The check works out the deflection for your length.

The build, start to finish

Cut the legs, aprons and top from the cut list.
Join the aprons to the legs, two ends first, then the long sides.
Check the frame for square and flat on the floor.
Fasten the top so it can move across the grain.
Sand, finish and put your feet up.

The full plan has the exact cut list, a shopping list, a 3D view you can stand in your room, and step-by-step assembly for your sizes.

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Setting up your bench…

Build guides · Coffee table