Hey everyone! Hope you're all having an INCREDIBLE day! If you aren't then maybe this project will help cheer you up! Today I'm going to show you how to make a console table out of red cedar! I saw this idea online at Ana-White.com and decided to make my own little spin-off of it and post pictures and details on how I did it! I've already made one for myself just so I can have something to leave my keys, hate, mail, and phone on when I get home after a long day of work and I use it all the time! This one I'm showing you today is going to be for a lucky friend! So enough talking, let's get started!
But first let's get our supplies ready!
Power Drill
Impact Drill
Belt Sander
Orbital Sander
Multi-Tool (Optional but recommended)
Right-Angle Impact Driver Head (Optional but recommended)
Miter Saw (Optional but recommended)
Spring Clamp (Optional but recommended)
Handscrew Clamp (Optional but recommended)
Bar Clamps (The more the merrier but at least have four)
Kreg Jig
Kreg Pocket Hole Screws
Wood: 4 x 4 x 10 (2 for legs)
Wood: 2 x 4 x 10 (5 for everything else)
READ ALL DIRECTIONS BEFORE STARTING EACH STEP
Step One
Make your cuts!
4 x 4 x 10s (your legs):
27.5 inches x 4
2 x 4 x 10s (everything else):
37 inches x 4 <--Table Top
14.5 inches x 2 <--Table Top
33 inches x 3 <--Skirt and Bottom Truss
8 1/8 inches x 4 <--Support Braces
6 inches x 4 <--Skirt
Note: If you want to save yourself some time and energy and you happen to be shopping at Home Depot you can bypass the hassle of cutting all your boards by simply having the people there cut them for you. That's what I did seeing as these boards are far to big to fit in my car if I didn't.
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| How all your wood should look after cutting. |
Step Two
Now go over all your wood cuts again with an orbital sander using 150 grit sandpaper (or finer). All of your wood beams and boards should be nice and smooth now!
Using your Kreg Jig, drill two pocket holes on each end of your 33 inch boards. The first two of these will be the skirt for your table.
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| Clamp your board in! |
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| Start drilling your two holes on each end! |
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| Your boards should look like this now. |
Place your skirt boards against your table leg about an inch from the outside and flush with the top end then secure it in place using a bar clamp. Once it's tightened down fasten your skirt to your leg using your Kreg pocket screws. Do the same with the other leg.
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| Place your plank about one inch into your leg. |
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Clamp your skirt to your table leg and screw in two pocket screws
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Now drill four pocket holes into your four 6 inch blocks. Place one between your table legs on each side flush with the top and a 7/8 inch in from the outside end. Secure them in place using a bar clamp and screw in your pocket screws. Repeat on both ends. Once firmly screwed in you can release your clamps and repeat the same process with your two remaining 6 inch planks further down your table leg 4 inches from the feet on both ends. Only difference is this time you're going to line your plank flush with the inside of your legs as seen below.
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| Drill your four pocket holes on all four 6 inch pieces! |
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| Make sure they're a 7/8 inch in from the outside |
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| Clamp and start screwing! |
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| Measure your next two pieces 4 inches from your table feet. |
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| Make sure they're flush with the inside and start screwing! |
Step Seven
Same as in the last step drill 4 pocket holes into your 8 1/8 inch blocks. Place them inside your skirt up against your legs as shown below and screw them in. Clamping isn't super necessary in this step as the pressure should already be tight enough to hold them in place but I did it anyways just to be sure. Once you've done that measure 8.5 inches out from the inner side of those blocks and wedge the remaining two 8 1/8 inch blocks in. Make sure they're flush with the top end of the skirt, then screw them in, these will be your support braces.
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| Drill out your pocket holes! Lethargic background dogs are optional for this step. |
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| Place your planks against your legs like so and apply pressure as needed! |
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| Set your screws and start screwing! |
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| Wedge your next plank in 8.5 inches from your last one! |
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| Yep, that's 8.5 inches! |
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| Set your screws and start screwing! |
Step Eight
Take your last 33 inch board and drill out four pocket holes if you haven't already done so. Place it between the bottom two 6 inch blocks (the ones closest to your table feet) right in the middle where the 3 inch mark is. Then clamp it in place, set your screws, and start screwing!
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| More holes! |
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| Set your plank in plank in place,clamp it down, and screw it in! |
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| All that's left is the top! |
Step Nine
Now for the table top! Clamp all your 37 inch boards together using four bar clamps and don't forget to make sure the ends are all flush!
Note: This can be annoying depending on your quality of wood. Sometimes they won't always be completely straight which will leave small gaps in the surface that can really ruin your day. To fix this you can either:
B) Clamp them all tightly together until the gaps aren't visible and screw them in place as is.
C) Avoid this whole situation entirely by just picking out the straightest boards in the first place.
D) Panic and quit. <--- Disclaimer: This approach doesn't fix anything. Can confirm, done before
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| Gather your wood, tools, dog, and coffee! |
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| Clamp them tight! Don't forget to make sure they're flush! |
Step Ten
Now take your 14.5 inch blocks of wood and lay them on the ends of your 37 inch boards. Then mark where each board makes contact with your ends as shown below. You're going to drill out two holes to connect the ends to each of the surface boards totaling out to 8 holes on each end. Once your holes are drilled out, secure your ends to your surface boards and screw them in (I used a handscrew clamp to do this but there ARE other methods out there).
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| Mark where your boards make contact. |
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| Two holes for each board. |
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| Secure your ends to your table surface. |
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| Screw them in! |
Step Eleven
Now it's time to fasten your table top to your legs! Keep your boards clamped until you're done screwing everything in. Drill two holes into your 8 1/8 inch blocks to connect to the two middle centerboards then screw your braces into your tabletop. Repeat this for all your support braces (I only did one screw each for the two center support braces because I ran out of pocket screws). Once everything is all screwed in and tight you can loosen and remove all your clamps. Give your table a good sanding and brush off any leftover dust!
Note: As shown below you can remove the Kreg drill guide block and screw it into the brace. It was still moving around a little so I added a spring clamp. But in all honesty it would have just been easier to have pre-drilled the holes before I completed the skirt. Guess I forgot that step... Oops.
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| Set your top on your legs and make sure it's symmetrical on both sides! |
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| Fasten your Kreg drill guide to your braces and drill your holes. |
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| Once all your holes are drilled screw in your pocket screws. |
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| Don't forget your center support braces! |
Step Twelve
Once everything is all screwed in and tight you can loosen and remove all your clamps. Give your table a good sanding, brush off any leftover dust!
Find a nice cozy spot in your home, set down your table, relax and enjoy the hard earned fruits of your labor! And congrats on your new handmade console table! Now decorate, stain, and/or use it as you please!
So I hope you enjoyed my "How To" on how to make this console table! Feel free to share this link with any of your other friends you think may be interested! Also don't forget to like, share, and follow me on social media! It helps!! And don't be afraid to share what you made either! I like to see what kind of cool stuff other people come up with! And if you have any questions, concerns, or remarks you're more than welcome to leave a comment in the comment tab or my email if you want to do so more personally!
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Plenty more cool stuff to come so stay tuned!
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